Friday the 6ixth, class, after class, more epic-ness

Sorry if these are sort of out of order. I am writing them out as they come to me...Let me recap the schedule. We arrived on Wednesday and went to dinner at 9ish (that was Osso Buco). The next day, we dressed up and went to Unidroit, then we walked around, to the Pantheon and Steps, ending with the Sea Bass in salt dinner. Now we are at Friday the 6th. Morning class was held at the Italian Constitutional Court, akin to our US Supreme Court. In Italy, the Justices serve 9 year terms and the 15 are appointed by different governing bodies, such as parliament, the President, etc. The Justice who spoke with us was a former law professor and had such an excellent command of the English language and the US system, that he could analogize completely to better our understanding. After this class, Don and I walked back to the hotel and slept until we had to get up for enviro class at Unidroit. See the Unidroit post.



Here is the front of the high court's building. It was formerly a pope's summer retreat. In Rome, the summer's get very hot. This palace was built on the highest point to get the prevailing winds. It certainly was cooler there than elsewhere in the city. We had to pass through security and were tailed by at least 6 men dressed very well, all of whom looked very qualified. This might be a good point to mention how hot italian soldiers and police are. They are all fit, tan, well groomed, and wear uniforms that show all of that off. The one down side is that most of them smoke. In fact, I think it is a requirement of citizenship that an italian smoke. Many scooter drivers will be smoking behind their windscreens...

Taken from the front of the high court, the fountain just opposite.
Taken from the balcony of the top floor, the President's Palace.
That same fountain from the balcony.
Yes, it was very warm in my Scottish tweed.
The chamber of the high court, where all 15 gather. Oral arguments have no set time limit, the lawyers state their case and sit down. The judges do not ask questions during the arguments.

The seat of the Presiding Justice.
That fountain again, from the 2nd floor...the Roman looks like he is throwing shapes in the church of dance, does he not?
A nice work...

After classes at Unidroit, Don and I needed food and more walking. First went to the Coliseum and took pix of this sticker, moped and large roman edifice. This was a large building and now I cannot recall why I took it.
At the Fontana di Trevi.

We had dinner Friday evening not far from the fountain...pizza, meats and cheese, and wine. Another off the beaten path ristorante. Don had a knack for sniffing out the best ristorantes for meals. He would not even look at the menus or the prices; he just looked inside or at the wait-staff member standing in the doorway. Each time we scored on an excellent meal, it was his doing.

After we got back to the hotel, we got ready to go out. We were to walk across Rome to the discos, hit three or so, and be home by 5 or 6am. Epic, like I said. We walked for about 1.5 hours and found a bar that was bumping music. There were no tourists there, so we went in. Just to clarify, I was wearing a french cuff button down, not really paisley, but not a shirt for suits, and felt under dressed. The italians there were hot, the men smelled great and everyone could dance better than me. We stayed for about two hours, then, unfortunately, we moved on. We never found the disco we were looking for, only more walking. Two members bailed out via a taxi, and the group became separated on a bridge over the river. So with 9 people, and the only bald man being the only sober person, I made the call that we were heading home. No one argued about that, we were all beat from hoofin' it. In Italy, you are supposed to either call for a taxi, or get one at a taxi stand, but not hail a taxi. I stood in the street, at a protected location and hailed in three taxis to evac us out of there. It was the best 3-4 euros I spent all weekend. The walk back would have crushed my spirit. This is where we decided to turn back from our mission: http://tinyurl.com/3vdlo8 and this is where our hotel was located: http://tinyurl.com/53pjuz

So, in the end, we ate well, walked much, and did dance. I am way too old for that. I think next time I will take a taxi to the disco and spend my energy there. In bed by 1am sounds good, too.