the language barrier

so far, we are managing on our little italian. tim did a great job today making and canceling reservations for our hotel on the phone. he actually went down to the front desk to learn the word for "cancel"--kahn-cha-lot-o. i had a misunderstanding with the fella at the smoke shop. i was trying to ask if he could break a $50, but he thought i was asking for 50 metro passes (you buy them at the smoke shop--tabacchi). boy, did he chew me out when i told him i did not want the passes. i even got some authentic italian obscene gestures.

side note--church bells are everywhere!