Day 21: Tourist

Two days  of fasting in a row.  That's it for this week. I can enjoy (from a culinary point of view) my time in the Eternal City.  Yes, I'm off to Rome this evening, with Fianna and the boys, for  5 days.  Of course I have been there many times including a few years ago at the same friend's quite stunning apartment with a big roof terrace close to the Coliseum.  I am looking forward to it and yet at the same time I wonder why.  If you look at it dispassionately surely there are better and more cost effective ways to achieve the same results?  So here are some alternative suggestions:

1. Experience a different culture - Just take the metro to the 13th Arrondissement (Equivalent to China Town for London or New York readers)
2. Try different foods - There is a very good pizza place just around the corner from my house
3. Disconnect from work - Stay home and switch off your smartphone and computer
4. Exposure to a different language - Take a Velib to the Eiffel Tower and try talking in French to anyone there
5. Photos of amazing monuments - Take a selfie and use Instagram to change your background to St Peter's
6. Reconnect with friends - Use Skype (with the camera on!)
7. New and exciting shopping -  You can find everything on Amazon
8. Visit museums - Surely you haven't finished visiting the Louvres
9. Escape from the daily grind - Get a Netflix subscription

I suspect that not everyone is persuaded by my alternatives and probably that is a good thing.  After all isn't the essence of tourism about interacting with strangers and the more we do so the more we accept our differences and our diversity.  (I trust that you have worked out by now that in addition to the themes of Food, Saving the Environment and Social Justice the purpose of this Blog is to establish World Peace - 344 Days left)