We had a fun weekend, even though I’m still not completely over my head cold.  James and Jessica got thoroughly married, and it was fun to be a part of that.  We also got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle from California, who were visiting my parents in Ames.  We went to an art fair downtown and picked up a set of paintings by one of Denny’s local favorites, Chris Vance.  I’ll take a picture once we get them hung up.
On another topic entirely…

I gotta say, renting apartments while traveling is the way to go, if you’re going to be in any one location for more than a couple of days.  We had a great experience doing that in Norway, and we’re hoping to do it in Rome, too.  There’s usually a fairly wide price range available; for the ones we’re looking at, it’s about the same price or cheaper than a decent hotel.  For that, you get much more space and freedom, including a kitchen and laundry facilities.

I think it’s more fun than hotel living, too.  You get to feel a bit more like a local, shopping for groceries in the markets and hauling crap up the stairs.   You’d think those old Europe buildings would develop some kind of complex pulley system.  Didn’t Leonardo da Vinci invent that?  He invented most things.

I submitted the rental request today; our top two choices are the Madonna dei Monti (great location, right across from the Forum and close to a Metro stop) and the Athena (super-cool modern interiors, decent location, has a dishwasher).  We’ll see what we end up with, based on availability.