We woke up early today... not by choice. The rain woke us up, and then the thunder and lighting. It POURED today. I mean I haven't seen rain that hard in quite sometime... and the thunder was really close. So basically we decided to take it easy.

Sightseeing should be the fun part, it shouldn't be a part of a schedule. I firmly believe that when you travel you should go see sights because you are there, not go there because you want to see the sights. Its a subtle difference but if you think about it changes the way you travel. It allows you to slow down a bit and not feel bad if you miss something.

When the rain finally let up a bit we decided that we really needed to do laundry, it had been over a week and since we are traveling so light laundry is definitely something to schedule in. While the laundry was drying we decided to take another page out of one of the Rick Steves books that Beth has and I decided to get a haircut at the barber shop right next door.

The lone customer.

Lesson one, ask. Lesson two negotiate. Less three. Relax and let a pro do his job.

I walked in and just pointed to my head and smiled and the dude motioned me to a chair. Since I know a thing about how to shave a head I did check that he was getting a short comb attachment and made him get the shortest one he had, and then I just sat back and relaxed.

You should know that for the most part I have cut my own hair since I started college in 1981. At the rate that some of my friends get their hair cut multiplied by the cost of this hair cut ($30US) times 24 years... I have MORE then saved enough for this whole trip. So I guess it was OK to splurge just this once.

This guy loved the camera, every time Beth started to take a photo he would stop and pose.

Beth's assessment... "he missed a few spots". Oh well.

After picking up and folding the laundry we walked back to The Beehive and basically, for the rest of the day we just hung out.

The Beehive Regret Number 1

One of the regrets that we have about staying at The Beehive is that we didn't spend more time socializing with the other people here. Because of the weather there were a lot of the residence of The Beehive hanging out and we sat in their downstairs café and chatted.

The unfinished downstairs, not done, but still feels like home.

There was one girl who had been pick pocketed in Naples. She lost her passport, credit cards, ATM card and her money. We heard her story.

There was one group of girls who were traveling together and one of them had a fatal allergy to nuts. As a matter of fact the other girls all had to carry "epi-pens", whatever that means, so they could administer life saving medication if she eats anything that even TOUCHED a nut. Weird.

We met a young couple who had lived in London for 2 years and were moving back to their home in Melbourne Australia and taking a few months to travel and make the trip.

We met another young woman from Australia who was traveling alone. Taking her time, seeing sights, meeting people and reading her books.

Another older Australian woman who had came to "pickup" her 20 something daughter from Manchester England and travel together for a while. The daughter had to return home to Australia because her work visa had expired. It was sad because she was leaving a boyfriend that she had met while in England.

But without a doubt the most meaningful conversation we had was with Steve and Linda, The owners of The Beehive. They now manage/own/run the main Beehive and three "satellite hives", full apartments that are a short walk away. My guess is that they are very popular places to stay, especially with English speaking travelers. It's really easy to see why, you feel like you are stepping into someone's home when you arrive and as much as you want to "get away" when you travel, you never want to go too far from home.

Steve and Linda were always "buzzing around" the hive (sorry that was lame) and you felt that the chance to have the two of them actually sit down and chat was a privilege, you can tell that they are very busy people.

One of the things we talked about was "Italiano time". Linda expressed her frustration in that it is difficult to get things done at the rate that we, as Americans, have come to expect it. Face it, in the States, if you want a new Powerbook, you can have one overnighted to you and have it the next morning. They have been waiting weeks for theirs.

Or, they expressed their frustration that "things aren't done yet here, they just aren't right, they aren't the way we want it to be". Much of that is because, as Steve says, "there is no added value in getting it done quick [in Italy], whats the point in rushing?"

In the States we live in a "Meritocracy" (Merit - ocricy). We are rewarded on the MERIT of what we do and what we accomplish and, yes, how fast we do it. Those that work harder, get more.

Take France and its Socialist government and all of the government employees that can't be fired. Why show up for work if you can't get fired? You can strike and leave travelers stuck at train depots whenever you want.

Then look at the Italians. Face it, who dresses nicest? The Italians, both the women AND the men. Why work hard and fast when that job will still be there tomorrow and besides, "I still have to fix my hair!" Beth and I laughed at the caricature of the Italian man as portrayed by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. "Why you got to go and do that? I spent all afternoon workin' on my hair! Don't touch my hair!"

The Beehive Regret Number 2

The other regret about staying at The Beehive is that we didn't get a picture with Steve and Linda. You know, one of my trademark, "I'll hold the camera out here with the really wide angle lens" photos.

Then Beth spent sometime taking some photos around The Beehive so that we could remember this place. And of course, we took advantage of the wireless internet connection to get caught up on what the rest of the world is doing.

Ingmar's cat bed that he never uses... too "cat like" for him.

Ingmar greeting those that walk in the front gate.

View to your right as you walk in the gate. Many late night conversations happened here that we didn't partake in and regret.

From the front door to the Gate, and all this is just 2 blocks from the Roma Termini train station.

Tomorrow was going to be a big travel day. Country number 6... Greece.