TEAM WIN/e

Rome is, once again, just frustrating gorgeous. I remember once going on a trip with my family to some cutesy ol'-fashioned doily-ed cottagey region and by the end of it we were all nauseated by how goddamn QUAINT everything was. This is how it is in Europe. They can't help it.

I grab a coffee at the hostel bar and then wander off. My touristing days have taught me that you don't need a map, you can really just follow all the other groups of tourists and find all the biggest landmarks. In an afternoon I find the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and I'm done.

I head down to the bar armed with my computer prepared to write a little update and google stuff about Gladiator to make it make sense, when the bartender who greeted me earlier spots me. "Paris!'
"No, um, Montreal..."
But there's a situation. It's pub quiz night and one of the teams needs their third member. I am pulled over to Team Win - two girls from the states. "Are you smart?" one asks.

Name three David Bowie albums. Recognize a movie still from North by Northwest. What medium is Frank Gehry known for. The other two girls are law students and we win by landslide. The prize - other than eternal glory - is a bottle of wine. "WHO WANTS A TASTE OF VICTORY?"

I get to speak to the people who work here and it's fascinating. Most of them were just like me, coming to Italy just for a crazy different thing to do and then a lot of them just ended up staying here. Some of them even have expired Visas to worry about but just don't care.

The night goes on and someone suggests we swing by the twenty four hour muffin shop down the street. How can I say no?