we got to see an amazing thundershower in rome. we had just arrived at Roma Termini, the train station, and had walked across the street to decipher our tourist map of the town and get some coffee (but we got a beer and some pasta instead).

i had read the forecast four days ago, and it had said thunderstorms in rome on monday. and just on time, we saw the wall of dark grey roll over the station like a great big ole steam engine from the sky. it was moving pretty fast, we counted the seconds between lightning and thunder, and it went from 12 seconds to 2 seconds in about 10 minutes. the tourists scurried out of the torrential downpour that ensued with soggy maps covering their heads. we watched this whole show unravel from beneath the vaulted ceilings of our patio.

i was tempted to just stay there and relax for the next few hours before we had to arrive for soundcheck at fanfulla 101. but we had plans to leave in the morning and so this was the only chance to see some sights.

we had to choose one sight, so we headed to the pantheon. the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome, from year 126 CE - the concrete in montreal was built in the 50 years it doesnt even last...

so after taking in the enormity of the place, we sat nearby and had some gelato and espresso. on the way back to termini some guy on the bus tried to pickpocket my phone, but i caught his hand as it was on the way out of my pocket. instead of making a scene, we just got off the bus. we caught the right cab to fanfulla 101, it was a musician cab driver who plays in four bands and plays six instruments. we told us all about the scene in rome and we got to see some great sights and we wove trough traffic, merging like water through the steel rolling river.

we had arrived early, but this was ok with manu, our host and bar manager for the evening. he led us from the bar to his place 50 meters away and we got to leave our packs. he then took us for supper at a lounge he manages down the street, wine and pasta, in a great huge loft like garage like modern art like restaurant/lounge/etc.. it was definitely a taste of rome we needed to experience after all the tourist weighted areas.

the show went well. it was our first amplified show of the tour. and the people in the bar were very receptive to the new music. fanfulla 101 is a big smokey room, with couches on the stage. the outside is old stone that has been plastered in cement. it has character and history. aliza and i were happy to play at such an intriguing place.