Not thin and crispy, not thick and softy

Did we mention it is hot here? Not Bend's hot-but-we-can-float-the-river heat; not Chicago's hot-but-we-don't-mind-because-it's-so-damn-cold-in-the-winter heat; not Phoenix's or Las Vegas' hot-but-there's-plenty-of-AC heat. No, this heat is unescapable. Soul-crushing. The only thing to do is drink or sleep your way out of it.

But it's cool, because we may have found our new dream apartment! I won't go into too much detail, since it's not officially ours yet. But know that it is in a great location, with nice views and plenty of space and light. We're hoping to meet with the owner this morning to work out the contract.

Here's what happened yesterday: We decided to get an early start to avoid the 2 p.m. doldrums. So we set out at 9 a.m. for the European School of Economics. We took the scenic route, skirting around the Roman Forum, the Circo Massimo and the Colosseum. Stopped for a caffe latte (for Caitlin), an espresso machiatto (for Andy) and some much-appreciated air conditioning. We found my school and walked inside, where I was immediately recognized by the admissions officer. She gave us a tour of the campus, which shares its building with some sort of film/camera company, so there are random old-timey photo machines around. Which is kinda cool. The classrooms are small but light; the main auditorium for commencement or guest speakers is in an old chapel. My class schedule isn't ready or available yet, but we were assured that I'd be done with classes in mid-July. The terms run September-to-December, January-to-April and April-to-July. Nice place, and only a 45-minute walk from Trastevere.

So we slogged back to our neighborhood, careful to avoid any direct sunlight. Got a little lost and took a couple slight detours. Grabbed some calzones and fresh fruit for lunch.

During our siesta, we decided to inquire on some apartments. We emailed a handful with Caitlin composing messages in Italian. One of the first responses was from Francesco, who thankfully spoke fluent English when we called him. Unfortunately, he's already on holiday, but his brother, Tommaso, could show us the apartment. Our first viewing! Exciting! We met Tommaso on the street, but the apartment was pretty run-down. Had a balcony, but the views weren't great. Plus it was right above an English pub, which generally don't mix well with schoolteachers' schedules. So we politely thanked Tommaso for his time and started to depart. That's when Tommaso asked us if we'd like to view another of his rentals. Why sure! we said. Not like we had any other plans. On the walk over, we learned that Tomasso is a geologist at the Univerista di Roma. His brother, Francesco, is an astrophysicist. And, naturally, the second apartment he showed us blew us away. Top floor of a nice, open building with wonderful space and light. No balcony or air-conditioning, but the windows and height more than make up for both. Again, don't want to jinx it, but we're negotiating and keeping our fingers crossed.

After bidding farewell to Tommaso, we had a drink at the bar around the corner, read our books in the park for an hour, then walked back to the pizzeria across from our would-be apartment. Best meal we've had yet. (The pizzas there are described as follows: "not thin and crispy, not thick and softy." Just right.) Watched some break dancers in the piazza di Santa Maria, then headed home to Jessica's apartment, which was just starting to cool down.

We're still adjusting to the time zone, I guess. I skipped a siesta yesterday, so I zonked out after dinner and woke up at 6 a.m. I'm not used to being the early riser ... But now we're just waiting for a response from Tommaso. And I think I just heard our phone ring ...