Night at the Barberini palace

This morning it was school and novena as usual. In the evening, after Mass at San Gregorio, I finally met a friend of Brother Michael of the Toronto Oratory, Fadi, with whom I had been corresponding over e-mail for a little while. He also brought along his friend Eric, and we had a very nice evening over at Fadi’s apartment, drinking Chianti, eating goat cheeses, and talking about silly things, like the Mohammedan threat and Islamification of Europe, and important things like Herbert’s Rome (a book I have to guy) and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. It was very refreshing to spend some time with civilised people. I have a curfew over at where I live, and it’s on a subway line that closes at 9 p.m., so I wasn’t able to get back to the residence on time. Erik has a pretty large apartment and an extra bed, so he kindly offered me to stay. He lives in the last bit of the Barberini palace which the last bit of this once powerful family hasn’t sold off to the Italian state. I am told that the Principessa Barberini, the head of the family, lives in frescoed splendour two or three floors up from where I stayed.