Street life and cheap eats in the Eternal City

Seattle Times Travel editor Terry Tazioli is off to Rome for a while, on his annual quest for good food, good wine, good friends and a new Italian verb form or two.

I believe I struck a blow for international cooperation over the weekend.

I walked in front of a Rome bookstore where the proprietors were trying to tape the English title of the book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (each word on its own sheet of paper) on the front window of their shop.

They seemed stumped for the moment. They had "The Deathly Hallows and Harry Potter" and were staring at the positioning, shaking their heads, one standing inside the shop maneuvering and taping, the other outside pointing. I stopped, smiled, and helped them put the words in their proper places. You're welcome, Harry fans.

For buying books, or anything, in Rome the exchange rate hurts — a lot — because of the weak, weak dollar. Adding roughly 40 percent to the euro price tag is not my idea of a good time.

But it's easy to eat reasonably in the city. I bought a sandwich at a little shop, sat in a park and pondered my good fortune at being in Rome with lots of time on my hands.

The sandwich cost just over $3 — great bread, mozzarella, sopressata (a kind of salami) and artichoke hearts. I thought briefly about Seattle shops that charge $8 to $10 for a gourmet sandwich ...

A little postscript: I did go to the Miss Roma Pageant, an outdoor show the other night at Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina in the heart of the city. The place was packed; anybody could walk up and watch for free. It was a terrific fashion show, honest, with knockout outfits. My pick among the 21 contestants finished second. Not bad.