Walking around Roma
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Wanderlust
Oct 2, 2003

This was a strange day. We wanted to do something but couldn't decide on what....so we started with our regular routine: caf? and a pastry, then the internet....then we figured we'd do some shopping. First, though, we were gonna check out some restaurants for tonight. But we left the guide books upstairs (yes, UPstairs). So we started out looking and never found them.

So we wandered. And wandered. Actually, we love wandering. And Rome is made for wanderers. Back streets, narrow alleys, leading to other back streets and narrow alleys and the occasional grand piazza. Endless exploration. Found ourselves back in Campo de' Fiori (Field of Flowers)....you know, the place with the farmer's market. We stopped for some great sandwiches which we ate standing up outside the Forno (oven), the name of the wonderful takeout shop on the piazza. Then wandering around the market, we met Prospero, an old flea-market salesman, selling Chop-O-Matics.. A real character with a big Jewish star around his neck. He had a great selling routine, demonstrating all the things you could do with his gadgets. He was adorable and he won our hearts immediately. See if you agree:


A wonderful Roman/Jewish character, Prospero, with Chop-O-Matic in hand. It REALLY worked. We bought it!. We'll probably never use it.


Prospero, showing off his potato twirl necklace produced with another little tool he was selling. You couldn't help but love him!

Matt's transfixed by the European cars and scooters. Can't stop looking at them, seeing what the latest models are, pointing out various makes to Stacey (who, by this time, is very tired of this routine). Of course, he's always been a fanatic for European cars, particularly French and owned two Citroens (the famous 2CV or "duex chevaux" ["two horses"] in the 60's. There were big demonstrations in Paris a couple of years ago when Citroen finally gave up the ghost and stopped making them on an island in the middle of the Seine. But one still sees them all over Europe. And we've seen them in Rome as well. Here was a red beauty right near our street.


A beautiful red 2CV Citroen.

Well, we continued our wandering and found ourselves back in Piazza Navona. By now, we know the Centro Storico quite well, thank you. Navona is a beautiful square. It maintains its original buildings and shape (oval) being built on top of an ancient Roman playing field. Today, there is an art exhibit by handicapped artists. Stacey, the art teacher, is very taken by the high quality of the drawings and paintings.


Beautiful artwork by handicapped artists on Piazza Navona.

Time for an ice cream break. Can you believe that Matt is having an ice cream a day. What happened to his low-fat diet? When he return, OK? Hey, he only weighs 90 on our bathroom scale, so what's the problem??!! (90 kilograms, that is.) Besides, when in Rome....


And he buys the smallest cup available.



This time: ciocolatto e fragola (chocolate and strawberry). You can get two flavors even with the smallest serving. Cool!

Piazza Navona is a beautiful plaza with wonderful fountains. The pigeons like it also and make great subject matter for your photographer. Also, the contrast of old fountain and new ads are a bit strange. We even saw giant Canon ads on St. Peter's Square. They were so gigantic that the Pope could read them while appearing before the crowd of worshipers....that was bizarre indeed!


Stacey meets an old friend in a shop on Piazza Navona.


The clash of crash commercialism and classical beauty. Calvin, go home!


It seems this guy is a bit perturbed about where this pigeon decided to settle.

Once again, we walk. The scooters are everywhere you go. You cannot escape them. They're noisy, come out of nowhere and don't stop for anything or anybody. At a red light, they scoot to the front and when the light turns green (or even right before it turns), off they go with a hoot and a holler!


Everywhere you want to be....there they are!

One thing that's really nice about Italy is the sense of "famiglia" (family). We very often see young people, particularly women, escorting elderly relatives. Out for a walk or just sitting, it's a pretty sight and a common occurrence. Not something we see in the states.


A young woman and her nonna (grandma) perhaps?

Window shopping seems to be a favorite pastime. And the shops are everywhere! If you're a shopper, you'll LOVE Rome!


Um, don't think it's gonna fit.

We finally got back to our apartment at 7:30, just in time to change and get down to the restaurant that we decided on: Il Drappo - The Drape (??). It specializes in Sardinian food. Don't ask us what that actually is, but we can tell you, this dinner was memorable. A lovely giardino and wonderful, wonderful food - not to mention the vino was bello, anche. We're very happy. And very tired.


Matthew at Il Drappo, enjoying some rosso vino from Sardegna.


Stacey in the garden at Il Droppo.

Tomorrow is Friday, our last day in Roma. We've been here a week and could easily spend another week. We're enchanted and promise we'll return. Saturday, we're off in a rented car for a couple of days in the Lazio countryside (Lazio is the region that surrounds Rome). Then home on Tuesday.

More tomorrow.