Getting Lost Is Desireable
Today. Rome came alive. Strike out early and get beautifully lost, the rough black cobblestones and piazza after piazza – surrounded by monuments from BC and AD.
Churches are meeting places for the young, begging places for the old and show little sign of being used save for the superstitious burning candles for healing.
Stand high above all of this and you get entertainment. Italian police chases, numerous and humourous – are each proceeded by a poliza car, usually an alfa, screaming to each intersection and demanding traffic stop so the poliza behind him can actually do the chasing. I never can figure out exactly what it is they’re chasing – their tails? Lost tourists? Fun?
There is something astonishing missing from Rome – advertising. There is none. Public spaces everywhere are dominated by people not posters. There are no billboards, little bill posting – just graffiti. The graffiti, from what I can gather, is almost entirely political, usually accusing the Prime Minister of selling Italian culture out. Water is free on every corner, running from gushing fountains and there are no vending machines. The people are genuine and eye contact is permitted, even in a city of 2.5 million.
Tonight – spaghetti, meatballs, salad, grapes and beer all served by the best Al Pacino circa Taxi Driver impersonation I am ever likely to see - €15.
Churches are meeting places for the young, begging places for the old and show little sign of being used save for the superstitious burning candles for healing.
Stand high above all of this and you get entertainment. Italian police chases, numerous and humourous – are each proceeded by a poliza car, usually an alfa, screaming to each intersection and demanding traffic stop so the poliza behind him can actually do the chasing. I never can figure out exactly what it is they’re chasing – their tails? Lost tourists? Fun?
There is something astonishing missing from Rome – advertising. There is none. Public spaces everywhere are dominated by people not posters. There are no billboards, little bill posting – just graffiti. The graffiti, from what I can gather, is almost entirely political, usually accusing the Prime Minister of selling Italian culture out. Water is free on every corner, running from gushing fountains and there are no vending machines. The people are genuine and eye contact is permitted, even in a city of 2.5 million.
Tonight – spaghetti, meatballs, salad, grapes and beer all served by the best Al Pacino circa Taxi Driver impersonation I am ever likely to see - €15.
posted by Peter Veness at 9:10 am
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