First Impressions of Daily Life in Rome
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view from my
apartment |
street chapel
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graffiti on signs
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St. Peter's in the
evening |
fountain by
St. Peter's |
Drivers are very, very intent on getting where they want to go and don't stop for pedestrians about to cross the street. The drivers drive fast and aggressively. There is a lot of honking, and on the highway, cars can range from speeds of 20mph to 90mph.
The cars in Rome are usually Smart Cars or tiny cars. The people in Rome own such small cars so that its easy to park, and they will park them anywhere.
The city of Rome is an elaborate system of strangely shaped blocks. There are back alleys that lead to giant cobblestone markets and courtyards. There are restaurants everywhere, along with gelato shops (ice cream) that have almost 50 different ice cream flavors. There are always street performers around making music.
The alleys are crammed with people, and they dont even try to get out of the way of the honking cars. in Rome, the back alleys are like the sidewalks in New York or Seattle.
There is graffiti everywhere, but it doesn't bother people.
The low apartment-like, orange, yellow and brown buildings with gardens on the shingled roofs makes Rome seem more like giant village, because there isn't a single skyscraper. 2,000 year old arches and buildings are always popping out between the rest of the city's buildings.
Rome always has people buzzing around, and the courtyards are always inhabited.
If you go into a restaurant you will see how popular coca-cola is in Rome—more poular than the U. S.!
Gelato
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| Gelato di SanCrispino (high end) |
Gelato della Palma (129 flavors) |
Me eating guava and grapefruit |
Blue Ice |
In Rome, on every block and street, you see at least 2 or 3 places for gelato. You can get it anywhere: restaurants, bars, and even special gelato stores. Some places have sweet gelato, and some fancier places have gelato that tastes exactly like the fruit it is flavored after. In the U.S. Baskin Robins advertises having 31 flavors. In Rome, I went to a place that had 129. 21 of those were different kinds of chocolate. The flavors in all of the places are amazing, and taste way better than ice cream in the U.S. So far, my favorite flavor is grapefruit.
More impressions
- I forgot to mention that all the small streets and alleys are cobblestone.
- There are lots of stores that sell weird things. I walked by a store that sold only priest outfits, and a store that sold only sundials and hourglasses. These stores manage to stay in business, as do all other Roman stores.
- If you order meals and stand up while you eat, the food is half the price of what it would be if you sat down.
- People eat pizza cold (at lunch restaurants) and they fold it into the shape of a sandwich.
- There is no drinking age in Rome, so at night there is a lot of noise.
Thunderstorms
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The plaza where my apartment is during the thunderstorm.
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Same veiw as previous, but with sky lit up by lightning.
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View from my kitchen window during the thunderstorm.
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Same view as previous, with sky lit up by lightning flash again.
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An outdoor restaurant below my apartment at night.
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Tonight there was a crazy thunderstorm. There was a downpour of rain that lasted for hours, and the streets were flooded with water. People ran out of outdoor restaurants leaving soggy pizzas behind, and the doors to aparment buildings like mine were slammed shut by strong winds. Lightning cracked every couple of seconds. The rain sounded like a shower, and the thunder was as loud as bombs. It was really cool, because the storm was inside Rome, right above us. My dad and I got some pictures of lightning illuminating the sky (pictures above).
Riots and Protests
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A student protest.
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Students forming a blockade
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Police with riot shields
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Police with an uzi
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In Rome, there are a lot of protests and strikes about transportation, schools and other common topics. Today there was a relatively large protest, and the police, in full riot gear, closed off an entire street where there were government buildings. The protestors had megaphones and were shouting Italian stuff really loud while members in the crowd chanted and waved signs around. The protestors made a human wall on a busy street so there was no car traffic, and the protestors got really loud. Apparently things did get a little out of hand, because some guy threw smoke grenades in the street. The protestors didn’t go after the police that much though, because the police had guns, riot shields and a bunch of armored trucks. It was very cool, because even after walking through it, I could hear what was going on with it in my apartment. Tomorrow there is a general strike which involves the whole city and all public transportation will be shut down. The riot soon turned extremely violent, and people brought bats and weapons. This protest made headline news in Italy, and has been going on for a long time.
Starling Poop
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starlings in the air
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car covered with poop
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In Rome, flocks of millions of starlings roost in plane (sycamore) trees on the side of the Tiber river, and on the main roads. The starlings travel in clumps that resemble giant balls of herring. The clumps twirl around and run into each other, which looks very cool from the ground. Although the starlings spend lot of time flying, they also spend time sitting in the trees and making a lot of noise and looking for food. When this happens, it is very bad for the Romans, because if their car or mo-ped or child is nearby, it will get seriously COVERED with bird poop. Many of the natives avoid getting pooped on by making automobile covers out of bed sheets, and by carrying around umbrellas in broad daylight. This looks a little strange, but usually helps. The stench doesn't go away, though, so small sections of Rome are carefully avoided. The bird poops makes the streets very slippery, too, and is a great danger to all the old people. The starlings showed up this October, and will probably be gone in the spring.
Amalfi and Ravello
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church in Amalfi
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city street in Amalfi
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Amalfi from a distance
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inside of the cemetary
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steps to Ravello
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Donkey in a cliff town
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one of the stray cats
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one of the many lizards
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Ravello from a distance
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View from Ravello
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I spent the last three days in Amalfi which is an extremely beautiful little town on the Italian coast. The city of Amalfi is built in a little valley and all the houses and stores are off one main street. The city is famous for its seafood and its lemons. Above Amalfi, there are giant cliffs covered with terraces for farming that plunge strait down into the salty Mediterranean Sea. Some of the nearby towns are built right on cliffs, it is amazing to see them. Perched above Amalfi, there is a cemetery, which contains hundreds of graves, stacked on terraces. On the day of the dead, each grave is adorned with flowers and lights.
There are lots of hikes in Amalfi which lead up into the hills to old towns and villages. I went on one of these hikes and it was brutal (5 miles of stairs going up into the countryside.) I went up to one town called Ravello, and there was a lookout with a view strait down (150 feet) to the ground. In all of these towns, there are huge churches and soccer fields. These cities are also full of stray dogs and cats; there are lizards everywhere, and the ocean has lots of good fish and octopus. The beaches would be beautiful, but this time of year many of them are covered with garbage washed in from the sea. In these towns there is a lot to see, like beautiful churches, good restaurants, old buildings, and breathtaking views. I also saw a real Ferrari! I didn't get a picture of it, though.
Paestum and Pompeii
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Greek temple to Hera in Paestum
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Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in back
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the gladiator exercise arena
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Plaster cast of guy who died in eruption
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Fresco in a villa in Pompeii
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I also spent time in Paestum, and Pompeii, where I got to look around and draw with the college kids. The Doric temples in Paestum, which were built in around 500 BC, were amazing, and the city of Pompeii was really interesting. There were lots of landmarks, and extremely old things in both of these ancient cities. I saw statues, mosiacs, vases, Greek and Roman houses, plaster casts of people who died in the volcanic eruption, and beautiful frescoes, which are giant paintings on walls. In Pompeii, I saw some huge mansions built by the ancient Romans, and an amphitheatre which was next to a giant excersizing arena that the gladiators used. Paestum was a beauitiful place where there were three large temples, the most recent one was a reddish color, and was almost completely intact. I took alot of pictures in Paestum, and you can see them up above. These places were very fun to visit and take pictures of, even though it was hot.