1/30/2009 by Silvia Prosperi Italy
Rome! Everything that can be said, has been said yet. Therefore I can just list here:1. History is physically embracing you, all ages are represented from the hut where Romulus used to live in the VIII century BC to the rich Renaissance palaces of the Popes in the Vatican, from the humble houses of Middle Age in Trastevere to the Belle époque "shopping mall" called Galleria Colonna. I feel protected by my ancestors and my life makes more sense in this long historical "fil rouge" where all events are connected.2. riding my scooter with my clothes waving and listening to quirky comments of the drivers arguing in the traffic jam is like a live show with St. Peter's or the Colosseum as background!3. Even when you are hectic busy, in a rush or "having a devil for each hair " (the way we say we are furious!) there is an holiday atmosphere surrounding you: people asking you to take them a picture, kids trying to eat a huge gelato, young couples kissing everywhere, a bride crossing your road, a girl imitating Julia Roberts in "Pretty woman" holding hundreds of shopping bags 4. pizza (the "thin" roman pizza), pasta carbonara, coffee with whipped cream, "grattachecca" (crushed ice with syrups and fresh fruit)…. There is not a better place in Italy to taste them and I could not survive long without5. Some views are just breathtaking and able to let you forget all worries, sadness and rush: the sparkling Tiber early in the morning light from Ponte Sisto, the sequence of arches along Clivio di Scauro on Celio Hill, the ten angels bordering Sant'Angelo's bridge in the mist, the ruins of the Imperial Palaces on Palatine Hill at sunset when the red sky and the ancient stones blend….Every week I show my city to new people coming from all over the world and I get never tired. After 33 years I've been living here I still find out charming corners, interesting sites and new old stories about Rome. But it might be said I was born here and it is too easy for me to be in love with this city. Nevertheless every day new foreigners come here to spend a holiday, a short professional period, a gap year or even a lifetime.Which is your case? Tell us how you "landed" here and why are you still staying!
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LIFE & STYLE
1/30/2009
1/30/2009
