(bear in mind while reading this, that it was actually written a couple days ago - I just didnàt have internet access)
Oggi fa bellissimo!! I am currently sitting outside on Camilla's terrace, taking sun and relaxing to the hustle and bustle of the traffic below. I am surrounded by flowers - honeysuckle everywhere, beautiful purple flowers, and tamed and potted cacti. Oggi fa bellissimo. My keyboard keeps heating up so I can barely type. As it turns out, Camilla's house is right by Ponte Milvio, one of the most ancient bridges in all of Rome. Last night when I walked home from the center it was completely filled with young couples. It was recently made extremely popular by an Italian film, whose name currently escapes me, where couples would write their names on a padlock (luchiette) and then lock it to the chains wrapped tightly around the lamp posts on the bridge. Unfortunately this cause structural problems, as more and more people began to do this and eventually the weight of all that love pulled the lamps down off the bridge. Now they have set up chains along the sides of the bridge where people can express their "undying love" for each other. Honestly, I think it's really too bad that placing the locks on the lamp posts became so popular, because it was extremely beautiful (at least in the stills of the movie - before now, I had never actually visited the bridge, as I wasn't sure which one it was…) but the new set-up is also beautiful. I very pleased because it was one of my destinations for this trip, that I regretted not seeing two years ago (and, well, still kind of do). The best part is that in order to get to the city center I have to cross this bridge on foot. In the morning it is empty, but later in the day and in the evening it fills with couples and vendors selling shiny new padlocks. Just me, but if I were to do this (and I don't, since it's become as cliché as throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain - oh wait, I've done that) I would want to bring my own padlock from home. Or something at least with a little more meaning than buying an overpriced chunk of metal from a stranger.
Yesterday was a good day. Though, somehow I ended up once again at Piazza del Popolo and Via Condotti at 8.30 am (after Camilla introduced me to the bar at Ponte Milvio, where I had the most delicious cornetto and cappuccino). Weird how that happens. As mentioned, I thought the most appropriate thing to do would be to say hello to my beloved metro stop where the ticket validation machine didn't work and then proceed over to the Spanish Steps (actually, appropriate for more than just one reason!!), where I must have spent 2 hours writing and having all the heat in my body soaked out through my bum into a slab of cold, cold concrete. I then walked around for hours and hours, with little to do. As it turns out, yesterday was the day I left Rome 2 years ago (2 giugno) and is also the Festa della Repubblica, which basically means a long, looooong parade of soldiers marching through the center, starting at the Colosseo. After a while I got bored and decided to wander some more, perhaps over to Campo dei Fiori to get some lunch.
There I sat amongst the hoards of turists and ate my bowl of Minestrone con Crostini (which, according to Camilla, is very unpopular amongst Italians, though she says that she loves it) and my Acqua Mineralle Frizzante, followed by a Caffè. Mmmmm. Once I finished, I decided I needed to pay a visit to my favorite bakery, where I used to always get little marzipan fruits. Yes, daily. They are highly addictive! I think more so than gelato, because gelato always ends up very big, while these little fruits are miniscule. Unfortunately (or fortunately), they did not have marzipan, so I ended up with several Amaretti cookies instead, quite possibly my favorite Italian cookie. I would say cookie in general, except I think that chocolate chip / oatmeal chocolate chip cookies will always take the cake (so to speak).
I then walked through Piazza Navona and got extremely lost (and therefore learned a lot about Rome - really I like not having a map!) and got to see many things, including some Audi-sta (man driving an Audi?) who had somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of a very, VERY small intersection (on a side note, this reminds me of my taxi ride to Camilla's house, during which the driver literally backed straight into a parked car - yes, I heard a crunch! - and then drove away as thogh nothing had even happened!!). But I eventually made my way back to the Spanish Steps, now absolutely packed with people and from there to Piazza del Popolo, where I found a spot on the center monument to sit and read. It proved to be harder than I expected to read the only book I have - a Spanish book by Santiago Romaglilo or something, called Memorias de una dama - due to all the people watching. And eventually even harder when two very gay-looking guys (highly styled hair, pierced ears, and nose-rings) walked up and with a "Posso?" sat down next to me. They showed me that Villa Borghese was actually right behind me, and asked me if I wanted to go (I have STILL not been!!) But I said that as much as I wanted to see Villa Borghese, I really needed to go home.
And I did. And got lost.
Ciao! Baci!
Oggi fa bellissimo!! I am currently sitting outside on Camilla's terrace, taking sun and relaxing to the hustle and bustle of the traffic below. I am surrounded by flowers - honeysuckle everywhere, beautiful purple flowers, and tamed and potted cacti. Oggi fa bellissimo. My keyboard keeps heating up so I can barely type. As it turns out, Camilla's house is right by Ponte Milvio, one of the most ancient bridges in all of Rome. Last night when I walked home from the center it was completely filled with young couples. It was recently made extremely popular by an Italian film, whose name currently escapes me, where couples would write their names on a padlock (luchiette) and then lock it to the chains wrapped tightly around the lamp posts on the bridge. Unfortunately this cause structural problems, as more and more people began to do this and eventually the weight of all that love pulled the lamps down off the bridge. Now they have set up chains along the sides of the bridge where people can express their "undying love" for each other. Honestly, I think it's really too bad that placing the locks on the lamp posts became so popular, because it was extremely beautiful (at least in the stills of the movie - before now, I had never actually visited the bridge, as I wasn't sure which one it was…) but the new set-up is also beautiful. I very pleased because it was one of my destinations for this trip, that I regretted not seeing two years ago (and, well, still kind of do). The best part is that in order to get to the city center I have to cross this bridge on foot. In the morning it is empty, but later in the day and in the evening it fills with couples and vendors selling shiny new padlocks. Just me, but if I were to do this (and I don't, since it's become as cliché as throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain - oh wait, I've done that) I would want to bring my own padlock from home. Or something at least with a little more meaning than buying an overpriced chunk of metal from a stranger.
Yesterday was a good day. Though, somehow I ended up once again at Piazza del Popolo and Via Condotti at 8.30 am (after Camilla introduced me to the bar at Ponte Milvio, where I had the most delicious cornetto and cappuccino). Weird how that happens. As mentioned, I thought the most appropriate thing to do would be to say hello to my beloved metro stop where the ticket validation machine didn't work and then proceed over to the Spanish Steps (actually, appropriate for more than just one reason!!), where I must have spent 2 hours writing and having all the heat in my body soaked out through my bum into a slab of cold, cold concrete. I then walked around for hours and hours, with little to do. As it turns out, yesterday was the day I left Rome 2 years ago (2 giugno) and is also the Festa della Repubblica, which basically means a long, looooong parade of soldiers marching through the center, starting at the Colosseo. After a while I got bored and decided to wander some more, perhaps over to Campo dei Fiori to get some lunch.
There I sat amongst the hoards of turists and ate my bowl of Minestrone con Crostini (which, according to Camilla, is very unpopular amongst Italians, though she says that she loves it) and my Acqua Mineralle Frizzante, followed by a Caffè. Mmmmm. Once I finished, I decided I needed to pay a visit to my favorite bakery, where I used to always get little marzipan fruits. Yes, daily. They are highly addictive! I think more so than gelato, because gelato always ends up very big, while these little fruits are miniscule. Unfortunately (or fortunately), they did not have marzipan, so I ended up with several Amaretti cookies instead, quite possibly my favorite Italian cookie. I would say cookie in general, except I think that chocolate chip / oatmeal chocolate chip cookies will always take the cake (so to speak).
I then walked through Piazza Navona and got extremely lost (and therefore learned a lot about Rome - really I like not having a map!) and got to see many things, including some Audi-sta (man driving an Audi?) who had somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of a very, VERY small intersection (on a side note, this reminds me of my taxi ride to Camilla's house, during which the driver literally backed straight into a parked car - yes, I heard a crunch! - and then drove away as thogh nothing had even happened!!). But I eventually made my way back to the Spanish Steps, now absolutely packed with people and from there to Piazza del Popolo, where I found a spot on the center monument to sit and read. It proved to be harder than I expected to read the only book I have - a Spanish book by Santiago Romaglilo or something, called Memorias de una dama - due to all the people watching. And eventually even harder when two very gay-looking guys (highly styled hair, pierced ears, and nose-rings) walked up and with a "Posso?" sat down next to me. They showed me that Villa Borghese was actually right behind me, and asked me if I wanted to go (I have STILL not been!!) But I said that as much as I wanted to see Villa Borghese, I really needed to go home.
And I did. And got lost.
Ciao! Baci!
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