Friday 21 October 2011

Friday 21 October 2011

Sorry for the late posting; I had some blog accessibility issues.

Wednesday night and Thursday morning, while I was flying to Rome, the city had one of its worst thunderstorms in years.  Low parts of the city flooded, including the Coliseum, Forum and Circus Maximus (the Romans had built these in valleys between the hills and installed extensive drainage systems, which were apparently more effective than the modern storm drains).  People were canoeing in the Circus Maximus!  Some low-lying parts of the highway from the airport at Fiumicino into town were under water, which is why it took almost an hour and a half for me to get to my apartment on Thursday.  You can read about the flooding here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8841553/Severe-flooding-shuts-Colosseum.html .  I finally got into town, unpacked, went shopping for some necessities, had a salad at Good (one of my favorite cafés) and went to bed early.

Friday morning I went into the center of town to see what was going on.  The water was everywhere, and the Coliseum and Forum were both closed because they were still flooded.  I could still look down into the Forum Romanum and the Imperial Fora, where there were huge pools of standing water everywhere.  I walked through town, around the Vittoriano, and up to Piazza Navona. It was also somewhat waterlogged, but not closed.  I saw an advertisement for a string quartet recital in on of the area churches for the next evening, and I added that to my agenda.

The day was sunny and warm, about 70 degrees. I was wearing light chinos and a short-sleeved polo shirt, which meant that I was sweating. The Romans, of course, were all wearing coats, hats and scarves.  Several folks had on hats, and a few had scarves with hoods pulled up.  The flooding did not prevent the women of Rome from wearing their usual stylish shoes on the wet and slippery cobbled streets.  I have figured out how Roman women can walk on cobblestones in high heels: the cracks between the cobbles are all filled with cigarette butts and wine corks.

I came back to my apartment in Trastevere, made some notes for the paper I’m presenting at the conference, and made a couple of phone calls (free-I love Skype!).  Early evening was setting in with a clear sky and warm sun, so I went for a stroll around Trastevere before dinner.  I stopped at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the great ancient churches of the city right around the corner from my apartment.  Some of the most beautiful medieval mosaics in the city are in this church, and the columns of the main nave are re-used from ancient Roman temples and palaces. 

I ended my walk with dinner at Tony’s.  This is my favorite place to eat in all of Rome, maybe in the entire world.  I’ve been going there for years now, and dine there every time I’m in Rome.  As I approached, Tony and a couple of the staff whom I know came running up to give me the Italian hug and double-cheek kiss and welcome me back to Rome and Trastevere.  A new waiter, whom I hadn’t seen before, brought a menu over, but Tony waved him away, saying that he knew what I wanted already and would bring me dinner.  First came a big antipasto misto with grilled eggplant and zucchini, marinated beans, a slice of corn frittata, bruschetta with tomatoes, prosciutto, and mozzarella.  The main course was spaghetti alla carbonara, one of Rome’s traditional pastas, and one of my favorites.  Tony came and talked to me for a while, giving me news of the neighborhood and telling me about the huge storm that I had just missed. 

I decided to skip the offered dessert and ambled over to Piazza di Santa Maria, where I had a little gelato (lemon and mango) sitting on the fountain in front of the basilica.  It was dark, so I headed home, made some notes, and went to bed.