Etruscans, rally, and laundry

Since it was the weekend, on Saturday I decided to take the day off work and visit the Etruscan museum.  This museum is housed in the Villa Giulia, a beautiful suburban villa in the northern part of Villa Borghese, Rome’s large public park.  I took the tram to Largo Argentina and caught a bus there.  The museum is excellent, filled with fantastic Etruscan antiquities.  The Etruscans were a strange people who dominated central Italy before the Romans (Tuscany is named after them), and much of their history and culture is still only partially understood.  When Rome was only a small city-state it was dominated for a while by Etruscans.  The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC after driving out the last Etruscan king.  Unfortunately, I only got one photo in the museum before a guard yelled NO FOTO! at me (there were no signs).  I spent the morning going through the well-displayed and labeled exhibits of vases, weapons, sculpture, jewelry, and funerary monuments.  They do permit photography in the outside areas of the villa, which include a reconstructed Etruscan temple, so I took some pics there.

In the early afternoon I headed home.  A tram took me to Piazza del Popolo, where I unexpectedly encountered a huge rally of labor unions, activist groups, and students protesting the government.  I heard shouts of Berlusconi fascista! and Berlusconi va*******lo, so I assumed that they weren’t fans of the current prime minister.  I was about the only person crossing Piazza del Popolo in my direction; going the other way were about 10,000 other people.  I took some pics of the rally in Popolo.  The entire atmosphere was very festive; despite the anti-government shouts, people seemed to be having a great time, dancing and drinking wine while the speakers were talking.  The piazza looked quite cheerful with hundreds of balloons and banners decorating the baroque buildings and ancient obelisk in the center of the square.  Needless to say it took about twenty minutes to cross the piazza.   Walking down the street to Piazza di Spagna was like walking against a parade.  I eventually made it to Largo Argentina and caught the tram back to Trastevere.

At home I skyped Gary and we talked for a while.  Then I decided to try a new adventure: laundry in the little, high-tech washing machine next to the shower.  It’s not very big, and six pairs of socks and boxers made an entire load.  I remembered to put the drain hose into the bathtub (otherwise the water would drain all over the floor and drip into the shop below me).  The machine was actually very easy to use, but slow; a load takes over an hour to wash.  There’s no dryer, but the apartment has a drying rack, which I unfolded and set up in the living room.  The best part of doing laundry was the detergent, which smells so good you almost want to drink it.  The scent is muschio bianco, or white moss.  I don’t know if white moss is edible.  I’ll have to find out.

It was getting late, so I skyped Gary again, then went for a walk to Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, my usual evening hangout.  The night was warm and the piazza was busy with both trasteverini and tourists.   An accordionist on a unicycle entertained the crowd for a little while, followed by an ensemble of guitar, saxophone, double bass and electric piano.  They were pretty good, and played traditional Italian music interspersed with pieces directed at American tourists, including Frank Sinatra songs and the theme music from The Godfather and The Sopranos.  After a small gelato (limone) I went inside, checked my email, and went to bed.

Some new pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielcmack/sets/72157625131027846/.