Now, where was I?

Sorry about that unannounced absence. Shortly after Epiphany, I went back to the states for a few months. I had just about finished up an entry about Rome’s post holiday return to normalcy and had every intention of posting it but…well…forgot. When I remembered, I went back and looked at it a couple days ago and there really wasn’t that much of interest in it (Except for the Italian’s curious affinity for tossing things out the window on New Year’s Eve. Mostly firecrackers, which can be tough on pedestrian’s nervous system but also anything that they plan to replace in the coming year, running the gamut from dishes to small appliances to furniture. I have a friend who swears he saw a dishwasher come winging out of a fourth floor window in Naples.). We’ll just let the rest of it go.
Anyway, I was home for about four weeks but now I’m back. Of course the whole idea of home has become a little tricky of late. I mean, I live in Rome and this more and more feels like home; I have friends and routines and haunts, but in the long run, it’s not really home. I’m undoubtedly an American (all the Italians seem to know it) and I know I’ll be heading back to the States before too long (August, it appears) so this is clearly too temporary to be called Home but things aren’t that much clearer over there. All my stuff is in storage in one spot or another, my new driver’s license has me in Maryland, but all my mail goes to Ohio. I am clearly confused or, at best, all over the place.
But here’s a curious thing, at least curious to me. When I was home and talking to people about Rome or just thinking about it for that matter, it seemed so very far away. Now, I’m fully aware of the number of miles (4,462 according to US Air) and the ocean in between but it seemed even farther away than that. Some sort of Brigadoon or alternate reality sort of thing. Some other life holding very little in common with the life I’d been living in the states. The only point of commonality being and, truth be told, I suspect I’m a slightly different person on this side of the Atlantic than on that. Nothing major but little things are different. I’m much more apt to strike up conversations with total strangers over here, for instance. Still can’t whistle though.
Anyway, I’m back in Rome. Took a few long walks around town and everything is pretty much as I left it. (As Tim Cockey pointed out, I left it in ruins.) A noticed a couple of things about Rome while I was in the states. First of all, Rome proper is a small city. I’ve mentioned this before but it was really brought home when I tried to negotiate Baltimore without a car. In Rome, I walk everywhere and it’s no big deal. My first day back in Baltimore, I decided to walk to my doctor’s appointment. It took, well, forever.
Another thing, while Rome’s hectic and crowded, there’s something very light about it. Walking around NYC, I was struck by the fact that it just felt heavier than Rome’s hubbub. Now in all fairness, NYC was still dealing with leaden snow dumps and some major league slush which would dampen anyone’s mood but on average the action is a little more oppressive. (I say this even though my apartment here was burgled in my absence. Nothing of mine was taken, but it does mean that I’ve been the victim of property crime three times in less than ten months. My first hand experience with crime in Baltimore was having an 8-track stolen out of my car which, come to think of it, may have been a favor. Rome, somehow, still feels infinitely safer A friend of mine refers to Rome as “her toy” and I know what she means. The cars are tiny and the motorinos operate at about the same pitch as an electric razor. Besides people are kissing on every other street corner. That tends to lighten the mood.
So I’m back (I keep saying that) and glad to be here. An old friend of mine (and by old I mean enduring as opposed to aged) asked me what I was going back for or to, and I had to think about it. Of course, Rome is a stunning city and I haven’t been here anywhere near long enough to start taking it for granted. There’s also an obvious freedom in this move. The whole notion of me setting most everything aside and going elsewhere for a bit is as surprising to me as it is to anyone else, and there’s something to be said for the pleasant discovery that your world isn’t quite the place you think it was.
It actually reminds me of my college years, and not just in terms of my humble standard of living. We had this thing called a January term, sometimes referred to as a mini-mester, that would be devoted to a single course, often something totally unrelated to one’s usual course of study. The college would offer a number of courses but more often people would design their own and these self designed courses ran the gamut from rigorous scientific research to “Explorations of Hitchhiking as an Alternate Mode of Transportation” or “A study of Leisure in Key West.” As you can imagine, some of these were nothing more than an excuse to blow off and vacate but some were ultimately valuable, sometimes in surprising ways.
The other thing about those January terms was that you only had to do two of them during your four years (This was back when college was a four year proposition.), and most people chose to do them off campus so the student population shrunk by about 75%. As a result, the usual patterns were tossed to the wind and everything seemed, if not new, at least different. New friendships were formed, routines were adjusted and dismantled. The usual bets were off. I used to love it.
So I guess I came back for my mini-mester, a brief detour with some intensive study into history, architecture, and art, before returning to my usual course of study. I know a fair number of people over here who came for a summer a number of years ago and are still here, and most chuckle knowingly when I say I’m only here ‘til August but I don’t see myself staying indefinitely. Setting aside all the realities of visas and licenses, I don’t think I would want to. I’m fully aware that, in some ways, I’m lucky to be unencumbered enough to be able to pop myself out of one life and into another, but I also know that there’s a lot to be said for many of life’s encumbrances.
But enough of that for now. Did I mention I’m back in Rome?

Auguri!

It’s December 29th as I write this, the fifth day of Christmas. Back home I suspect the holiday is long over, the Christmas season, at least in my experience, begins some time before Halloween and ends shortly after Christmas dinner. Over here, it’s still going strong.
Of course, it starts a lot later over here. With the exception of the fake pine arch that went up in front of the bar down the street around Halloween (and actually, it may have been up year round and I just hadn’t noticed it before), the first signs of the holiday don’t appear until well into December. Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is a major holiday and is the usual day for decorating the home and putting up a tree if you have one. (The Christmas tree is not a universal decoration in Italy and, I’ve been told, becomes scarcer as you travel south. Everybody, on the other hand, puts up a Nativity scene.)

The city welcomed the Christmas season at its own pace. Every day something new would appear. I walked into Piazza Navonna on the 3rd to find that they had cleared out the art peddlers and street musicians and had set up what looked like a carnival midway, complete with merry-go-round and games. Booths around the perimeter have been selling crèche figures and La Befana, the witch who fills the stockings of good children on Epiphany. Stalls sell torrone, a seasonal candy of nougat and nuts that comes in both a soft, gummy morbido and a molar cracking duro, as well as candy apples, Nutello smeared crepes (I have unfortunately discovered that Nutello is good stuff), and cotton candy, which on windy nights tends to slip its surly bonds and go wafting through the air. A disreputable looking Santa holds court from his sleigh by one of the fountains.
Throughout the city, decorations went up piece meal. The tree halfway up the Spanish Steps was only partially decorated by the 15th. The Nativity Scene in St Peter’s Square, assembled behind canvas,isn’t revealed until Christmas Eve. The inflatable snow globe next store to the Shwarma Shack didn’t arrive until the 20th. Every walk through town became a little more interesting. I have yet to see an animated Christmas shop window but the wrought chocolate stable at Giolitti’s continues to draw a crowd.

In the ongoing debate between colored and white lights, white clearly got the nod, with a strong contingent of pale blue on a few streets. Via de Coronari (the way of the rosary bead makers), a straight narrow shot from Navonna to the Tiber, is hung thick with strands and stars and looks great, as do a number of the main thoroughfares.
Sadly the weather didn’t always cooperate. A cold snap about 10 days ago froze the water in some of the fountains but it was followed by a warming trend and lots of rain. On Christmas Eve morning the skies opened, throwing down monsoon sheets of rain. (I, unfortunately, was conducting a tour of the Palatine Hill at the time. I’ve never been that wet in my adult life.) Rain pounded through the afternoon but eased around 5. A friend had called that afternoon with tickets to Midnight Mass at St. Pete’s so I was grateful.

Midnight Mass started at 10:00 PM (Don’t ask questions.). The doors opened at 8:30 and we planned to arrive around 8. By then the line already completed a full circle around St. Peter’s Square (which is neither a square nor a circle but it is really big). The wait wasn’t bad. A group of German priest behind us took advantage of the time to practice their hymns and we took turns wandering over to check out the Nativity Scene. (There was a side installation of a Philippine fishing village (the Apostles were fishers of men) that was interesting. Apparently, every year a different country is awarded the honor of adding a temporary addition to the display.) We were inside in no time.
St Peter’s is massive. It’s also one of the few buildings that uses forced perspective tricks to make it appear and feel smaller than it really is. We were sitting fairly close to the aisle and realized when he passed that the pope was a small man but by the time he got to the altar, he was tiny. Choirs were stashed in various side chapels and a small brass choir was perched on a balcony that was w-a-a-y up there. Mass was being broadcast by Vatican TV so the entire basilica was bathed in bright light. The multi-lingual service was hardly an intimate experience but memorable nonetheless. Walking out at the close and gazing down on the square with its massive obelisk and tree was a stunner.
The crowd quickly soaked up the fleet of waiting cabs and the Metro had stopped running at 9 so I was walking but the rain had stopped and it was a pleasant enough night. It wasn’t a lonely walk. In a town of 500 churches, there are plenty of people on the streets as midnight mass is letting out. I stopped off at Piazza Navonna for a candy cane (first of the season, and at 1 Euro a piece, probably the last) and made my way home.
We all have our Christmas traditions and I have mine, so before going to sleep I got on my laptop and sorted through youtube until I found a clip of Darlene Love singing Christmas (Baby, please come home), then fired up my Kindle, hopped into bed and started reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I think I made it to the fourth paragraph.

Christmas day itself was quiet and drizzling. Heading out to a brunch, I would have sworn the town was deserted but as the day progressed, more and more people appeared on the streets and by nightfall, a number of shops had opened. By Sunday, the streets were in full bustle. The rain seemed to have finely cleared away and a bright, jovial, stirring cold had settled in. Everywhere people were wishing each other Buon Natale, the more politically correct Bona Feste, or the all-purpose Auguri, which translates roughly into “Best Wishes” but is far more robust and festive than that meager greeting.

And so it continues. The streets are full of visitors, Santa still is still offering his lap, Carabinari’s, particularly those scheduled by attractions like the Trevi Fountain, have traded in their sub-machine guns for capes and cutlasses and pose with children, and folks are singing carols in St. Peter’s Square. I wandered down to Navonna Tuesday night were a small and mobile brass band was cooking up a second line-Latino hybrid that had driven a bunch of high school kids to spontaneous choreography. It didn’t have much to do with Christmas but it was festive…and what’s wrong with that.
Auguri!

Thanks. I needed that.

Originally my opening line was going to be something along the lines of “Truth be told, this ex-pat  business isn’t  always everything it’s cracked up to be” but that sounds really petulant, not to mention naïve, so let’s just say that while it has a lot of highs, it can hit some real lows, which doesn’t exactly qualify as a news flash either. Last time I wrote I was coming off of a really great trip through Turkey. It was a remarkable experience, a real high, but by the time I was writing about it, things had already started to slip a bit.
It started when I took the evening shuttle bus to the Istanbul airport only to discover that my 11:50 flight had left at 11:50 AM (as scheduled, I might add). Now, in my defense I would like to point out that Pegasus Airlines has only one flight daily from Istanbul to Rome and that when I made the trip in August we left a few minutes before midnight, but that’s a weak excuse because over here the airport follow 24 hour time and a flight leaving ten minutes before midnight would be leaving at 23:50. Regardless, there wasn’t a hotel near which meant I was going to be spending the night in the Istanbul Airport.
That actually isn’t that bad of a deal. Heck, when you consider I spent the previous night on a bus, it could even be a step up. The drag was that for the previous couple of days, I’d been trying, with progressively less success, to ignore a burgeoning toothache which was suggesting that here was a root canal in my future. Add to that the realization that the orange tabby that had been hopefully eyeing me while I ate my final Turkish meal had apparently retaliated for my refusal to share by spraying the day pack which, under other circumstances, would have served as my pillow. Sleep was going to be hard to come by.
Anyway, I got through the night and back to the Rome, where, after tossing my pack in the washer, I got re-acquainted with my bed… so, things were looking up, right? Well, not exactly because within the next week I caught some nasty upper respiratory mess, met with a very accommodating Italian dentist who wanted to pull all my remaining wisdom teeth (I think he has some new equipment he’s dying to try out), and ( and here’s the kicker) had my pocket picked in Naples (I don’t really want to talk about it but let’s just say, if you go to get on the commuter train and it’s way too crowded, don’t squeeze your way in, just wait for the next one. Oh, and if you have a money belt, use it fercryinoutloud!)
Now I know it’s unseemly to be complaining when one’s living in the Eternal City, even if winter here can be a cold and rainy thing, but there it is. Any city has the potential to become a just another city from time to time I suppose. At least it does for me. Usually, the antidote for that is a little exploring but sometimes the motivation can be hard to come by. (Have I mentioned that the winter months tend to be cold and rainy?)
Of course, then a touch of homesickness creeps in. I start longing for a big cup of drip coffee in a “to go” cup, speculating what Christmas will be like without the lights of Hampden or Darlene Love on Letterman, and wondering what’s happening on this season of Dexter or 30 Rock or Treme (Is there even a new season of Treme?). I even got pretty close to going to McDonald’s the other day (but I blame that on a scene in Laura Lippman’s latest book.) Anyway, you get the idea. Put it all together and it’s a funk. Nothing clinical but not of any value either.
So, here’s what happened. A couple of days ago I was futzing around the apartment ‘cause it was cold and damp outside but when I looked out the window and it was snowing. Not hard, mind you, but it was more than flurries. This is not a common occurrence over here. Last February a couple of inches fell one morning and the city ground to a halt because no one had seen that for 25 years. A number of friends of mine mentioned that they had taken pictures of St Peter’s dome covered with snow but I had already decided on my destination in case of snow- the Pantheon.
Now it’s a half hour walk from my apartment to the Pantheon and as I set off I’m hoping that I get here before this stops. By the time I get to the Colosseum, just a few flakes are coming down but things start to pick up again as I’m head by the imperial forums. Some even seems to be sticking in the Piazza Venezia which holds the city’s largest Christmas tree. (Great lights on this tree, by the way. In addition to your basic white lights, there are these long (18 “) hanging strips that have a series of small bulbs firing in sequence. The resulting effect suggests shooting stars. Never seen that before.)

Thankfully, it’s still coming down by the time I get to the Piazza della Rotunda. Inside a small crowd has gathered as, apparently, I’m not the only one with this idea. It’s subtle but snow is drifting down through the oculus. I snap a number of pictures but I doubt that it will translate. That’s ok. (It’s gonna have to be). I put my camera back in my pocket and just watch for a bit. Somebody calls my name and I turn to greet a couple of friends of mine who had come down as well. (I’m still surprised when I run into people I know on the streets of the city.) We all just stand there looking up. It’s actually not all that dramatic, I mean you really have to look to see it but, then again, I’m living in Rome, and standing in the Pantheon with friends, and it's snowing. What are the chances of that happening?
(This didn't start out to be a Christmas post but for the last four days, this program hasn't let me load pictures.  So, on the off chance that it works today, I'll close by saying...)
Buon Natale, everyone.

A Second Helping of Turkey

Some things are better the second time around.
I went to Turkey last August or, more accurately, I went to Istanbul. It’s a mammoth city. Population estimates for the greater Istanbul area range from 10 to 16 million people, and while it occasionally looks like a western city (Starbucks, Burger King, Sbarro’s Pizza for that matter), it’s mosques and minarets, head scarves, and five times daily calls to prayer let you know very clearly that you’re not in Kansas anymore. I liked it a lot but also found it intimidating. The language was totally unrecognizable (although there are plenty of English speakers), the population tended to be pretty stone faced, and those that weren’t were trying to sell me a carpet. It was hot, humid, exhausting but, nevertheless, intriguing.
Since that trip a number of people have told me that I needed to see the rest of the country and since it’s prudent visa-wise to get out of Italy every now and then (now and then being every 90 days, long story), I decided to go back and head out into the country. I flew into Istanbul Gokken Airport (it’s in the Asian part of the city) and found an inexpensive shuttle to my hostel. Traffic was murder (as usual) and the trip took three hours (in other words, it took less time to get from Rome to Istanbul than it took to get from the airport to the hotel.) The driver and his sidekick, however, seemed to be having the time of their lives, constantly changing lanes, cutting people off, and driving on the shoulder. Istanbul traffic makes Rome looks organized, traffic lights appear to be merely suggestions, crosswalks are flat-out dangerous, and the alternate merge is a foreign concept.

The highlight of the trip occurred when they flagged down a candy salesman working around one of the toll plazas. They bought two boxes of whatever he was selling and passed them around the van. It appeared to be the Turkish version of cotton candy but more brittle (candy fiberglass insulation would be close). It tasted of sugar with a hint of some kind of grain in there as well. The candy was forgettable but I still can’t get over the fact that the guy was running around highway traffic selling it. (Ok, it was congested highway traffic, but still. This would be like working as a squeegee kid at the Delaware Memorial Bridge.)

I eventually got to the hostel, checked in and headed out to wander. I was staying in Sultanahmet, the old part of the city. I walked over a few blocks and cut through the road between the Blue Mosque and Sofia Haj. It’s hard to grasp how massive these two buildings are. At first glance they appear to each be hunkered down on respective hills but under further inspection it becomes clear that each is the hill, that beneath the main body of each mosque is a cascade of smaller domes and roofs that support them. The Sofia which was desanctified years ago and is now a museum looks a little worse for wear by day but by night, it holds its ground impressively.

I grabbed a kebab at a nearby restaurant, and then stopped at one of the sidewalk vendors who was ladling out what was described as an Ottoman era winter health beverage made of milk, honey, and spices. It tasted like a thinned version of egg custard. Not bad but I could only drink about a quarter of a cup. Back to the hostel and to bed.

My bus to the hinterlands wasn’t leaving until late in the day so I had some time to wander around the city. The carpet touts were still thick around Sultanhamet but once I got a few blocks away the pressure really lets up. Besides I was learning that it was more fun to talk with the touts than it was to ignore them. Turks are, by and large, gregarious and it’s not unusual to have someone start up a conversation and follow it up with an invitation to get a cup of tea. I never entirely trusted that invitation and always declined, but I suspect that most were sincere.

Down by the Bospherous the fish boats were doing a brisk business selling sandwiches and the Galata Bridge was thick with folks fishing off the sides. Mostly they were reeling in little five inch numbers which some would chop up, marinate in lemon juice, and sell on the spot. Others were managing to land some larger fish: trout, bass, and something that looked like an oversize version of the pencil fish from my childhood aquarium. I crossed the bridge just as it was starting to rain so I decided to double back, head to the hotel where I caught the shuttle to the station for my bus to Cappadocia.

Turkey doesn’t have much of a train network and inter-city air can be expensive so the preferred mode of transit is the overnight bus. I had mixed feelings about this. I don’t sleep well in any moving conveyance but, it did bring back fond memories of touring Europe in the splendid company of Battlin’ Dan McCormick and the inestimable Bruce Greene. Armed with backpacks and Eurail passes, we used to rely on overnight trains to save on room costs but I’m 30 years older and far less flexible than I was in those days. I would have been willing to spring for a room.
Not much to say about the bus ride. It was long but reasonably comfortable. What appeared to be a broad Turkish crime comedy was playing on the monitors. Crew men prowled the aisles handing out tea and coffee. Nobody seemed to speak a lick of English. I managed to fall asleep around 3:30 or so but we immediately pulled into a rest stop which, of course, woke me. Sometime around 6, we pulled into the Nevsehir, where I was pointed towards the short bus to Goreme, my destination.

Nevsehir isn’t exactly a garden spot. Most of what I saw was apartment buildings that were either under construction or recently finished. Nothing was landscaped. The whole town looked bombed out. Within about 15 minutes all the other passengers had departed the bus. It was just bleary-eyed me and the driver slowly moving through fields of shale and I’m wondering “What am I going to do here for the next two days?” Little did I know.
The terrain started to look more attractive as we approached Goreme. Hills stretched towards mountains and a smattering of the distinctive conical structures that the area is famous for began to appear. The driver dropped me off in front of the Goreme tourist information station where a driver from the hostel was waiting (how ‘bout that?). Five minutes later I was sitting amidst the cushions surrounding the dining table in the terrace café of the rustic Paradise Cave Hostel. The center of the room was occupied by a squat square wood-burning stove warming the room and the ubiquitous Turkish teapot sitting on it. (While you hear a lot about Turkish coffee, tea appears to be their passion and they brew it in a double boiler pot with a small pot of super strong tea resting on top of a larger pot of steaming water which is used to dilute the other.)
The other residents were a mix of folk from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Korea. I think I had at least 25 years on all of them but they didn’t seem to mind my bag roller amongst their backpacks and, frankly, I was enjoying the casually desolate atmosphere. Breakfast was typically Turkish: eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, olives, and cheese crepe thing that was great. The staff was inordinately low-key. At some point they jotted down my passport number and pointed me towards my room. They never mentioned money or asked to see my voucher. It all seemed to be far away from the US, or Rome, or even Istanbul for that matter.
As the name implies, parts of the Paradise Cave are carved into the stone that dominates the area. In the case of my room it was the bathroom, which was freezing, but I managed a quick shower before jumping into a van for the 200 km Cappadocia tour that was part of the tour package.

Capadoccia is known for its otherworldly landscape. What I wasn’t prepared for was the number of other worlds represented. Underground cities carved into the bedrock, valleys full of sandstone structures that looked like piped meringue, limestone towers topped by conical boulders, and the previously mentioned stone teepees. They call them fairy chimneys. The amazing thing is that so many of these structures have been used as housing from 800 BC until as recently as the 40s. Many were the homes of monastics and a number of carved and frescoed churches remain. It was an astounding day, no sleep or otherwise, and I crashed early.
The alarm rang at 5 the next morning because I was supposed to be at Urgu Balloons at 5:30. Apparently, if you’re going to go up in a hot air balloon, Cappadocia’s a good place to be, and while I have issues with heights, I figured as long as I’m here… Still not sure why they wanted us there so early though. From 5:30 til 7 we did nothing but drink tea, eat cookies, and watch the same video over and over and over again. We also were keeping track of every gust and breeze because the previous day’s trips were cancelled due to excessive wind.

Finally, a little after 7, a couple of pick-ups from rival firms cruised by with baskets on the beds. A rumble went through the crowd. Minutes later we were ushered into a van and off we went. The staging area was only about a half mile away and clearly we weren’t the only ones with this idea. There were at least 30 balloons being filled and launched. I appreciated the buzz of activity thinking it wouldn’t give me time to get nervous, but actually, there was a brief moment. I had just climbed into the basket and was resting my elbow on the side when I looked down at the grass six ft below and realized before long that would be 6000 meters away. I felt that quick rush of panic, thought “I can’t do this” and then settled. A minutes later we were ascending and it couldn’t have been smoother. The woman next to me said “I feel like I’m floating” and I pointed out that she was, but she just kept saying it so I had to pitch. Other than that it was a perfect morning.
The rest of the day was much like the previous one but in a good way and actually, that was how the week went. Overnight buses, natural wonders, and historical sights. Turkey is rich with old Roman settlements. From Cappadocia, I traveled to Pammukalle, site of Hieropolis but also known for its calcium rich hot springs that leave the cascading hillside looking ice-encrusted. From there, on to the Roman ruins in Ephasus, site of the Temple to Artemis, one of the wonders of the ancient world (only one column remains today but the field is full of schoolkids selling bookmarks and flipbooks ).

Pamukkale

Being late November, the crowds were thin throughout, mostly young backpackers. When I was in Europe years ago, Turkey was not a standard stop on the itinerary but I don’t think Midnight Express did much to encourage travel there. Today though, it seems a fairly popular stop. Cheap, casual, windswept, and ancient. Here’s a history that stretches considerably before the founding of Rome and, in many cases, appears more intact. A hard place to leave.

The Library at Ephasus

One last word about the overnight buses. While I found them exhausting, they did offer some interesting glimpses into Turkish culture. At most of the late night bus stations, large crowds had gathered, playing drums and blowing chanters as young men were being seen off. Through the windows, I could see them working through the crowds, kissing the hands of the older women of the town and then pressing them to their foreheads, in a display of affection and, I guess, servility. In some cases, the men of the village would hoist the departing ones on their shoulders and carried them moist-eyed to the bus. I later learned that this was the traditional send-off for mandatory military service. The guide in Pamukkale explained the custom to me then turned away, saying that he was about to start crying himself because he hadn’t served his term yet.

I don’t know that I’ll make it back to Turkey. There are other places to go over here, but there’s more to see there as well, the massive stone heads of Nemrut Dagi, the acropolis of Pegamum, the dervish rites in Konya. It’s got a lot to recommend. If anybody reading this is looking for a place to visit, that isn’t like anyplace else, give it some serious thought. And if you need a travel companion, you probably wouldn’t have to ask me twice.

The Rainy Season

The cold and damp thing that the Romans call winter has descended on the city. I guess I knew it was coming. It had been getting dark earlier and earlier and though we were enjoying 70 degree weather a couple weeks ago, the nights carried a serious chill. The daily rain started in earnest last week and although there are deceptive periods of impossibly blue skies, they’re always accompanied by a flotilla of gunboat grey clouds organizing themselves on the horizon. I left my apartment building yesterday afternoon and had immediate cause to regret that I hadn’t brought my sunglasses but in ten minutes I was huddled under one of the arches of the Coliseum, waiting for a cloudburst to play itself out.
If we were going strictly on temperature, Rome doesn’t really get that cold (well, so far), but the cold it gets is a damp cold that settles in the bones and joints and feels colder. (Conversely, the Roman sun is fierce and as a result, the summer heat is hotter than the thermometer would indicate.) Anyway, the lower temperatures call for some adjustments. I think I’ve mentioned before that while most Roman homes have a washing machine, dryers are both a rarity and a luxury. Most opt for a drying rack either on the balcony, or, if you don’t have a balcony (that would be me), in the living room. In the summer most clothes dry in about a day so once you get used to the towels feeling like 20 grit sandpaper, you’re good to go, but once you get to the end of October, you’re looking at two, three, maybe four days to dry, if you’re lucky. The choice comes down to walking around with the faint and occasional scent of mildew or heading to the coin operated Laundromat. It’s the equivalent of 12 bucks a load to run through the machines but at least people don’t look at you funny on the Metro.
On the other hand, there are a number of upsides to the change in temperature, the most obvious being the fact that it beats the summer swelter of July, but there are more. Italian hot chocolate for instance. Throw away any conception you have of hot chocolate. This stuff is dark and rich and just a touch thinner than pudding. I think that Starbucks tried to market something like this six or seven years ago as a “sipping chocolate” but it didn’t take. (Interesting tidbit, the Italian government has blocked Starbucks form coming into the country, saying that coffee is too important to Italian culture to allow interlopers. I’m actually a big fan of Starbucks but I think that’s so cool.)
Anyway, a cup of the stuff on a cold evening is a comforting thing and probably wouldn’t be half as good if it were only half as raw outside. I was about five minutes from home the other night and decided to walk an hour out of my way to get a cup at my current favorite spot. There’s something wonderful about bellying up to the bar with a bunch of adults slowly sipping scalding hot chocolate slathered with whip cream, totally oblivious to the streaks of white and brown dotting their lips. (One of the things I love about Romans is the unapologetic way they indulge their sweet tooth because, in spite of my attempts to appear vaguely sophisticated at the dinner table, I’ve got the palate of an eight year old. If I saw fettuccini alla Lik-M-Aid on a menu, I would probably order it.)
Actually the cold weather just calls out for comfort food in general and Italians know comfort food. The cheese, the starch, the fat, they know how to do it. I think I survived the summer on watermelon and aqua frizzante but with the drop in temperature, the restaurant menus look so much more inviting. All those cream sauces that would put me under in the summer seems sensible. The gnocchi at Vincenzo’s in Trestevere calls me by my name. Since the whole town is a stairmaster, there’s not a lot of guilt when you order dessert.

I grew up not too far from the Great Lakes and have reasonable experience with winter. We would get a healthy snowfall around the first of the year and not see grass again until sometime in the middle of March. I’ve lost my share of mittens, been convinced that frostbite had settled into my ears, and suffered the indignity of snowpants. I hadn’t, however, ever gained an appreciation of the scarf until coming to Italy. In the first place, they look great with numerous styles of application, but, more importantly, they work. I had no idea and for years thought they were mainly a fashion statement. Then, last Spring I was in Florence and it was snowing and I hadn’t packed for snow but scarves were available on the sidewalk for cheap. It was a revelation. The Italians though, have elevated the scarf to an art form featuring everything from the heavy wool numbers that get a quick loop and their on, to long but light materials that get wound around the neck 4 or 5 times giving the impression of a softer version of Nubian neck rings.
I think it is thanks to a scarf that the tenor who works the piazza outside the Pantheon can keep that gig going year round. Now I don’t pretend to know much about opera and don’t know that I can tell the difference between a good opera singer and a simply passable one but this guy sounds good to me. Of course, it helps that he’s practicing his craft in Rome. If he were standing on a corner in Sandusky, Ohio he would probably just get funny looks, but there’s something (dare I say it) magical about coming down a cobblestone alley and running into this guy belting out Nessum Dorma. (I suspect that this number has become the Pachelbel Canon of opera (Aretha covered it, for God’s sake.) and people in the know probably roll their eyes when they hear the opening strains, but I’m still not sick of it and find it ravishing (For the record, I don’t think I’ve ever called anything or anyone ravishing before, except maybe Rita Hayworth but it’s foggy. We were both pretty drunk at the time. Also for the record, Aretha nailed it.))
Back to the tenor. I’ve enjoyed listening to him year round but he seems to sound better in the winter. It may just be that the crowds are down and he doesn’t have as much ambient noise to compete with but then again the whole scene is more inviting in winter. The air is bracing and smells of roasting chestnuts. The crowd seems comfortable to draw a little tighter. I May be making all this up but I know I linger longer in the winter. I think he even manages to sell a few more CDs in the winter, Christmas and all.
Interestingly, there isn’t much of a trace of Christmas on the street yet. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I suspect that back home decorations have been up for a month but here, they are just starting to go up. There’s a bar down the street that put a green tinsel arch on the sidewalk back in October but it’s still sporting plastic Jack-O-Lanterns. Ornaments and the like are showing up on shelves and in a few windows but things are pretty low key. I’ve decided to stay in Rome for the holiday just to see how they do it here, although I’m not sure I’m up for the marathon that is Christmas mass at St. Peter’s.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, hope everyone has/had a good one. Amongst the things I’m grateful for are the friendships I’ve found here and the ones that glow back home. Special thanks to those who actually respond to my e-mails. It means a lot. In an unfortunate groaner, I’m heading to Turkey on Thanksgiving where there are plans for all night bus trips and hot air balloons. I’ll keep you posted.

Fearful Symmetries and a Quest Fulfilled

When last we spoke, I was walking home in the rain, having inadvertently left my umbrella on one of the many chunks of ancient marble that dot the city. Ok now, jump a head a week; same guy, same park, same kind of weather or at least a similar front moving through. I had spent the day wandering the city and enjoying the unexpectedly clear weather and, as clouds started to be gather, I had decided to sit for a bit before heading home. I parked myself on another slab of marble not 20 yards away from where I had lost my umbrella the week before. I pulled out my Blackberry, checked messages and had decided to respond to a few, when it began to rain. So, I pulled my umbrella (a loaner from a flat mate, actually. Haven’t found a replacement for my favorite model) out of my bag and aligning it awkwardly with hunched shoulder and elbow joint, proceed to go kalimba on my Blackberry.
A few minutes later, I realized that someone was calling “Signore” and upon looking up, realized that that someone was talking to me. I’d never seen him before but he was probably in his late thirties, with close cropped hair and sideburns. He had on a pair of jeans, a sweater, and the ubiquitous Italian scarf. He also had my shoulder bag, which he seemed to be offering me but when I reached out for it, he drew back the bag, identified himself as “Politzia,” and pointed over his shoulder to where a handcuffed man was being loaded into the back of a cruiser.
If you’ve ever been robbed, or burgled, or vandalized, you’re probably familiar with the slow moving logic that slides through the disorientation and eventually brings you to the conclusion that you have been made victim of a crime. What seemed particularly odd in this case was that fact that I had been sitting there the whole time and, under shelter of my umbrella, hadn’t seen a thing. Didn’t even know it happened.
There’s no point in going into details. We walked over to the station, which was only about 100 yards away where I was led up the steps and into a bare-walled room, and with me in one corner and the “perp” in the other, filled out our respective paperwork. (Mine being slowed up slightly by the language barrier.) Eventually they brought over the finished report (in Italian) and asked me to read it over for accuracy. It looked great to me, very official with nice margins and everything so I signed away and I was out the door with the admonishment to be a little more watchful in the future. I was feeling kinda silly and amused by how close I came to ending the day by walking home clutching my umbrella but having no idea where my bag was, but I was also feeling pretty lucky, and when I feel lucky, there’s only one place to go…up on the Aventine, to hear the monks sing Vespers at San Anselmo.
Now I’ve been trying to hear these monks for about four months. It started when I read a blurb somewhere recommending it as a Roman activity not to be missed. That was in late June and on a warm Saturday afternoon I trudged up the hill to reconnoiter, finding a note affirming that the monks did, in fact, sing nightly from the first of October to the end of June. So the next night, June 28th, I went back up the hill where, along with a dozen or so similarly puzzled folk, found that the church was locked up tighter than a drum, the monks having apparently taken off for the Poconos a little early this year. This was disappointing.
The summer passed but part of my brain was continually keeping track of the days remaining before the monk’s return. Around the third of fourth of October I was standing outside the church, this time wondering what the story was with the Swiss school choir that was knocking out some Viennese chorale music inside and where were the frippin’ monks anyway? In a particularly unsettling development, the previously mentioned sign that announced the schedule of singing was nowhere to be found. Eventually I found someone attached to the church who told me that the monks would, in fact be singing in October but not for another week or so, once school started up. I tried again a week and a half ago but that turned out to be All Saints Day and the program was a little more elaborate than usual; bishops, bright vestments, booming organ. Not bad, but not what I was looking for either.
So tonight was going to be my last shot. I’d already had one lucky break and was thinking that maybe my luck would hold, although that looked doubtful when the skies started to throw it down in buckets on the walk over but it rained itself out pretty quickly and although I was drenched…well, I’ve been drenched before.
From the walkway the church appeared dark and my heart started to sink but as I got closer to the glass I could see that there was some light inside. The door was unlocked and I walked in. There was no one inside but myself and the organist who was playing quietly. A few lights burned from the area around the altar but the rest of the church was in shadows. I sat.
I have no idea how old the church is. The interior appears newer than most of the churches in Rome. It is neither imposing nor intimate, and is, if anything, airy. The walls are painted a warm yellow. Granite columns, waxed glossy, line the walls. The apse behind the altar is decorated with a large but simple mosaic and a crucifix decorated with a Byzantine inspired painting of Christ is suspended from a light chain. It appears to float above the altar.
After 20 minutes or so, the organ player stopped playing and turned off the lamp above the keyboard. A few minutes later a handful of monks started to roam around the altar area. Candles were lit, hymnals placed, and the lights throughout the church were brought up (which was a shame). A half a dozen people had filtered in and taken seats and a man in secular dress distributed leaflets containing the evening’s Vespers.
A little after seven, the church’s bells started to ring. Too small to truly toll, they sounded more melodic than most of the larger bells in town. The monks filed in, there were about 60 of them, clad in long cassocks with the hoods pulled back. The organ sounded a chord, everyone stood, and they began. Simple plainsong sung in a lengthy call and response. The sound filled the church, but softly. Individual voices were muted in their own echoes but some words drifted through, words I hadn’t heard for a while like Domine, Secula Secularum and the like. There was a reading in Latin and a bit of incense. A bit more singing and that was it. The monks filed out, some coming into the congregation to greet visitors, but most disappearing through a side door. Outside it had stopped raining. Leaves were plastered flat on the driveway and a chill had seized the air. The moon was out and the sky was swirled with clouds. It was a beautiful night.
A couple days later a friend asked where the attraction to Vespers came from and I had to think about it. Some of it connects with younger days. The Latin, the plainsong, the incense all strike some old chord. I used to be an altar boy (between you and me, I’m the only altar boy I know who managed to catch his hair on fire while serving mass, but we won’t go into that.) and, as I recall, I was actually pretty devout in those days so I suppose there’s some comfort and nostalgia there.
More than that though, there’s something about the ritual use of music that resonates with me on a very basic level. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Muslim call to prayer coming out of a lousy loudspeaker or the long toll of the nine o’clock bell at the basilica down the street. There seems to be something noble in the desire to make music, to bring some order out of the noisy chaos, and it seems particularly moving when small humans wrap themselves with song in order to confront the bigger questions. I don’t know whether the intention of vespers is to sing out the toils of the day or sing in the mysteries of night, but I prefer to think it’s the latter. The implication is that there are larger issues at play that dwarf concerns over a lost shoulder bag or getting caught in the rain.

A few years ago I was at a BSO performance. I don’t remember what it was, probably one of those Mahler Symphony of a billion things but I remember being, as always, a little stunned by the opening note, all those instruments acting as one, and I remember looking at the wide array of brass, reed, and string instruments and thinking that this probably started with someone blowing on a hollow stem or noticing that his or her tummy made a funny noise when thumped just so. From somewhere around there the music impulse arose and it’s sacred stuff.

Now, one would hope that I would have some means of wrapping this up ‘cause I’ve strayed fairly far afield here, but I don’t. Words only take me so far and then, as far as my command of them goes, they only approximate the thought or the feeling. Amongst the wonders of Rome are a number of sounds and images that communicate something other and probably bigger than words and I suppose it’s no surprise that most are in churches. These days it’s the evening bell at Maria Maggiore, and the blue ceiling of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. It's that ghostly procession of cherubs peering down from from the dimly lit cupola of Sant’ Andrea al Quiranale (I suspect one of them will grow up to be Bruno Ganz.).  It's always the dome of the Pantheon, and now finally it's the Benedictine Vespers at San Anselmo.

When I Lay My 'Brella Down

Artist's Recreation

I lost my umbrella today. Again. It’s the second one I’ve misplaced in as many months (thankfully there was virtually no rain over the summer otherwise I’d probably be at 6 and counting). It was exactly the same model as the last one, not terribly expensive but not one of those three Euro numbers they sell on the street. It had some heft and it was reliable. I had done an all day tour with a couple from Virginia and after I loaded them into their cab back to the hotel, I settled onto one of the slabs of ruin that dot the grounds around Trajan’s column to rest my weary feet. I remember tossing down the umbrella and slinging my day pack off my shoulder. I probably sat for ten minutes or so before heading home and I suspect that was where I left it. I didn’t discover the loss until it started to rain and I began fishing around in my day pack looking for it and could only come up with juice boxes and fruit roll-ups or whatever it is I carry in that thing.
Now the worst time to realize that you’ve lost your umbrella is when it starts to rain, but I suspect that it’s also the most common. It’s also the kind of thing that tends to infuriate me because, a) it’s one of those dumb little things that can’t be undone and b) I tend to be a little on the reactive side. Now the down side to that is that I can have a perfectly good day undone by an inopportune broken shoelace but the upside is that a lousy day can be erased by a really good sunset (or chocolate chip cookie for that matter). It’s not a trait I’m particularly proud of but, well, there it is.
This time it didn’t bother me. I had just had one of those days that could have gone and seemed to go either way a number of times and consistently found itself in the exact opposite quadrant to the one where I thought it was headed. It was a good working example of the Chinese farmer story. (You know the story. Chinese farmer’s horse runs off in the night. Everybody in town says “What lousy luck.” Farmer says “too soon to tell.” Next day horse comes back being trailed by two wild ponies. Everybody in town says “What great luck.” Farmer says “Too soon to tell.” Next day the farmer’s son tries to saddle break one of the horses and breaks his collarbone. Everybody in town says… You get the idea.)
The day actually started the night before or actually a couple of days before that when I looked at my work schedule and realized I could point to the exact moment when the tourist season would end. Most of October was busy, as busy as July, but then somewhere in its last week, it all came to a crashing halt and judging by my schedule, I was, for all intents and purposes, unemployed. Now I like time off as well as the next the next guy but I can’t afford to stay over here if there’s no money coming in and I was, if not panicked, at least concerned. I went to sleep making a mental list of all the things I wanted to do before being forced to make a premature return to the states.
I awoke, however, to my Blackberry chiming that a text had come in. It had been sent last night but apparently took a few hours to work itself through the bunker-like concrete walls of my apartment building. (This is a not uncommon feature of Roman buildings and, for optimal reception, cell phones spend as much time sitting on window sills as they do in pockets and purses.) Anyway, it was a message from our scheduler asking me to take a Colisseum tour. A rush of relief washed over me. Maybe I’m not unemployed yet and can stop mentally packing. I immediately shot back a reply in the affirmative only to get a response saying that they got somebody else when I didn’t respond last night. Dag. But before I could get to upset, my Blackberry started to ring. It was the office calling, the booking office this time and they needed me for a couple who want a private tour. Bingo and a reprieve. I hopped in the shower, threw on some clothes and dashed out the door.
It was raining, one of those cold seeping rains that can only be truly appreciated from beneath a down comforter and accompanied by the knowledge that you don’t need to go anywhere. It really doesn’t fit so well with a three hour outdoor tour, spectacular ruins or not, but, well, whatareyougonnado?
So I popped open my umbrella and headed down the hill to the piazza where our tours begin. I checked in with the coordinator and…more good news (a hint of sarcasm creeps in). The Colosseum maintenance workers were on strike until 1:00. Italy has a lot of strikes but they are usually announced ahead of time and rarely last more than a day. No one seems to know what this one was about. Undoubtedly, shorter work hours and bigger paychecks play into it but as to specifics, who knows?
Anyway, the folks who are waiting for their group tour get reassigned to a later tour and filter off. The group guides go home. The coordinator and I chat for a bit but I know he wants to leave as well because it’s almost 10 and he can do that. I, on the other hand, will wait for my couple. Private tours get a one hour grace period, but private tours also have a tendency not to show up when the weather’s bad so I’m not optimistic. I also know from experience that standing alone under your umbrella in a pouring rain and an empty piazza tends to make one question one’s life choices. At least it does me. Did I mention that I wasn’t feeling optimistic?
I look at the coordinator and he’s clearly had enough. It’s cold and rainy, the colosseum is closed, everybody’s reassigned. His work is done and he starts to pack up. At that instance, my couple shows up. Wet and a little flustered looking. The coordinator apprises them of the situation and they look a little concerned for a moment and then she lets out a big laugh. They think this is a riot. Then she turns to me and says something along the lines of “If we pay you enough, can you show us some stuff until the place opens.” and suddenly, things are looking up.
So we walked around for a while. I showed them Michelangelo’s Moses (by the way, if you ever come to Rome, don’t miss this. It’s in a church called Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli) which is not far from the Colosseum but a little out of the way and, unfortunately, often overlooked.), the Pantheon, some Caravaggios. Somewhere along the way it stopped raining. We grabbed some lunch in the Jewish Ghetto (the couple identified themselves as foodies and I’d been meaning to have a meal there for a while myself). And speaking of that couple, they were a ball. She was, and I believe this is the correct technical term, a pistol, funny, direct, irreverent. He was a little older and calmer, but clearly both amused and in love with his wife. Rain or no, it was a great time and, and here”s the kicker, it was my job. I was getting paid for this, maybe not much but it wasn’t a bad deal.
Lunch was great, artichokes Roman style (fried in a fair amount of olive oil and tastier than you would imagine), large and light semolina gnocchi, and a tuna and tahini dish. The restaurant fit in perfectly with the current version of the day’s mood. The woman, bemoaning a recent dearth of vegetables in her diet, had started out by ordering just a large salad. The waiter (the Egyptian waiter) just laughed and when pressed responded “You come all the way to Rome. You come to the Jewish Ghetto, and you order a salad. You can get that anywhere.” Both agreed that he was right and ordered something a little more regional.
Afterward, we wandered over to the Colosseum and such for the actual tour and, I think, it was a bit of a letdown after the morning. The sky started to leak a bit but it was mild compared to the earlier deluge and we soldiered on. Finally, after their feet were sore and their heads could contain no more arcane information about gladiators and ancient Rome, I settled them in a cab and away they went.
And that brings me back to where I started, which certainly wasn’t how I expected things to end. I sat down for a few minutes to rest my feet and when I got up, I walked away from my umbrella. No big deal. Certainly nothing to get upset about. I can get another one. Days like this don’t come along that often…and hopefully I can remember that.