Roma

List of things I love about Rome:

• Constant rumble of traffic in the background.


• Birds flying around everywhere: Seagulls by the Tiber. Pigeons in piazzas, pecking and cooing with their wobbly heads.


• Big, sturdy architecture.

• Crazy drivers living up to their stereotype and not respecting the pedestrian right-of-way.


• Hearing church bells ringing in the distance.


• Eavesdropping on conversations in Italian, even if I don't understand what they're saying. I love the air of mystery, the beauty of the way it sounds, its gusto.


• The oculus of the Pantheon, like a gigantic eyeball staring down at me. I imagine it was quite imposing when Caesar was there and rays of sunshine were filtering through.

• Walking along the sidewalk and making a game of what we were smelling--fresh baked dessert, something with vanilla? roasted nuts, sauteed garlic. Or the unmistakable whiff of fresh ground coffee beans wafting from a caffe...making my mouth water and kicking in an instant caffeine craving.


• Looking at laundry hanging to dry outside on apartment balconies and dreaming up stories about the people who own them.


• Italian men not afraid of wearing purple sweaters, in various shades of eggplant.


• Campo dei Fiori--a big market set in a large piazza. Visiting makes for a very sensual experience, lots of mingling scents. Roasted meats. Fresh-cut flowers in a rainbow of colors. Fresh vegetables in different forms, varieties I've never seen before. Wanted to take them home with me, drizzle some olive oil on top and sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper and put them in the oven for a bit to roast.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

PS. If you go to Italy, try their cornflakes. Really. Italians have the best: thicky, sturdy flat tiles with a pronounced corn flavor.