The Art of Crossing Roman Roads

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I feel I should start by saying I love Rome. There, its out there, I love it. I love the piazzas, I love the people, I love the colour combinations on the buildings. I love the balconies, the architecture, the details in the alcoves, the shutters, and the winding alleys. I love the food, the weather, and the language. Or I would, if I could speak it. Which brings me to my next essential statement; I can't speak Italian. I was fooling myself that, with my rather pitiful AS Italian (already 4 years old) and my half-hearted attempt to re-learn the basics last year, I would be able to "get by". I can't. So instead of trying to communicate, unsuccessfully, with the locals, I have spent the last week walking all over the city, map and dictionary in hand, hoping that somehow just being out in Rome the language and understanding I so desperately need will diffuse into my brain and I might arrive home bi-lingual. It hasn't happened yet, but I have managed to visit more neighbourhoods and explore more corners of the city than I ever knew existed. Even my cousin Jennifer (the best cousin I could ever ask for, with whom I am staying) has been somewhat surprised by the all the areas of the city I have managed to see. However, it seems to me, that, more surprising than the many miles I have covered, it is almost astonishing that I have managed to arrive home, after every venture, alive and without missing limbs. Anyone out there who has crossed a road with me will know that I tend to walk without looking, or hope that cars will slow down before they reach me: (particularly Jason and my mother) rest assured! This habit has been broken once and for all. In crossing the road, any road, here in Rome one literally takes their life in their hands; I can't count the number of times I have crossed a road (at a zebra crossing and with a green light) to be crossed, on both sides, by oncoming traffic, both dangerously close to me and going ridiculously fast. Often I have wondered if there might be a choreographer staging the whole thing, and executing it with such success that no one might doubt its authenticity. But despite the dangers in crossing the road, the views and scenes I have seen in the last week have been well worth the risk of stepping out the front door. I have already found a favourite part of the city (the area between the Spanish steps and Piazza di Popolo), a favourite piazza, in which I would want to live (if I were a millionaire, as rent prices in this city require) (Piazza della Regina Margherita), and even a favourite intersection (where Via delle Quattro Fontane and Via del Quirinale meet, where, in fact, the Quattro Fontane (four fountains) feature). Every time I turn around there's somewhere knew to explore, something new to see. The thought of having a favourite intersection in London is ridiculous. More than ridiculous, it would be worrying. However, I must admit I am looking forward to the day that Jason arrives and I finally have a friend with whom to sight-see. There's something so tragic about eating gelato alone, that I have determined not to, and will wait until I learn enough Italian to make friends before I stop at one of the many gelato stores (gelaterias? what exactly do you call a place that sells gelato?) around the city. In the mean time, my almost daily visits (some quite unintentional) to, or at least past, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon and the Colosseum, not to mention all the many parks, piazzas and cafes in the suburbs, are keeping me entertained and happy to be in a city that I love.

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Comments

[Jennifer]

Best Attitude Ever
I want to go on the record as saying that Lucy has the best attitude ever. When it comes to living abroad, in a country where she is master (mistress?) of neither the geography nor the language, she is absolutely intrepid. She goes everywhere, does everything, meets people right and left. I will continue to try to convince her to whip out her map or ask for directions earlier in her forays, but she continues to inspire me. Brava! Anzi, bravissima! -- Jennifer (the best cousin Lucy has in Rome, with whom she has been staying)

[Mum]

those roads
And I want to say, just to preserve my reputation as worrying mother, BE CAREFUL!!