the list of 9 for july 4, 2004:
NINE GREAT THINGS ABOUT ROME
I just got back from a two-week trip in Italy, and as my girlfriend Miki, who accompanied me,said, "Who could not love Rome?" A lot of people, apparently: friends have told me thatthey feel alone in their admiration for the Eternal City, and others have had reservations aboutvisiting. There seems to be a belief that Rome is just for tourists and backpackers:thirtysomethings having a romantic Italian getaway are supposed to while away their days in aTuscan villa or along the Amalfi Coast. That's all well and good, but I prefer big cities:There's more to do, the restaurants are invariably better, and it's easier to get around (I stillrefuse to drive in a foreign country, especially Italy). So in defense of this town, which I deema cooler destination than even Paris or Barcelona, here are nine reasons why I found Rome utterlyfabulous:
- THE BEST DRINKING WATER EVER. You'd think with a teeming,traffic-choked metropolis like Rome, the drinking water would be as foul as in any other city. Buteverywhere you go, you see water pouring freely out of drinking fountains, water that is clean,tasty, and cold! Apparently those aqueducts built back in Imperial times still do the jobof bringing fresh water to thirsty Romans.
- A BUNCH OF JOKERS. I immediately found native Romans to bethe friendliest people I've ever met in a big city, even more than New Orleans' denizens. Butaside from smiles and warm greetings, these people love to tease. When checking into our firsthotel, there was a couple with a screaming baby in the lobby. The concierge cheerfully kidded us,"That is your neighbor!" And a waiter, sensing that Miki was a vegetarian, asked her howshe liked the ravioli that she just consumed, adding, "the roast pork, it's good, isn't it?"
- NUNS! They don't call it Roman Catholicism for nothing:this city is overrun by nuns on pilgrimages to the center of their faith, and they're just soquaint. They have the longest life expectancy on earth, and as Miki said, "Why shouldn'tthey? They never have to worry about jobs, men, taxes or their looks - they just read, pray, take up a little hobby, work in the garden..." They also add a lot of charm to Roman streets.
- MADONNAS! Not being Catholic, I have no personalconnection to its imagery, so I found the little shrines on the corners of buildings - each one alittle different, each one a portrait of Mary and the Baby Jesus - simply cute. They bringsweetness to even the gloomiest of alleyways.
- RUINS EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK. Having had over 2000 years oflife as a big town, there's two millennia of history down every street. Athens and Cairo may beolder, but they shot their cultural wad centuries B.C. Despite numerous sackings, Mamma Roma haskept herself relevant, from the time of Caesar to Hadrian to Michelangelo to Mussolini to Fellini.
- GELATERIAS. I needn't go into the pleasures of eatingItalian food, but what's really fun about Rome - as with the rest of the country - is itsproliferation of ice cream parlors, aka gelaterias. They are as ubiquitous as Starbucks are in theUS, maybe even moreso, and it's a pleasure to stroll around on a warm June evening licking a coneheaped with scoops of fresh kiwi and fig gelato.
- A SHARP-DRESSED CITIZENRY. What a bunch of fashiondisasters we Americans are! At least you get that impression after spending a few days in Italy,where everybody dresses well, and while Milan may be the official fashion capital of the country,the Romans are certainly no slouches when it comes to sartorial splendor.
- E-Z PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. It's a breeze to walk just abouteverywhere in the "centro storico" - the historical center of town - but if you have to get asubway or a bus, they use the exact same tickets, which cost precisely one Euro each, and whichyou can buy at ticket machines and tobbaconists(!) just about everywhere.
- GIAN LORENZO BERNINI (1598-1680). Michelangelo is thename everybody knows, but for my money, the multi-talented Bernini - sculptor, architect, painter- is the real genius of Italian art, and how wise of the dukes of his time to employ him sofrequently. Rome is packed with his masterpieces, from his public fountains to his statuary at theBorghese Gallery to his vast piazza in front of St. Peter's. As great as it is, Rome would stillbe a lesser city without him.
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