saturday, i was bound and determined to have one last full day of enjoyment in my lovely city, as friday was dampened with my pickpocketing experience in which i lost $200. not fun... i had just gone to the atm and all of my money happened to be together, along with my school, international, and health care identification cards. the interesting thing is that although i had always wondered what i would do if i noticed an attempted pick-pocketing- how i would react and such- it never occurred to me that i could be a victim and not even realize it until fifteen minutes later. sly. and whoever it was got me while i was shopping for vegetables and cooking utensils. f. i figured i'd go talk with adolfo about filing a police report, and as it turns out, he is a retired police officer (he showed me his badge, it's so shiny and decorous!) and knew just where to go. so, on the plus side, i got a free motorcycle ride through rome out of the deal.
after pouting and blaming myself for not preventing said situation for much of the day, i left saturday with a new sense of "se la vie." or, as my roommate melissa says, "you win some, you lose more." i visited a chocolate shop on via argentina, one i had been eyeing for some time. i bought a few things here, including a set of chocolates filled with olive oil and figs that have to sit for six months before eating. let's just say they will have to be hidden away in a dark place where i'm able to forget about them. then, on to the cremeria for pistachio gelato (not my favorite... adding sugar and cream to that particular nut did not work for me. but a pretty colour.) a last walk by the massive beauty of the pantheon, and then on to via del corso, the main shopping street that runs up to piazza del popolo, which i had in mind to be my destination.
the piazza was huge- the largest i'd seen yet- and even though there were hundreds of people around, it still felt incredibly vast. perhaps because it's not surrounded by shops and cafes. nevertheless, it gave me a completely different feeling than i was expecting, and i felt a bit overwhelmed and lost. i saw a crowd of people climbing what looked like a huge staircase up to a garden of some sort, so i followed my eyes toward the green. once atop the stairs, i found an amazing view of the city, and spent some time oogling over the immaculate size and history this lovely place. i suddenly felt very lucky to be here. the park i'd found myself in seemed to go on for miles, and it wasn't until i saw signs for museums, piazzas, and the via veneto (!) that i realized i was in the villa borghese. for those of you who've seen fairfield, imagine chataqua park + museums + fountains and lakes, enlarge it to be the size of a small city, and then name it's roads after artists like goethe (i took a picture) and marcello mastoianni. i spent most of the day here, wandering through the park, finding block after block of therapy in the form of trees and flowers. and lots of love. there is lots of public love in rome, it's great. my favorite of all the little areas was a lake around which hang bright flowers and sit beautiful, intricate statues. for three euro, you can rent a boat and paddle around the river for twenty minutes in romantic glory. it was inspiring to see so many families and lovers leisurely riding around a lake in the middle of rome. life really is quite beautiful, no? at the beckoning of my dying feet, i sat down for a glass of prosecco (with a strawberry in it... divine) at an outdoor cafe where the waiter was very confused by the fact that i was speaking italian to him despite his assertion of english. after a while, he finally asked me where i was from (di dove lei?- the formal) and i replied that i was an american, from the midwest. in italian. he gave me a puzzled look and went back to his little station. amusing, nonetheless. i started back, and about an hour and a half later returned to my apartment to stash my chocolate before heading to popi popi, where i am told i danced on the tables as a baby. it had been one of my destination spots, and my roommates and i had planned a date there before venturing on the the jazz festival at villa celimontana.
first, we had fiori del zucca- zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies and then lightly fried- this was my third time ordering the dish and it is, hands down, my favorite italian antipasto. for the "primi piatti," i had fettucini popi popi, an incredibly rich and flavorful pasta with peas, mushrooms, and pancetta enrobed in a perfectly salty cream sauce. ridiculous. both saskya and monica had an equally creamy risotto that had been stewed with tomatoes and crab- the delicate fishy flavor had permeated the entire dish. incredible. and although the food was lovely, the waiters seemed very excited to get us out as to make room for others, which is almost unheard of here. not so happy about my inauthentic italian dining experience... but, what can you do? se la vie- the lesson for the weekend.
i had heard there was, starting this weekend, an annual three-month-long jazz festival in villa celimontana, which is basically next door to the baths of caracala. (these in the night, by the way, are an immaculate sight.) we purchased our six euro tickets (!) and entered the gorgeous park, where we wandered around in search of the festival. the only sounds we heard were bizarre voices and sounds, and as that was the direction all the other patrons were headed, we went along. as it turned out, we were not actually seeing jazz this evening but an italian musical called "la rassegna." talk about interesting... the only thing i could really pick up on was that one scene took place in a dentist's office and another at the funeral of somebody named paolo, over which there was much debate. and, in reflection of the italian culture as a whole, although the characters and the language were clearly italian (flamboyant, energetic, passionate), the music sounded like american jazz. they even ended the show with a solo of "smile." in english. bizarre. but what was really interesting was that some of the comedy did translate. much of it was physical, and very well paced, leading up to a payoff that included bits that reminded me of noises off. even with their vocal inflection and speed, i could tell when someone was telling a joke and about to deliver the punch line. it was very, very fascinating. and made me want to perform. there was a grand piano at the back of the stage, not being used for the night, and it looked so very lonely.
as we walked home, we decided to come back later in the week. there is an ezra pound tribute on wednesday and the havana street band on thursday. oh, and a performance of jesus christ superstar on tuesday. to this, i say ???
i may have to go just to see if it's in english or not... we spent a few minutes trying to translate, and concluded that the syllable structure just would not work out. however, we found that this is not the case for "single ladies" - sing the beginning with me- "tutti senorini, tutti senorini!" thats it, micah!
oh italy, how i love you.
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