A presto, Roma

Last full day in Rome today.

The day started with the usual light rain, and after devoting some time to clearing out the fridge of rogue olives, bits of cheese, wine etc  I tackled my packing, having dashed out yesterday to buy an extra carry-on suitcase.  I’m jettisoning some boots and coats too – the cobbles have been particularly hard on my shoes.

So it’s farewell to Rome again, for six months until Jim and I return in August.  It’s been a mixed trip – lots of positive language reinforcement (I can speak Italian – yay!), a LOT of rain, some wonderful catch-ups with language exchange buddies and classmates, and also quite a bit of time watching Italian news and movies, and having casual conversations in supermarkets, boutiques, bookstores and the like.

My lovely fellow language students

On Sunday I spent the day in Cerveteri with my language exchange buddy, Angelo, and we climbed in and out of some very flooded tombs, watched sound and light shows that magically reconstructed the interior of the Etruscan burial sites, and stopped for the mandatory espresso half-way through.  After three and half hours we had a late lunch in the dramatic hill top town of Ceri before heading back to Rome at dusk. 

Tombs at Cerveteri

As usual, after seven hours of Italian I found my ear was quite attuned and I was able to speak relatively easily, which is the great thing about language exchange.  Aside from the very generous people you meet, who are happy to devote time to arranging trips, researching and providing written information in italian, and finding great spots for authentic regional food!

The town gate at Ceri

The hilltop town of Ceri

 

Cerveteri is magical, with around 1,000 tombs spread over 400 hectares – 10 hectares of which can be easily visited.  The tombs vary from dice-shaped tombs (so-called for their regimented and block-like shape – these were for the middle-classes) to the mounds of the exalted families, both types from around 3^rd century BC.  All the objects found inside the tombs are long gone (of course) but originally there were funerary urns, sarcophagi, estruscan urns and figurines, and many of these can be seen at the Villa Giulia, the estruscan museum near the Villa Borghese gardens, and where I headed this afternoon.  Of especial interest and delight is the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, a life-size sarcophagus of a couple reclining, as at banquet, with the bridegroom’s arm protectively around the shoulders of his spouse.  Both are smiling.  It’s a very lovely object to see, and especially today, when I had it to myself.  Apart from the guard, of course, who was hovering to make sure I didn’t take any photographs (the one below is from Wikipedia).

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses, Villa Giulia

So last night, a drink with one of my fellow students in Monti (where I’ve been studying), who is here in Rome with her husband for three years.  We drank red wine from Lazio, started in Italian and switched to English, and talked about spending time in Rome, the vagaries of the Italians, and our struggles with the language.

I walked back to my apartment past the floodlit forums of Trajan and Nerva, the immense white marble of the Vittorio Emanuele monument, and through the busy hum of the Campo dei Fiori and Trastevere.

The night-lit Forum of Nerva

Am I ready to go home?  Yes.  I’ve enjoyed my time here, but I’m really looking forward to getting back to my loved ones.  A presto, Roma. 

Ancora piogge sulla capitale

Still more rain in Rome.

It has rained, and rained, and rained.  The streets are flooded, the Tiber is running high and everyone is staying indoors.  Even the Pope has said we must pray for relief from the rain.

A couple of weeks ago, the Tiber from the Ponte Sisto, the bridge that connects Trastevere with the Campo dei Fiori, looked like this:

The Tiber path was navigable, and the surface of the river was tranquil.

Then the rain started a few days ago and has steadily continued.  Now when I cross the Ponte Sisto, the view is like this:

The path has completely disappeared.  And the river is churning up its mud, and flowing fast.  Even the beggars and the street sellers have deserted the bridge.

Today, going quietly mad from being trapped indoors, I made my way across to Piazza Navona to have some time outdoors and get some exercise.  I ended up having afternoon tea at a café looking out over the deserted piazza:

After a while I headed down the piazza to the Fountain of the Four Rivers.  Even the river god of the Americas, the Rio della Plata, has his hand raised to the heavens as it to say 'Basta!  Basta pioggia!'