My passport is my travel buddy. It accompanies me on all my travels. It has to. Thus, you can understand why I was disappointed in the Italian system when I arrived in Rome on Thursday, April 17, to an absent immigrations department and, thus, no one to give the clickclick stamp in the passport, thus signifying that I made it safe and sound one step further in the superviaje. Does this mean people think I am still in Spain? Do I not exist in Italy? Will I get stopped at a border because those italiani decided that a cappuccino break was in order? Makes me wonder, where the hell am I?
I like Rome. Rome is, after all, the Eternal City (whatever). But I like Rome because I like Rome, and not because tourbooks say you should. I like Rome because you could be walking down the street and you'll see the Colosseum and then you'll keep walking and you'll see a gelateria. And then if you continue even further, there's a grocery store, that may or may not be there two years from now. There is the old mixed with the new -- the old is really old; it only gets older and doesn't go anywhere, and the new is ever-changing; things get torn down and rebuilt all the time. And all of these places coexist in a peaceful harmony such that the guy dressed in a costume straight out of ''Gladiator'' at the Trevi Fountain could give you directions to the Zara down the street.
I spent some of my time retracing old steps and visiting touristic sites I like: the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Venezia, Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, etc. When I spent two months in Rome three years ago, I got to know these sites pretty well and have some favorites. Thus, this time around, I decided to go to the places I like the best and that require no entrance fees!
I also tried to make the most of my time with my Italian friends. One night, I went to the university area (called San Lorenzo) with my friend Alessio and a few of his friends. Before we headed home, they introduced me to the zozzone (''the big dirty'' ... get your minds out of the gutter!). Apparently, this tradition involves food trucks placed at random places around the city (some ''better'' than others) and they serve *huge* sandwiches that could be hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. with any number of toppings (think Starbucks for meat lovers). Another night, I went out with my friend Manu and a bunch of her friends, as one of her friend's families owns a pizzeria (the pizzas cascade deliciously over the already huge plates!). The pizzeria is actually attached to the family's house ... imagine! The beauty of going out with a whole bunch of Italian speakers is that, even though sometimes they want to practice English with me, they take me to these local joints that I never would have found on my own, where everyone is rattling off Italian in these wonderful accents from all over the country. And when I was walking home after visiting my friend at work (at a café) the other night, I passed Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon. They might be tourist sites, but I didn't stop to do the tourist thing. Hell, I was just on my way home. One of the weird things about the old being fully integrated with the new. You pass this stuff on the way home, and it's just normal. Oh yeah, that's the Pantheon -- eh, whatever. It might as well be bread crumbs to serve as personal landmarks to show you the way.
One of my Rome days, I even took a trip a little further than I imagined. And this was a trip that my passport buddy did not make with me. I crossed into Kenyan territory. Without a passport. No border control, no customs, no nothing. One of my friends from home, his mom is the Kenyan embassador to Italy, and they have an apartment in Rome. So, technically, once you set foot in the apartment, you are on Kenyan turf. That means that from the time I left my apartment to the time I arrived in this apartment overlooking an Italian piazza, I walked to Kenya! And from the terrace of this apartment in Kenya, we sat people-watching, looking at Italians and other foreigners below. I gotta say, the trip to Kenya? Not so tough!
So, having spent a solid several days in Rome, I decided to head south to Sicily for a bit -- see what there is to offer, see if everyone is really named Tony, etc.
More from below the boot (errr, yeah...),
missy
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com
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