more of Rome

Monday, 19 April 2010
Some notes on Rome before I forget.
I did a lot of walking in Rome. By the end of the five days the confusion of trying to find my way around was getting less confusing. I’d come across somewhere that I’ve been before but from a different direction and a map was developing inside my head.
The plethora of amazing monuments and buildings is astounding. The contrast between the past and the present is what I see and feel the most. The modern day Rome seems to be based on the good deeds of history. I see a mad, decaying city. The people are stressed, in a hurry and they are all smoking themselves to death or getting killed and maimed in motor accidents. The constant scream of the ambulances grates on my nerves.
For me, if I focus on the present city, I get distracted. If I focus on soaking up the culture and the art and the opportunity to see stuff that was made a couple of thousand years ago, up to the renaissance, I am filled with amazement and strange emotions. Maybe I’m missing the point. Maybe Rome has always been a mad centre of human activity and that is part of the culture.
One evening at dusk I walked past a group of gypsies in a square under a monument or fountain. There was a little campfire in the corner of some marble masonry. About a dozen people were sitting in a circle on the ground eating their meal that consisted of whatever was in the pot and some bread. They seemed to be enjoying the evening more than I was. They seemed to come from another time and were just there, doing what they have done forever, independent of the hustle and bustle; but also part of it.
Without company I walk and walk. On Friday night I walked the dark cobblestone streets. I came across a busy piazza, Campo di Fiori, with busking musicians, even bands, I sat at a restaurant and watched the people. A group of children were dancing in a circle and playing games. Hawkers were plying their wares, annoying the patrons.
I had some dinner there and walked on; found myself back at the colosseum on my way back to the hotel. In the darkness of a park, there were men standing around. Maybe a gay pick up site. I didn’t investigate.
Nearer to my hotel in a little square were a couple of hundred young people all drinking and smoking and basically having a public party. I bought a gelato cone and watched them for a while, feeling kind of old. I wanted to get away from Rome.
There’s a volcano erupted somewhere and because they can’t fly, everyone in transit descended into the Terminus station in Rome. I went to purchase a ticket to Naples and found a chaotic scene. Thousands of people in long queues. I went back to the internet café and attempted to buy a ticket on line. The site I found, how to travel by train in Italy said there was only one problem with booking online. The website’s good, you can click on the English version, you can book the ticket and even though it says it accepts all credit cards, it doesn’t. So I tried, even my travel money card with euros didn’t work.
I went back to the Terminus station at midnight. The queues were shorter, most of the people that were queuing five hours before had set up camp for the night, drinking, eating, asleep. A festival of bodies, a community of strung out people trying their best to be comfortable. I bought my ticket and went back to the hotel, wondering what tomorrow would bring.