Rome, according to the NYT

I was ready to pounce on this NYT article on Rome, because usually they are just so way off. But it wasn't half bad.

Maybe because I had just been to the Galleria Borghese for the first time, and was floored by the Bernini sculptures. Maybe because he mentioned pizza bianca (beware those with high blood pressure...) and certain "off the beaten track" places. But, no, I think it's because he might just have understood that Rome is magic(al).

But as with most of the Rome I've read about in the NYT, it simply gets the prices wrong. Is it because they are catering to people who actually like to spend money, or think that spending money = quality?

Here's what he says about one restaurant:

"it’s hard to spend more than 50 euros a person, including wine, for a meal worth more than that."

50 euros??? Are you kidding me?
I just had a 3 course meal (home-made pasta mind you), with lots of wine, and even an amaro, and it was damn good, for the price of 18 euros. Yes 18. Where did this guy go eat? The same restaurant Tom Cruise goes to when he's in town?? Sheesh.

Then there's this:

"In a city where clubbing isn’t really the way to go, you can use darkness and midnight ramblings as a solution to midday crowds."

This is half right. Rome at night is definitely the way to go. Practically every single monument is lit up (not just the few he mentions), and lots of them are actually more beautiful at night. But what does he mean by "clubbing isn't really the way to go"? For a tourist? Maybe, but there certainly is a night life!

In any event, take what you read in the NYT (any publication actually) with a grain of salt. Yes, even this "publication"...

Telemarketing, Italian style -- Part 2

OK, so it's not all civilized hello and goodbye.

Funny, because just the other day I was recounting the same story I posted earlier, and I was told, Oh no, not fastweb, they're rough!

And lo and behold, not 2 days later I got a call from fastweb (adsl, tv, telephone providers), and she just would not let me go, would listen to none of my excuses (usually, saying that I work from home and don't want to disrupt my internet in any way gets them off the phone).

So yeah, beware of fastweb telemarketers!

What I'd Miss Were I to Leave Rome: the Noon Time Gun

At noon every day, a cannon goes off on the Gianicolo (the Janiculum Hill). Immediately following, the church bells start to ring.

As I live (and work) right under the hill (in Trastevere), I hear this cannon everyday. I set my watch by it (although on 1 November it was four minutes early, and I know it wasn't the fault of my watch because the next day it was on time... or maybe it was correct on only that day and every other day it's 4 minutes late...)

Sometimes, if it's quiet (rare in Rome of course with all the scooters zipping around), you can hear it as far away as Campo de' Fiori or Largo Argentina (in my experience anyway, although the below-linked site claims as far away as Esquilino!)

What would I do without the noon day gun? I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world -- though my windows rattle when it goes off, to make one think of end times. Maybe that's the appeal? To be reminded everyday of the end of the world? To be reminded of time, for sure...

But it's these small details that are the magic of Rome.

Click here for a short description and history in Italian.