Blog this

See what I mean? My last post was ages ago.

Happy New Year, anyway.

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.

Telemarketing, Italian style

Today I received a telemarketing call. From memory, and translated:

* Hi, I'm calling from [some education services organization], and we're offering language courses in everything from English, to Spanish to French, as well as Italian for foreigners. Would you be interested?

* No, thanks, I'm not interested.

* Is there anyone in the household who may be?

* No, I live alone.

* OK, thanks, have a good day.

Yup, that's it. No insisting, no hassle, no hard sell. Usually, it goes even more quickly than that:

* Buon giorno, blah blah blah blah.

* Sorry, not interested.

* OK, buona giornata.

Isn't it wonderful? It's almost civilized!

I had a similar experience (i.e. no hard sell) applying for my first bank account almost 2 years ago. But that will have to wait for another post....

Poetry

The Asian film festival continues. Last night I saw "The Island Of Rebirth", a Kazakh film, by Rustam Abdrashev. A mix of Russian and Iranian filmic sensibilities, it was pure poetry.

Sand, sepia, and splashes of color. The sea, once alive with fish, now dead, all salt. Dog fights, boys fighting, boyish pranks, love. Poetry, communism, betrayal. It's all there, and more. If you get a chance, go see this film!

On the way there, it was a cool autumn evening. I got a quick slice, and discovered a new "locale": bookstore, bar, lounge. Where? Right next to an old church for booksellers: Santa Barbara dei Librai, sandwiched between residential buildings. Click here for a view (it's the church on the left). The photo doesn't quite capture the appeal of this little piazza, but there you go.

After the film, the streets and stones were wet from rain. But it had stopped, and the night was a little less cool.

Jazz

The other day I claimed that Rome is the most beautiful city in the world. This is what most Romans will tell you, anyway. I haven't been to every city in the world, of course, but I can confidently agree that, yes, Rome is the most beautiful city in the world.

It would take more than a blog post to explain why. Let this be Exhibit A.

The "Casa del Jazz" is a music venue created by the mayor (click here for an explanation in English), located near the Porta Ardeatina (Ardeatine Gate). On Sunday I went to see the Adam Kohler/John Abercrombie quartet. Great great stuff that I won't even try to describe. (You caught me, I'm not good a writing about music...)

And what awaits us after the show? A wonderful walk along an old Roman wall, right outside the Casa del Jazz (to see the walls in daylight, click here).

What does jazz have to do with old Roman walls? Well, nothing I suppose, aside from beauty, but it's just this type of contrast, this every-where-you-go-there's-beauty feeling, this every-where-you-turn-a-different-era-is-represented, that makes Rome a place of magic. But it's open, not closed in, so there's no Stendahl syndrome to be afraid of.

Or maybe we can say that Rome is like Jazz because it improvises on the past without destroying it, evoking soul and beauty.

No dubbing, please

And then the magic of Rome strikes again.

Aside from the season being beautiful beyond belief (it's as if the Sun refuses to allow the Clouds to hang around), the day after I complained about the Ozon retrospective featuring dubbed films, I discovered the Asian Film Festival: new films from China, India, Kazakhstan (no not Borat!), Iran, Japan, etc. All of them subtitled, and all of them for a cost of 3 Euros.

Last night I saw "A Few Kilos of Dates for a Funeral", a new film by a young Iranian director (Saman Salour) who was also present at the screening. He's no Kiarostami, or even Panahi (who is?), but he's got potential.

A black & white meditation on loneliness, the film is closer to poetry than to prose. A postman on a bike who everyday asks for an "upgrade" to a scooter. An undertaker who looks for bodies buried in the snow. Two men at an out-of-the-way filling station, one who writes love letters to a woman who doesn't read them, the other who talks to a corpse buried in a car, under snow. And the snow, the blinding snow under the relentless sun. The snow that is prayed for by the corpse-talking man...

But this is the case with most Iranian film. And the thing that seems to confound most audience members. They look for whys and hows and some sort of "normal reality". One audience member actually asked "why were there no women in the film?" Well, let's see.... maybe the director wanted to show what life is like without women? Cold, lonely, gray, and maybe even a little desperate? (Of course it could also be because it would be easier to get past the censors....)

But I shouldn't harp on that -- plenty in the audience did enjoy the film, and were glad to be able to tell this to the director in person. The audience was also given the choice to vote on the film with ballots that were handed out beforehand. I failed to read the piece of paper given to me, and so didn't vote! I place my vote now: 3 (out of 4) stars.

Tom Who?

Sorry, no star sightings.