084 libri nuovi

(above: Bernini's famous colonade at Pza. San Pietro)

For my Italian language studies, I brought 4 books with me on the trip:
1. dictionary
2. verb conjugation book
3. "Italian For Beginners"
4. "Italian Grammar"

"Italian for Beginners" is a little white book geared toward tourists, and a fun approach to learning language. You learn little spots of vocabulary ("at the beach", "in the railway station", "at the hotel", etc), and almost everything is in present tense. "Italian Grammar" is a big green book, geared toward university students, and is a rigorous approach to learning the language. Unlike the little white book, which teaches you the main idea (i.e. "il" is masculine and "la" is feminine), this book gives you all of the rules and exceptions in one monumental scholastic dose (il, lo, l', la, le, i, gli).

I had intended to work through the big green book, and I made it through the 1st 3 chapters or so, when I opened the little white book and promptly changed plans. So, I'm happy to report today that I'm actually almost completely done with the little white book (3 chapters left of about 27).

Although my intent was to go back to the green book, I recently gave in to the temptation to visit a bookstore and now I have a new study plan............

I bought 2 books in Italian!
1. Angeli e Demoni, Dan Brown
2. La Testa degli Italiani, Beppe Severgnini

The first one I bought because (1) I have read it in English, so I don't have to worry about missing out on the plot due to language difficulties, and (2) it describes many of Rome's buildings and sculptures in detail.

I bought the second one because (1) this is probably the only contemporary Italian author that I know by name, AND I have already read one of his books, and (2) literally translated as "The Minds of the Italians", the book describes the author's 10 day trek through Italy with foreigners, discussing what makes the Italian people tick, and (3) it was on sale, 5 euros in hardback.

And I couldn't be happier that my reading comprehension level is much higher than I had thought. I can understand the books without using the dictionary when I'm lazy and want to relax, and when I want a more academic effort, I can look up new vocabulary and scratch it in the margins as I go. Let's hear it for passive learning!

Unfortunately, this is going to make me avoid the big evil green grammar book even more, although I desperately need a better understanding of the numerous Italian past tenses.

083 l'acqua vergine

As you know, one of the reasons that Rome was able to flourish in imperial times were the 11 main aquaducts that radiated out from the city center. The water was used for drinking and cooking and bathing in the famous bathhouses.

How times have changed, I thought this morning, as I couldn't coax a single drop of warm water out of the shower. Ice cold. Antartica cold. Yuck.

Water freely runs in hundreds (thousands?) of fountains in Rome. I keep trying to get pictures of dogs drinking the water spurting down, but have not yet been successful because they don't drink for very long.

The typical fountain design is so simple and so ingenious. It's just a curved tube for the water with a small hole in the top. When you want a drink, you plug up the main pipe and higher pressure water arcs out of the top hole.

I had heard that some true Romans still get their drinking water from the city fountains rather from the tap, but I thought this was one of those tourist stories until yesterday - I saw an elderly man in my neighborhood filling up jugs of fountain water to take up to his condominium.

The water in the image above is the Acqua Vergine - virgin water; it is supposedly the best water in Rome. Tasted normal to me. :)