suz in rome



31 luglio 2006

101 leggere


(above, the "lungotevere" - roads that are right next to the river shaded by trees)

I have been enjoying my time reading my two Italian-language books. I am almost finished with Angels and Demons and I am so disappointed. Yes, I read it before, so I was already prepared for the cliched characters, language, and plot. But I was reading it because the book goes into such detail about Rome, and I expected the author to at least have gotten the facts more accurate than he did. He writes that Santa Maria della Vittoria is right on Piazza Barberini. Nope, it's a 10 minute walk away. His description of Castel Sant'Angelo is fanciful when compared to reality. Some of the vistas that he describes simply do not exist. I wonder if he just had a week vacation in Rome, took some photos and then made the rest up. Anyway. I only have about 20 pages or so to go before I finish my first book in Italian. I discovered that my passive vocabulary is great for dialogue, but I have to frequently refer to the dictionary to get through the action sequences.

The other book is "The Minds of the Italians". Based on the content, it is really amusing and interesting to read, but based on the language, I have to concentrate much harder and go to the dictionary more often. Here is one passage, describing books that foreigners write about Italy:

"Modern stories all fall into two categories: love chronicles and diaries of disillusion. The first suffers from an inferiority complex in regards to our private lives (usually with a chapter about the importance of the family and another on the excellence of Italian cooking). The second type shows a superiority complex in regards to our public agendas (there is always a strong condemnation of corruption and a section on the mafia). The love stories are generally written by American women, and show love without interest: they describe a seasonal paradise, where the climate is perfect and the people cordial. The diaries of disillusion are almost always written by British men, and reveal interest without love: they describe a bewildering place populated by elusive people and governed by diabolical mechanisms."

Gulp! Hopefully I'm not falling too much into either category - just trying to provide some memoirs for myself and some entertainment for you (or at least some distraction from your jobs), focusing on the language, history and culture of Rome. I could try to be more pessimistic and write more about the beggars in the street, or the littering, or the graffiti, or the time when I think the old guy at the market ripped me off, but I'd rather write about the good stuff.

100 vista del vittoriano

The Vittoriano monument sits on Capitoline Hill in the dead center of Rome. The ancient city lies to the south (Roman Forum, Palestine Hill, Colosseum), and the centro lies to the north (Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Via del Corso, Pza. del Popolo). I took these photos from the top of the Vittoriano looking...

(below: looking NW, Trajan's Column and Forum)



(below: West, Trajan's Market, Augustus' Forum)



(below: SW, Colosseum in the distance, Roman Forum)



That big road running down the middle was one of Mussolini's bright ideas. He wanted a clear vista of ancient Rome and the Colosseum from his office in the Vittoriano so he could impress Hitler, so the story goes. So this road went right through the middle of ancient Roman history, the remaining ruins are on both sides and the CRAZY traffic makes crossing the road an adrenaline rush.