Today was fun in that I walked to Trastevere, taking several “detours,” (yes, for my dignity I will call them that) through Campo dei Fiori, Torre Argentina, and a lot of the Via Plebescito before crossing the Tevere and reaching what seemed like a different city.
Trastevere is tranquil, full of winding streets and tiny piazzas, and to me preferable to the sprawling chaos of Rome itself. Perhaps this is because my preferred Italian city is car-free and full of piazzas (unsurprising since that’s essentially Siena where I’ve spent the most time), but Trastevere was lovely to walk around. It also was considerably less touristy and generally very pleasant to walk around, though I did get catcalled at one point.
This afternoon I found a shady spot by the Pantheon and watched the constant stream of people, notably today mostly wearing pink and black in honor of Palermo, one of the contenders for the Coppa Italia. The other is Inter which eventually won. There was an ebullient atmosphere which was entertaining if just for watching the American groups try and figure out why so many were wearing the same colors. Sometimes I wished I knew calcio better, but alas, that’ll be another project.
Tomorrow is my last day in Rome, then I go home. It’s been a very pleasant two weeks, but I think it’s time to come back stateside, where at the very least I can upload the steady backlog of pictures I’ve accumulated and continue on with my wonderfully absurd summer.
