Nancy and Julianne's Travels: Winter Monday in our Neighborhood in Rome

Shredded potato pizza

Southern Trastevere, near Ponte Testaccio

from Julianne

(Photos too, this time. Unfortunately, you can tell by the quality.)

Sunny but cold today; a Monday in February. But we are aware of terrible storms in the US so we do not complain about 40 degrees and sunny. Well, we don't complain very much or very loudly.

So today a stroll or passagiata through our neighborhood. My photo non-skills being what they are, I had a second stroll with our visiting friend Donna Ellefson. A further pleasure of our stay is that friends come to visit.

We live in a quiet residential area not too far from Trastevere Train Station but out of the usual areas known by tourists. It is a visual mix but a very convenient and comfortable neighborhood full of us and other Romans. Not many foreigners but people are very nice to us despite our stumbles with Italian. North of us--Trastevere just the other side (inside) of the original Roman city wall; older, more attuned to tourists and American college students. East of us--the Tiber River and Testaccio, a great area with an excellent public market and ruins of the ancient Roman port and warehouse district. West of us--Monteverdi, an upscale residential area with Roman villas and modern apartments. We really enjoy where we live--we feel like we struck it lucky in our neighborhood and our apartment.

Our Piazza
The Piazza of our area and the main north-south street are named after Ettori Rolli. He was a physician and botanist in Rome in the 1800's. Many streets in our general area are named after Italians who contributed in the arts and sciences, reflecting patriotism after Italian unification in 1871. There does not seem to be any other particular geographical connection with him. He was a palm-tree specialist and there are only pines and ginkos here. The piazza is a block down from our building and where we wait for the bus. It is the center of most of our economic life too--groceries, flowers, coffee, lunch, bank. Today too, carrying on our economic life.

Today, like most nice days, Bar Willy on the NW corner of the piazza was filled with retired neighbors having their morning coffee and chat. Today everyone is in their down jackets but many are still having coffee outside. I usually see groups of men here--today too. Eight men came in all together and completely filled the tiny shop. But couples and single women too. I love their coffee. It is a regular brand--Caffe Gima--but seems even better here than other places. They have a variety of pastries in the morning including kosher coronettos (the Italian version of croissants). The atmosphere is red plastic tables and chairs--not your fantasy of an Italian coffee shop but the social interactions and food exceed the fantasy. The people who usually work there and are probably the owners, appear East Asian to me but are speaking only Italian with each other and the customers. Everyone knows each other including us who can barely converse.

A few doors down the rosticceria had their chickens ready early and some of their pizzas out on the counter too for people who wanted a slice to eat now or take home. I love their potato pizza and it was first out today. I thought it was onion when I ordered it the first time but now look forward to something I had never heard of before--shredded potato pizza. It seems to be thin crust (typical Roman) + olive oil + shredded potatos. About 8x12" for 1.5 euros. The servers, probably owners, appear to be East Asian here too. Definitely only serving Italian food though.

Donna pushed at the culinary envelope by ordering potato pizza, which she also loves but also--shredded zucchini pizza. We think of Donna as our foodie friend and here we see this in action. The zucchini is good too but gone before a photo could be taken.

Other Businesses we patronize
There are an abundance of good food choices--an organic market selling artisanal everything from cheese to bread to meat to fruits and vegs. Bakery for bread and pizza. Gelateria--taking their vacation right now. Pastcceria selling fabulous hot chocolate these days in addition to coffee, pastries and light lunches (but not bread). Salumiere. Butchers (one kosher). Ravioli and pasta store (kosher). Hardware store--all the electric adapters we could need (many!). Housewares stores--commonly referred to as "Chinese stores" but some run by Bangladeshis. Flower stand. Supermarkets--they kind of hide these in the basements in back of apartment buildings but with persistence we found the closest one. No computer stores. No phone stores.

There are other businesses--clothing, shoes, furniture, kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Most of these seem to cater to high end customers. We have not needed to shop in these stores.

Every Sunday morning the entire 2-3 miles of Via Ettore Rolli and Via Porta Porteunese become a giant street market with everything from antiques to socks. We buy all our socks there but have not needed any antiques.

Another delight of the area is the abundance of excellent cafes and restaurants. The range is from fairly upscale, destination restaurants to local Roman cuisine to coffee and sandwich bars. We have not managed to try them all yet but so far have had no bad meals.

Back to today
Outside in the sun, parents with small children were using the play equipment today--and do most days. Today they are so bundled in puffy coats they roll down the slide. After school, older children will be here and also playing soccer in the open space. Teens are here in the early evenings but also hang out at the nearby McDonalds. (Yes, really.)

Although the piazza is very paved and modern, we have a ruin to remind us we are in a 2500 year old city. I have no idea what it is and do not know how to figure it out. The medallion on top indicates renaissance but there is no coat of arms to decipher. Some of the lower stone and brickwork look considerably earlier. Then there is a 20th C. metal door set into the side. What can it be? Really, all over Rome bits of ancient buildings are re-used like this. No doubt there is some sort of city office which keeps track of all the tiny ruins. This one is fenced off and obviously protected but not big enough for a sign. My Italian does not rise to the level of contacting a city office to allay my curiosity.

Near the ruin, the elderly women congregate daily in the morning while it is in the sun. There are usually about 10-15 of them, some in wheelchairs. They usually chat for an hour or so and then go home. Maybe in summer the schedule would be different to take advantage of the shade which covers the area from about 1:30.

Dog walkers abound most times of the day. Some of our homeless have dogs too, well cared for.

Interactions are pleasant with everyone chatting easily with everyone. People in fur coats and homeless individuals chat while their dogs are sniffing around. Teens and youth seem to have no edge at all and do not seem intimidating to anyone.

Pleasant vibes all around, day and night.

Fountain
There is a fountain in our piazza too but it does not have any water flow, at least at this season. Sadly, this might be the ugliest fountain in a city with beautiful fountains. It has 4 clear bowls, probably expected to have water flowing from one to the other. Each bowl has its own hue of algae; only 3 have floating soccer balls. It is so high that the balls can't be retrieved but somehow, one bowl never captures a ball. The lights in the pavement, intended to shine up on the flowing water in the clear bowls have not been turned on that I have seen. Some fountain has to be the worst, so I guess it is our luck.

Architecture
Architecturally, too, we do not fit the fantasy of graceful ancient buildings or Renaissance Palazzo. This area was originally built in the early 20th C. to house railway and other workers; before that it was empty ground used for wood-chopping and charcoal-making. One of the predominant architectural styles here is of the early 20 C. derived from the Arts and Crafts movement. It is a style I really like and I enjoy looking at the curved facades and courtyards. One facade dates a building to the "VII Year of the Fascist Era." (That puts it about 1927-28.) Other development in the 1970's brought the architecture of those years--we live in one of those buildings. There is the standard 1970's visual emphasis on brick, balconies on the outside, no courtyards. A very few new buildings build in the 2000's --white stucco--round out the mix. In all the buildings there is emphasis on greenery in courtyards, balconies, penthouses. Thus, around our piazza we have all three eras represented. Elsewhere in Rome are Renaissance and Baroque palaces; here, we are outside the city walls and outside the area used during ancient Roman and Renaissance times.

Transportation
We use buses mostly and are getting quite adept at finding our way. Apps plus Google maps make getting around so easy. I have always been so good at reading maps--no longer a needed skill. Our area is served by several buses and Tram #8--which gets us to the central Trastevere or "Centro Storico" with dispatch. From there-anywhere. We have come to love Tram #3, also quite near; it passes the Colosseum, aqueducts, Porto Maggiore and many bits of the original city walls. The B line of the subway is not that far but it is so dark and underground we use it rarely. The city trains on the other hand we find entertaining and use them when feasible. Best way to get to the Vatican or Ostia Antica. The stations are a bit shabby but architecturally delightful--early 20th C, again.

Other infrastructure
Rome apparently has a reputation for being poorly managed and dirty. It is not that obvious from our perspective --but we have been living in Washington, DC which has struggled to achieve average. Roads and streets are in great shape--paved every 6 months. After the market every Sunday, big crews of city workers clean like mad so we are sparkling every Monday. Recycling is a big thing with 5 big bins every block or so, picked up weekly or more often. Buses and trams are new and well cared for. Service is frequent and pretty reliable given traffic. The water here is abundant, clean and delicious--"Good for Babies." Air pollution is enough of a problem that there are car-free days now and again. The banks of the river are unpleasantly trashy; we can't tell if the water is polluted. But they are developing walking trails and walking bridges in our area so maybe the trash thing will get resolved one of these days. The city is also safe. Pickpockets are the biggest problem most are likely to face; personal violent crime is rare.

Economics
It appears to me that the economic downturn has affected the area. Most buildings have several units for sale and they appear to be lingering on the market. Prices are not usually given but one half-basement, 1 bedroom unit is listed for E170,000, down from 190,000 a few months ago. Visual emphasis, even of very nice buildings, seems to be on interiors and courtyards but there are many buildings with much graffiti. In the US I would think of this as a symptom of economic downturn but that does not necessarily hold in Europe, maybe not here. We have a regular homeless population of about 8-10 individuals who frequent the non-paved, non-modernized section of our piazza during the daytime; completely non-threatening folks and well groomed. (Even Italian homeless are well turned out in keeping with cultural norms, it seems.) The stats say there is 13% unemployment overall in Italy; people say young Italians have moved to other areas of EU to find work. We do see many young and middle age professionals at lunch around the area. Most of the storefronts on the ground floors are occupied by what seem to be thriving businesses. Professional services seem to be on first floors and living units above that. While we have a homeless few, most here appear to be fairly well off. Lots of fur coats a few weeks ago when it was really cold. Children dressed very well. Thus, a mixed area, we guess. But everyone was out enjoying the sun today.

Dedication of a garden
Finally, today, after our grocery run, we were crossing our piazza towards home only to find a ceremony naming one section of the piazza after a famous Italian fashionista who died in about 2002. Flowers were planted, military honor guard, speeches, tv camera--all there to name the garden after Fernanda Gattinoni. She designed clothing for famous stars--Katherine Hepburn, Gina Lollobrigida. We can't deduce why this place and time in particular and what else she may have done to be so honored. The police honor guard were so fashionable that we speculated that she designed their uniforms. It is like the ruin--a mystery.

Tortellini with prosciutto, cheese and garlic tonight.
A nice quiet winter Monday in Rome. That's our neighborhood.

A photo stroll