Fall in Rome

Fall has come to Rome.  It changed in an instant with a news worthy Hailstorm..  We opened our window when the commotion began, and hail the size and shape of perfectly formed glass marbles came flying into the foyer.
Everywhere we go, I hear the sing-songy voices of the Italians chatting about the weather (che freddo!). Tyler says our fruit lady was alarmed the other morning when the girls flounced down to the market in the the early morning in only their dresses with no coats (it’s still warm by Seattle standards, and between the thunderstorms and hail there is bright blue sky that reflects beautifully off the marble and brick).
But fall is not summer.  There is a wind on the river.  There are old ladies bundled in cashmere running across the street.  There are men selling chestnuts in Piazza Navona.  And the fountain of the four rivers, finally freed from throngs of summer tourists, was drained this morning for a little post-season cleaning.
My girls were fascinated.

Piazza Navona Bubble Man

There is a bubble man in Piazza Navona.   

For us, this is a big deal.   St. Peter’s, The Pieta, the ancient streets and pillars of the Roman forum, even the colosseum— they are all fine, but honestly for my girls everything is secondary to the Bubble Man.  

This is what it means to be living in Rome:  to find the every day sparks of life that are living and working among the sites.  Piazza Navona is just down the road from where we are living.  We’ve gone through the obligatory mornings of admiring and learning about the sculptural fountains; we know about the four rivers, about Bernini and Borromini.  We very much love Neptune wresting the octopus. 

That said, now that we know all we are supposed to know— I feel like we are finally able to visit Piazza Navona (and so many other places around Rome) and just enjoy being here.  We can be done learning dates and names, and truly enjoy the piazza as it was intended to be experienced— as a place where life comes together in the city for art, music, games...  

... and bubbles? 

This man doesn’t know it yet, but he is numero uno on our list of Roman superstars and will probably be getting a lot of my Euros if he continues to fill the piazza every day with his masterwork to entertain my children.   

On the Streets of Rome

All the streets of Rome are a labyrinth of cobblestones, sometimes less than ten feet across, a Fiat easily filling the space in mass lined with tabacchi shops, gelatorias, trattorias, bars— scooters, taxis, meat trucks— all barely slowing as they pass your shared alley/walkway/roadway.
And all this I was used to, having lived in Italy before.

And yet—
I have been a mother for almost a decade now, and still I did not anticipate the anxiety I would feel from having to be responsible for leading two children around the streets of Rome.

Every morning we put on our shoes.  We put on our coats.  We ready ourselves for the world outside our building.  We exit the campo de’ Fiori, and we brave the streets with enthusiasm, for whatever desitnation we have in mind.  But, by lunch we are exhausted.  On the streets we are playing frogger, continuously dodging traffic.  In the large piazzas we let go, but then it is a game of where’s Waldo, keeping track of one another is the challenge of the moment.
This is varsity level parenting for anyone who is prone to any level of anxiety.
I’m glad we are up for the challenge.
I am also glad we have copious amounts of cheese, wine, salami, and gelato.  These things help the anxiety level return to normal.  
Ciao from all of us.  We are feeling a bit homesick.  It helps to tell you that things are not always perfect here, but that we are facing the challenges head-on.
-Rachel