Rome Journal: De Nile

                                   photo: FLevy

“Il mio modo di vedere le cose tavolta e ingenuo un po infantile ma sincereo come i bambini della scalinata di Viale Glorioso”—Sergio Leone. (“My way of seeing thigs is sometimes childish, a bit infantile, but sincere. Just like the kids of the Viale Glorioso steps." This plaque appears on the wall of Via Glorioso right before the steps leading up to Via Danolo which runs into Via Trente Aprile and on to the top of the Janiculum Hill.  One comes to Rome to recover a carefree spirit, iconically exhibited in the classic Italianate hand gestures. Does that explain why no one is wearing masks even amidst another outbreak of the latest Omicron variant? Italy was a country which suffered from Delta with cities like Bergamo especially hard hit. However, the collective memory of Romans appears to be short You wouldn’t know that coronavirus exists--even when the president, Sergio Matarella, is infected, as he currently is. If anything the inhabitants of the Eternal City are giving new meaning to carpe diem, living for today, not thinking about tomorrow. Even the most cautious visitor may fall victim to an insouciance that's more infectious than any virus. How would the persona played by Marcello Mastroianni, the embodiment of  the devil-may-care spirit deal with the current state of disease and war? "Denial is not a river in Egypt" goes the old expression, but it’s certainly a city in Italy.

read "Rome Journal: When in Rome" by Francis Levy, HuffPost

and listen to "The Way You Do the Things You Do"by the Temptations