On my own, part 2

Wow! It must be 70 degrees today. I’ve opened the shutters and hung my laundry outside to dry.

All the tourists in the Piazza di Santa Maira in Trastevere are stripped down to teeshirts and even occasionally flipflops (not recommended footwear on the cobblestones) but the Roman women, especially the older ones, are still wearing boots and heavy coats. Perhaps they don’t trust the warm weather.

As part of my continuing participation in Culture Week, yesterday I trekked out to Testaccio to visit Macro Future, a comtemporary art museum in a renovated old power plant. Actually, my real goal was Volpetti, Rome’s greatest deli and a true temple to Italian cheese, salami and other Italian delicacies. I had to wait until 5 o’clock when it finally opened. (What do they do in the mid afternoon?) I was so hungry that I immediately wolfed down two delicious fried rice balls filled with tomato sauce, rice and some kind of meat. I definitely must bring Steve back here. The salami selection alone will astound him.

Today, I decided to walk to the Palazzo Venezia to see a restrospective of paintings by the Renaissance painter Sebastian del Piombo, a contemporary of Michelangelo and Raphael. I’ve never heard of him so the exhibit was a revelation to me—exquisitely painted and moving portraits and religious scenes. The exhibit was also beautifully hung to maximum effect and best of all, it’s just the right size—some 27 paintings—so that I could absorb and appreciate the art without feeling overwhelmed.

On my way there, I did stop off in the main square of the Jewish Ghetto which was crowded with families—Italian or Jewish, who knows since we all look alike—chatting away at full speed and full volume. The restaurants were packed and spilling out into the street. Not a bagel or a piece of lox in sight but lots of yummy looking fried artichokes, Jewish style. I made a note to myself: Must have one soon.