Streets-Finding Shade

As summer progresses and our trip nears the end, the temperature is rising. The heat can be overwhelming at times and my sweat glands have been working overtime. When walking the streets in the sun it is crucial to find whatever shade that the short buildings can provide. I have found myself taking abnormal routes to wherever I am going to ensure that I avoid streets where that the sun completely engulfs. This game is an interesting one because as the day progresses the shade moves and shifts making each turn all about timing. The good thing about the quest for shade is that it has opened me up to parts of the city that I might never have seen otherwise.

Streets of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is unlike any city I've ever been to. One aspect of the city that sets it apart from others are its street. Most streets are paved but as you get closer to the city center the ground turns to a tightly laid cobble stone. What is most unique though are the rivers and canals that are streets in and of themselves. These "streets" are traversed by small motor boats or canoes, though, neither are allowed to make wake. This makes travel along the canal streets slow and rather relaxed. The canals provide a much different pace than the bikers that nearly knock you over at every intersection.

Soccer in the Streets

As I walked back from the bingo hall after a short stay and a loss of 5 Euro this afternoon, I took the back route back to my apartment. As I got to the top of a hill I saw 5 men presumably between the ages of 40 and 50 playing an interesting game in the streets. Like I did when I was ten years old these men kicked a soccer ball as hard as they could in the direction of a garage. The opening to the garage was defended by one of the men and behind him was a car, a Fiat to be specific. As I neared the men I realized that this wasn’t just any garage, it was an auto body shop and they were all employees of it. I wonder if anywhere in America I will see 5 grown men kicking a soccer ball at a car that they are being paid to fix. I then wonder that if that did happen how quickly a lawyer would be on a phone and a lawsuit filed. Only in Rome.

Virgin Mary's everywhere!

In the United States there are some ridiculous things that are bought and sold every day on E-bay. Some of the most absurd things that are actually purchased are items of food or certain materials that are said to contain the image of the blessed Virgin Mary. Some of these things include pieces of toast, a picture of spaghetti-o's or a ketchup stain on a piece of cloth. Some would claim that the Virgin Mary can appear anywhere, but the cynic would claim that everywhere, is now becoming anywhere. Personally I would believe that if the Virgin Mary wanted to appear to someone it would be in a church or holy place, but maybe the only way she can get noticed in our American culture is on a 2000 calorie burger bun, but I digress.
In Rome the Virgin Mary, is literally everywhere and on every street corner, or so it seems. The first few nights here my roommates and I noticed a flashing light over a hole in a wall near our apartment. We didn't think much of it at first but wondered why the light was there and why it could be flashing. A week later I saw the place during the day and realized that the hole in the wall actually contained a small white statue of the Virgin Mary. After noticing this one statue more and more began popping up everywhere I went. The blessed Virgin is an icon here maybe like nothing else, not even Jesus and his cross. She is usually tucked in a small alcove of her own high in a wall in seemingly random places all along narrow streets. But the one thing that they all have in common is that there is always a light shining on the Virgin so that she is noticed by anyone walking by and not made up by a money starved person praying on the blind faith of a grilled cheese eating America.

Sidewalks

At home I am used to sidewalks that accommodate thousands of people on game days, tents for hot dog vendors, spill over from popular bars, and whatever else can fit that particular space. This environment leads the casual walker to focus not on their next stop or what they may be coming from behind them, but rather, on a text message, a sandwich or a friend. In Rome, though, the concept of sidewalks is a little bit different.

Here, for the most part, there aren't sidewalks at all, and if there are, they definitely do not cater to the pedestrian. Since the streets are so narrow, the sides of them are used for Vespas as parking spaces and single file wall hugging walkers. This design leads requires pedestrians to have boyscout like readiness every step of the way. I have almost been clipped three times and found myself apologizing more than the driver of said Vespa. The driver, instead, looks at you like you committed a crime against humanity, shakes their head, and jets away.

Road Construction

At home, in upstate New York, aside from school being out and grilling becoming popular, summer means road work. It is typical to see a road crew on every busy street at least one point in the summer in an effort to fix pot holes, repair pipelines that may have frozen etc. Today in Rome I saw a crew of three of four men doing "road work." Unlike at home where it is typical to see steamrollers, enormous dump trucks, and a crew of thirty to forty, here in Rome the crew had brooms, shovels, a wheelbarrow and a small van that was filled with sand. When I first came across the crew I wondered why such little equipment then i turned the corner and saw a pile of cobblestones and realized why. In order to repair anything under the surface of a street a crew has to first dig up several hundred cobble stones, repair what needs to be repaired and then manually replace each stone. The gaps are filled with sand and then pounded into place with a mechanical hammer to make certain they are secure. In this kind of heat I doubt the list of applicants for this job is very long.

Plants in the streets

Walking down a New York City street the scenery is that of glass and steal and seeing any type of plant life would be cause for celebration. Here in Rome though plant life and buildings are symbiotic. Each street in Rome has a different feel and appearance and many of them have abundant plant life. Seeing vines and flowers on the sides of buildings is a welcome sight. It makes you feel less like you are in a city of 4 million people and more like you are in your own home town. Along with the wild vines that cover sides of building there are small gardens on nearly every available balcony. People here seem to enjoy having things like fresh vegetables and natural flowers close by. This is a far cry from the typical Penn State balcony that may contain a grill, a "foldy" chair, and drunk kids.

Chess in the street

In New York City chess boards are incredibly common around several small parks and people are always waiting for a match. In Rome though, as I was out exploring, I came across a few older men playing chess in the middle of their street. Scooters slowed and turned to avoid them and no one batted an eye. I drew the comparison between the first 5 feet of a roman street and a stoop of an apartment building in any of the boroughs of NYC. This is a place where privacy and the public domain meet. A chess match or social interaction is common in this place and getting hit by a vehicle is far from a chief concern.

Defacating on the Streets

Early on in our first orientation meeting we were told not to be loud obnoxious drunks during our stay in Italy, and that if we were the locals would look at us like we defacated on their street. What we didn't know was that the streets are already filled with fecal discharge of a different kind. Walking down most streets in Rome you need to keep one eye behind you so you don't get run over, one eye roaming so that you can take in all of culture around you and yet another eye on the ground so you make sure to avoid the dog feces that is scattered from street to street. So far I haven't been hit by a car/bike and have been appreciating my surroundings at all times. Unfortunately my feet have found the poop before my "third eye" has. There are dogs of all shapes and sizes in Rome and they leave behind a little piece of themselves wherever they go. This isn't surprising as they are animals, what I do find surprising thought is the response of their human owner. I haven't seen one owner with a little plastic bag as they walk their dog and absolutely no signs that encourage such maintenance.

The Streets Of Rome

Streets here are a far cry from the fast paced streets of New York City. The first major difference between the streets of New York and the streets of Rome are the colors. In NYC you are surrounded by dark steel sky scrapers and buildings at least 20 stories high. In Rome the streets are no taller than 6 stories (as mandated by law) and range in color from