Day 321 – Rainy Rome

Turns out that the Italians never go out in the rain. If it's raining, you can be sure that restaurants will be empty, even if all the tables have the "Reserved" sign on them. If you happen to host a party on a rainy night, you can forget about stellar attendance. I must have some Italian blood: I have never liked getting out of the house in the rain. When I had a job, I would always work from home if I could on a rainy day. I love the sound of rain drops against my closed window, I love the gray sky, the pajamas that I end up wearing all day, the smell of the city right after the rain. I just don't like the wet angry crowds of people, armed with pointy umbrellas and by the looks of it totally ready to use the weapon. I very much dislike the exaggerated honking, because let's face it, when it rains, somehow everybody forgets how to drive all of a sudden. And I don't like my feet wet; and unless you wear the ugly and utterly uncomfortable rain boots, you are sure to get your feet wet.

The weather is terrible today. It's pouring wet snow since early morning and it doesn't look like it is ever going to stop. I pray that all the rain stored in the Roman clouds for this week gets exhausted today, because tomorrow Ana (my friend from Paris) is coming to spend the weekend together. So I'll gladly stay at home today, just please please please make it sunny and nice tomorrow!

I have already finished the entire Season 1 of "Dexter" and also "Kill Bill – Volume 2" that I got at Fertrinelli book store the other day. Hmmm, what to do now? Maybe I can review the little Italian I have learnt this week...

1. I know how to buy half a kilo of mortadella. Posso avere mezzo kilo di mortadella, per favore?

2. I know how to buy 2 apples (and other fruit in any needed quantity for that matter) at the local market. Posso avere due mele, per piacere? La ciliegia, il limone, la pesca, la fragola, l'albicocca, l'arancia, la banana, il cocomero, l'uva, la pera, il melone. La cipolla, la carota, l'aglio, il peperone, il cetriolo, il fungo, la melanzana, l'insalata, i piselli, il sedano, i fagioli, la patata, il pomodoro, il carciofo, gli asparagi, il ravanello, la zucca!

3. I now know that Largo di Torre Argentina (and all the streets, squares and corners with "Argentina" in the name) is called this way not because in Rome they love Argentina. No. Torre Argentina takes its name from the city of Strasbourg, whose originanal name was Argentoratum. In 1503, the Papal Master of Ceremonies Johannes Burchardt from Strasbourg built in Via del Sudario a palace, called Casa del Burcardo, to which the tower is annexed.

The square now hosts four Republican Roman temples and the remains of the Pompey's Theater where Julius Caesar was murdered.

I have noticed in the past year that cemeteries attract cats for some reason. I wonder why. Although Pompey's Theater is not really a cemetery, but there were so many cats there. So maybe it's the stones?
4. I can buy any kind of bread and pastry now (very useful in Italy, trust me!). Fetta di torta, pasta, cornetto al cioccolato, tramezzino, panino, pizzetta, casadella con ricota.

5. I could understand that Piazza Remuria played a very interesting and important role in the foundation of Rome. The town could have started here. But it didn't...

Rome was built on seven hills, starting with the Palatinus. The legend says it was founded by Romulus, but why by him and not by his twin brother, if Romulus and Remus started "working" on it together? To sort out whom of the two the new town should be named after (Roma for Romulus OR Remuria for Remus), the priests decided the twins should look for a sign in the sky. So Romulus went on top of the Palatinus and Remus, on top of the Aventinus, a nearby hill, to watch for crows (it is the first recorded case of birdwatching in the history of mankind by the way).

Romulus had better eyesight (or Jupiter preferred him) and so he was designated to be the founder of the town which took his name and his house on the Palatinus originated the word "palace". Poor Remus did not take it well: he crossed the furrow which indicated the area of Rome and Romulus killed him.

Piazza Remuria is the spot where Remus was looking for crows and possible the initial site of his town.

6. I now know that the names of the weekdays from the Roman period (and now in all the Romance languages) were named after 7 planets: il lunedi (Monday) - Luna (Moon), il martedi (Tuesday) - Mars, il mercoledi (Wednesday) - Mercury, il giovedi (Thursday) - Jupiter, il venerdi (Friday) - Venice, il sabato (Saturday) - Saturn, la domenica (Sunday) - Sun (in the Romance languages the original name for "Sunday", which I cannot fine, damn it, was changed to the equivalent of "the Lord's day", based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica).