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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Small World




For Fannie and Andrew's first full day in Rome, we took our favorite walking circuit through the city. As it would turn out, this day's trip would have some surprising features.

We start in the Monti, grabbing a slice of pizza to get us going. We go up the Via dei Serpenti, pausing from time to time to look back toward the Colosseum. Crossing the Via Nazionale, we climb a few more blocks to the Quirinal. Once the home of Popes, now of the Italian President. There seems to be some commotion, which (after not too long a wait) turns out to be the changing of the guard. The navy, in the internationally recognizable blue suits and white hats, had finished their duty, and were to be replaced by the Guardia di Finanza, a sort of militarized treasury police dressed in green. Much pomp and circumstance, complete with a military band. Although somewhat reluctant to enjoy martial spectacles, we did like the combination of machine guns and spats.

Onward.
Down the hill to the Trevi Fountain, where Fannie tossed the traditional coin over her shoulder to guarantee her return to the Eternal City.


Between the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon (our next stop), we encounter the inevitable tourist shops, but one of the stands has something we haven't seen before: a 2009 calendar with pictures of handsome priests (Hunks of the Clergy?). A post-modern parody if there ever was one. Fannie buys one for her study carrel next year.


The Pantheon deserves its own entry, but not today.


Close to the Pantheon is Giolitti's ice cream parlor, which we had visited with Andrew's parents (Sarah and Steve See the City: Day 2+); clearly we needed to stop there with Fannie and Andrew. We grabbed a table on the street, but before we could be served we had a surprise. We looked up to be greeted by Frank and Betsy Wilczek, accompanied by a tour guide (who turned out to be quite amusing). They are spending a sabbatical in Oxford, and Bill had a hint that Frank was in Rome but it's still surprising to simply meet them on the street, seemingly at random. Somehow not the setting for Bill and Frank to talk physics (someday we'll find a cafe with blackboards), but much catching up on life, the state of the children, etc.. The tour guide contributed, among other things, a memorable story of an evangelical group asking him to join their prayer: "Lord protect us as we are about to enter the lair of the evil one ...". Before going into St. Peter's, of course.

Fortified by the excellent ice cream, we needed coffee. A pilgrimage to Sant'Eustachio, for their remarkable espresso. More wandering, past Piazza Navona, and then back to the Largo Argentina. Since it was actually the Ides of March, we stopped to see the place where Caesar was murdered. Well, we think we saw it. There are beautifully excavated temples, but it seems that the deed itself was done on the back stairs, somewhat difficult to discern. Still, a thought provoking place.

The home stretch .. past the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument (the giant wedding cake), up to the Campidoglio, down past the site where Peter is supposed to have been jailed (although the chains ended up closer to us, with Moses) and along the Forum with the striking view of the Colosseum at the end of the wide street. Stopping to admire the evening views of the Trajan Markets (see Valentine's Day at the Local Mall) and the various fora.

At this point we are flagging; maybe a slice of pizza and a giant plate of ice cream isn't quite enough for the day, even with the espresso. We steer our walk back into the Monti, to arrive at the Taverna Romana. We've been there several times (thanks to Leonard and Nick for pointing us there!), so we get a smile of recognition from the waiters. Still, the place is packed. "Venti minuti," with hand gestures to suggest "approximately." We claim a spot on the steps of the vegetable stand across the street. Soon, someone asks us in English about the wait. Small talk ensues; he and his wife (who appears shortly) are also staying the neighborhood. We explain that we're here for a sabbatical visit. From where? Princeton. Ah, which department? ... To make the story a bit shorter than the wait, our compatriot was David Satran, a professor of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University. He was twice a visitor at Princeton, and counts among his colleagues Martha Himmelfarb. No, Fannie explains, she hasn't worked with Martha but was in school with her daughter. Which one? You get the idea. A real small world experience.

Before closing, we have to note that, among other wonderful things at the Taverna Romana, we had a salad of puntarelle with the traditional anchovy dressing. Amazing. As it happens, the New York Times is on top of this one too, thanks to the traveling Mark Bittman.

So .. a full day. And, in the small world category, a physics colleague for Bill, a school board colleague for Char, a religion professor for Fannie ... We didn't bump into any applied mathematicians for Andrew, but maybe he could estimate the probability of all this happening in one day, on the other side of the world. WB

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