Rome: DAY 12

TWELFTH DAY

September 24, 2005

A large group of Visitors and Fellows gathered this morning on the Tiber Island just across from the Jewish Ghetto.  Our Arts Director, who is not Jewish, has had a home in this section of Rome for many years.  The Ghetto is small and always was.  It is about 4 or 5 square blocks, which for hundreds of years was walled and gated.  It opened at 8AM and closed at 11PM.  Dana Prescott, our group leader, had more information than she could get delivered in the 3 plus hours that we spent marching around the small area.  She has lived in Rome for over twenty years and will be here for the balance of her career or longer.  She loves Rome the same way I love San Francisco.  No holds barred, all out, Rome is the only city that supports life on the planet, as she knows it.  Her tour takes us to her favorite pastry shop and a piece of cheesecake made with Chocolate and Ricotta cheese - very rich and sweet.  We walk around to significant churches and monuments and finally a stop at the Synagogue.  It is old and lovely.  Kim thinks we should go to services there for the Holidays.  I am not sure I would go that far but we did get invited to come.  It has a square roof and feels very Sephardic, which it is. It is large and ornate although Dana says that this community was the poorest in Europe.  There are some 15,000 Jews in Rome and about 30 thousand in the entire country.  The surrounding neighborhood is still mostly Jewish but the walls and gates actually no longer exist.  We end up at a Trattoria that serves Artichokes made the Jewish way, whatever that is.  They do a demonstration and the leaves are heavily peeled, the chock is pushed down into the deep fryer and comes out like a French fry with crispy edges.  No wonder they taste so good. Isn’t everything deep fried good?  One of the big historical questions about the Jews in Rome is what did Pope Pius do to help them avoid the German concentration camps.  Clearly, not enough, as thousands of Italian Jews were rounded up and killed.  There is evidence that he tried, but the spin is not much.

The tour ends and Kimberly, who listens to every word wants more.  She is a tireless student and goes to every lecture and tour possible.  I am hungry and this time I win.  We stop at a café for a light lunch and go back to Trastevere where I am preparing to confront the local Mervyn’s called something else.  Sometimes, it is hard to differentiate Italy from the US.  This department store reminds me of the Mervyns at Masonic and Geary, racks of polyester at low prices and no help.  I wander around and read labels and sizes in Italian.  At this point, I speak no Italian, but it doesn’t matter because no one is looking at me.  I think you could steal the store.  Finally, I find a cotton shirt that is not too fitted and voila, I buy it.  I will now be very fashionable and look like an Italian.  We take the steady 75 up the hill and return to our domicile.

Rome: DAY 11

ELEVENTH DAY

September 23, 2005

I think yesterday was a rest day.  I spent much of the day reading from various resource books about the history of paper.  The best one is an older book by the god of papermaking, Dard Hunter, it is called, Papermaking The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft.  It was first published in 1943 and remains to this day the bible of those who are interested in this complicated and beautiful old craft.  I have read all or parts of this book many times but continue to learn.  I am getting ready to make a foray into the library of the Academy to see what they have on hand.  For sure, the rare book room has some old paper.  The librarian is very helpful, and I should have access when I decide to go forward.  In the mid afternoon I took a wonderful meditation walk through the large lawns and gardens of this fantastic villa.  It was a complete revival of spirit and gave me lots of energy for the balance of the day. 

Kimberly has been insisting that I go to all the lectures, which normally take place in the early evening before dinner.  Last night I went.  The topic of the lecture was Italian Architecture in the African colonies  (Italy’s African Colonies). I must say it was another good rest as the lecturer had some 82 slides of some very non-descript buildings.  Not an impressive performance.

What to do about food takes up part of everyday.  If we stay at the Academy for lunch or dinner we have the benefit of being with lots of interesting Fellows and other visitors.  To say that the food could be better would be to say it all.  So, it is always a question of whether to stay in or go out.  We have been going out much of the time and even cooked in our floor kitchen one night.  I must say that the Italian chickens as prepared by the master chef, Kimberly, are better then what we can buy at home. Last night we went to Fontanone.  It is a great old Trastevere kitchen near the Sisto Bridge and just next door to Checcio.  There are lots of good places to go, but we had a wonderful evening at Fontanone on our visit to Rome last year.  The Pizza is really terrific, thin tasty crust, fresh ingredients.  Lots of oil, good oil, makes it an outstanding treat.  I had a Capresse salad, tomato with fresh mozzarella, wow.  That’s it.  We had the obligatory gelato stop, even the smalls are almost too much and then a march up the steps to the Academy and our loft.  We have learned our way home and love that walk at night from the restaurants.  Even though the steps are steep, it feels good to work some of that food off.  Narrow winding streets, very quiet, all things closing down for the night. Very romantic. It feels like we are in Rome.

Rome: DAY 10

TENTH DAY

September 22, 2005

I was correct.  Everybody showed up for Grappa night in the 2^nd floor lounge.  Lots of politics and heavy hurricane conversation as we watched this next monster cover the gulf and get ready to take some more victims.  We stayed late in the night watching Fox and CNN International battle it out for hurricane disaster coverage.  It seems we are so far away and yet the TV makes it seem right on top of us; it is very confusing.  I think it is good to be away from the SF 49ers, too.  No explanation necessary.  Yesterday Nancy T, my assistant, told me that those doggie Giants had sent out playoff ticket info.  She has decided that the Giants have no chance and that they will keep our money for too long.  As Bonds has been saying for a while, it’s just a business.  In business, I always liked getting paid in advance when I could find some fool to do it.  Incidentally, Grappa is more expensive then Scotch but doesn’t taste as good.  I bought the cheapest one I could find.  It does have a high alcohol count.  I think there might have been some hangovers this morning.

We had lunch with a redoubtable woman, Kristen Jones.  She is trying to do a project on the Tiber River, which is to signify the birth of Rome.  It is proposed to stretch along the Tiber for about a mile.  For you Rome cognoscenti, it is between the Mazzini Bridge and the Sisto pedestrian crossing on the Trastevere side of the river.  Kristen and her cohorts managed to stencil wolves on the wall above the river by blasting away the grime with hot water. They are big and attractive. The stencils are not permanent and only serve to show what could happen. She faces considerable hurdles in completing her project.  It is hard to get permission for this type of project and even harder to get the money.  There was a recent well-written piece about Kristen in the New Yorker last month.  We met her in SF at some art thing.  She is my chance for a scooter in Rome.  It is too complicated to explain, but essentially she would get the license and insurance, and I would get the scooter.  Money may change hands.  We had lunch at a famous old Roman place “Checcio on Benadetta in Trastevere steps from the Sisto Bridge.  Three sisters own three places all on the same block.  One is a fancy restaurant, then a Gelato place and finally a cheaper café.  All good.  When I have more experience I will comment on the crazy number of Gelateria in Rome, but I simply don’t have much experience yet.  It sort of all tastes the same to me so I must improve my skill level.  One more comment on Rome.  Everything takes longer.  Lunch is never less then 2 hours and it is hard to get the bill even then.  We hurry home through a gathering rain, walking up the 75 steps at Vicolo Cedro and then up again to the Gianicolo and arrive at the Academy gates just before the monsoon starts.  

Rome: DAY 9

NINTH DAY

September 21, 2005

The traffic in Rome is unbelievable.  I am sure this is no news as it has always been reported that it is hard to get around in this city.  There are lots of cars and no surprise; more motorized two wheel vehicles then anyplace else in the Western world.  I remember Vietnam and Thailand as having lots of bikes and scooters, looks like a tie.  We have been walking almost everywhere when time and distance make it possible.  There is a system for crossing the street or all pedestrians would be dead.  Here is what I think it is—look for the crosswalk.  It is insane to cross anywhere else although many locals do.  Look both ways and wait for a clear patch from the oncoming cars and scooters.  Start going across and then look left and make eye contact with the traffic coming from that side.  If you make no eye contact, do not move until you do.  When you can cross, do it at maximum speed.  There are a few other rules, mainly once you start, try not to stop.  Nobody expects you to stop, and even though they act like they are going to hit you, they probably won’t. If they do hit you, I understand the Emergency Rooms are first class and everybody has insurance.  I continue my hunt for a scooter although I am afraid I am not legal.  There are some other possibilities and I will stay the course.  This walking will kill you. 

Kim went out yesterday to look for more apartments.  I saw her leave the Academy on foot because she couldn’t get a cab due to rush hour rain.  We know this from our own little burg.  She was going to see 3 apartments and then meet me at the Pantheon for lunch followed by one more viewing near this remarkable monument.  I go to the appointed spot on time and Kim showed up about 10 minutes late and rather out of breath.  She sort of misconnected with the agent, and when he found her they ended up walking through half of Rome to the viewings - not even a good apartment and prices seem to be rising by the day.  Short-term rentals are dear and so far plain.  We did see a sort of improvement when our next meeting showed us a five-floor walk-up right near the center - a nice place but a big walk-up and on the edge of being priced as extortion.  We have now moved our target price up another 30%.  This last place does have a terrace and sort of modern kitchen; we could live there.  We will have a chance to look around a little more before they try to find some other fools.  We walked back to the tram stop and finally looked at the clock.  Kim had essentially been running around Rome for 7 hours and the hunt continues.  She is a hero and very sure of herself out pounding the bricks for our next stop.  We keep thinking we will find our spot. 

My little nighttime booze group met again last night.  Essentially, nobody brought any anything.  I will return tonight with Grappa and see who shows up.  My guess is we will get a crowd.

Rome: DAY 8

EIGHTH DAY

September 20, 2005

There are so many things that I am not very good at doing.  The computer is certainly the one that comes to mind right off the bat.  Every time I ask for help, it is a revelation when the problem is solved.  While we are here, my next-door neighbor who is a professor at Cal Poly, a working photographer and a landscape architect is supporting me.  He is also a visitor at the Academy.  He is photographing World Heritage Sites for some UN thing.  He gets in lots of places that are off limits to most.  Very interesting.  His first comments to me were about how much the Architecture Department at CCA had improved and he was very impressed with our progress.  Nice to hear those good words.  In fact, CCA is well known here.  One of our honorary doc winners is in residence, Carrie Mae Weems is her name and I met her in 1999 when she was at CCA for our graduation ceremony.  Her work is mostly photographic and is very good.  Another fellow was in Larry Rinder’s Whitney Biannual show.  Anyway, it is nice to be around this highly charged group.  Many of these people are under severe deadlines for dissertation completions and the pressure is right on the surface. 

Yesterday, we took the #8 tram down to see an apartment near the center of old Rome.  The apartment itself was pretty much old Rome, nothing having changed since Nero burned down the place.  I am hoping for more, but it was scary.  Not only was it dirty, but they were worried about how we would take care of it.  Pricey too, but we will press on.  Everything seems small and cramped.  I think I could be somewhat spoiled.  I think we need a divine intervention. 

Once again, we took the wrong bus in our attempt to get somewhere.  Apparently it is happening to everyone.  One of the wives said she was having trouble getting around and she speaks perfect Italian. The sights are glorious and the weather cooling off.  I am not so good on the churches but we will stay out there.