One of the first things you notice when you arrive in Rome is preponderance of graffiti. Otherwise lovely, urban family neighborhoods are marred by a sea of tags. And we are not talking edgy street art a la Banksy; we are talking scribbles, signatures and unpronounceable symbols. It's a mess! Everything within arm's reach is tagged - ironically, even the street cleaning machines are tagged. This prompted a discussion about what is art, who gets to decide and what might be the motivation for plain old vandalism. As we rode the train this morning we played a game called graffiti or street art -- you decide. We did not have to look hard to find examples of both.
We left the house with the goal of getting to one of the better-rated playgrounds in Rome located in the Borghese Gardens. But nobody slept very well and we got kind of a late start so we went straight to pizza at the oft recommended Pizzarium. Alas, we had run out of time for the playground for today. After lunch, we headed straight to Encore – Rome'schildren's museum. What we've noticed, is that children's museums in Europe are different from those at home. They often have a timed entry and other activities which require booking ahead of time. We had booked ahead so we went along with the kids and had a lovely couple of hours for them! Jacqui was suffering from some gnarly mosquito welts ( the word 'bite' does not do these justice) so her visit was somewhat subdued. We interacted with our children but the locals used it as babysitting and went off to the cafe to chat while their children hurtled around the exhibits with no regard for life, limb or taking turns. I'm all for 'free range parenting' but this was a bit much!
After the museum, we chased the pigeons in the Piazza del Pocolo, headed down the 'pedestrian walkway' (still with a surprising number of cars) and hit the Spanish Steps. Check. They were packed and kind of underwhelming. In order to get the troops to press on, we bribed them with gelato at Ciamipini. Works every time!
Jack guided us through the streets until we came to the pantheon. It was closed but just arriving in the square with those imposing columns and beautiful fountain. It's humbling.
To add to the otherworldly atmosphere, a wizened old guitarist had gathered an admiring crowd with Pink Floyd covers. Jacqui and I were drawn in with a particularly soulful rendition of Shine on you Crazy Diamond. We plopped right down on the cobblestones, still radiating warmth from the sun, and fully lost ourselves in the moment. Even Natalie settled back for the show. Our empty stomachs compelled us to finally tear ourselves away in search of sustenance. After witnessing an exciting high-speed police chase and bust in the Piazza Navona, we opted for a quiet meal in a very touristy restaurant off a side street! The meal was perfunctory but the wine and the company was fantastic. Everyone was tired but happy from a great day together.
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