Passeggiata

This definition from reidsguides.com:

"The evening passeggiata stroll on Via del Corso is Rome's quintessential see-and-be-seen event"

"Italians had a tendency to elevate every element of daily life into an art form, from the clothes they wear (Ferragamo, Fendi, Gucci, Armani) to meals they cook.

Think about it: in Italy, the very accoutrements of daily like are forms of art, from tea kettles (Alessia, Bialetti, Langostina) and automobiles (Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lambourghini, Ducati) to movies (Fellini, anyone?).

Heck, until primadonnas like Michelangelo happened along to change things, even the decorating of walls and painting of pictures was widely considered to be a common laborer's task.

So leave it to the Italians to turn their daily, pre-drinner stroll into the premier social event of each day. During the evening passeggiata ("little walk") between 5 and 7pm, half the city turns out in their best clothes to see and be seen—but mostly to be seen fare la bella figura, ("cutting a beautiful figure").

Via del Corso is ground zero for Rome's most fashionable passeggiata evening stroll, awash with citizens, men and women alike, linked arm-in-arm (or, these days, arm-in-one-arm, the other arm crooked to hold a cellphone to the ear).

Passeggiata is a babble of lively conversation as everyone window shops their way up and down the street, everyone checking out everyone else (and even more crucially, being checked out), bumping into friends and acquaintances, and perhaps make impromptu plans to head off to dinner together.

Just because there's probably no one you know to bump into (or the fact that you left your Armani suit or Prada dress at home) doesn't mean you shouldn't get right out there and join the throng. It is perhaps the most Italian part of any day in Italy, and if nothing else the walk will help you work up a hearty appetite for dinner."

One list among many

I can't count how many travel books my mother and I have acquired over the last few weeks. All have been helpful in one way or another. Of recent note, according to the AAA Spiral Guide on Italy, when in Italy, one should:

1. Try the regional food and wine
2. Browse in a food market
3. Join the evening passeggiata
4. Walk in the countryside
5. Enjoy an excellent cup of coffee in a bar
6. Take in at least one of Italy’s great museums
7. Shop for clothes, knitwear, leather and crafts
8. Swim in the clear coastal waters

We already have plans to do seven of the above eight things.
Any idea which one we won’t be doing? ;D

Russert in Rome

I want to take a moment to recognize the life and passing of one of my all-time favorite TV personalities, Tim Russert. A week ago, Russert, his wife Maureen Orth and their son, Luke, had been celebrating Luke’s graduation from Boston College with a family trip to Italy. Russert left his family in Rome and returned to Washington DC on Thursday night. He died at the NBC studios on Friday afternoon. Tonight on Countdown, Keith Olbermann briefly showed a picture of the Russert family standing and smiling together in a corridor of the Vatican Museum. I gasped out loud when I saw it. I have stood there before, and shortly, I may stand there again. But, for me, it will never be the same. For ten days, I will wonder if I am walking in the Russerts’ footsteps, if I am taking as much pleasure from the sights and sounds as they did, if they know I’m thinking about and grieving with them. Probably not, but that’s the kind of sentimental sap I am. Rome, Russert. Just had to say it.

Picture taken from The Huffington Post.

Packing trial and error

I admit to being more than a little obsessive about what I take with me on European trips. This concern, however, has fermented over nearly 25 years of travel dating back to my first venture overseas on a high school trip in 1984. At that time, I packed like I was leaving the planet for a year; I took a hair dryer, makeup, shoes for every occasion, clothes for the slightest change in weather. Later, determined to streamline, I learned the hard way that taking my father's smaller camera that I didn't know how to operate wasn't worth saving six square inches in my bag. When I took a freighter across the Atlantic in 2001, however, I reached my highest packing quotient (PQ?) ever. Because I'm older and my back is in worse shape now than it was then, I'm determined to pack as efficiently this time as I did then.

Everything that I'm taking on this trip can be washed in a sink and will dry overnight--underwear, shorts, shirts, dresses. I've been testing things out for the last week or so, taking them into the shower or tub with me at night, washing them with shampoo and hanging them over the shower curtain rod to dry. So far, so good. Most of what I'm taking is sports wear in the sense that it is made from a Tencel/poly blend that, when worn in the gym or on the athletic field, wicks sweat away from the body and dries quickly. Other items that I'm taking, if not made from a Tencel material, is purely a poly/nylon blend that would melt to my skin if I got too close to a fire. I usually prefer natural fibers, but considering man-made fabrics tend to be lighter and dry more quickly, that's where I'm casting my lot on this trip. With the help of onebag.com (see link to the left), I'm still tweaking my packing list. I'll post a final list closer to our departure.