1999: Jumping Off the Big Boot
by Carl Russo
3.
Let us now weigh the pros and cons of Rome.
PRO: Young Romans are perfect people to look at. Absolutely supermodel material.
CON: No young Roman is complete without a loud motor scooter and a cell phone pressed against his or her perfect face.
CON: Rome in the summer is unbearably hot and humid.
PRO: Romans apparently bathe a lot because they don't stink except, understandably, on the afternoon bus.
PRO: All of Rome shuts down in the afternoon for a siesta or lovemaking or something.
CON: All of Rome shuts down in the afternoon.
PRO: Except for the occasional McDonald's or car rental agency, Rome is amazingly bereft of multinational chain stores.
CON: Your only option for breakfast is sugar, caffeine, and more sugar.
PRO: Cinemas are everywhere, and what's more, all non-Italian films are dubbed into the mother tongue.
CON: Hollywood blockbusters dominate. I had a choice between Wild Wild West and The Mummy (La Mummia).
PRO: La bella Roma is a picture of unparalleled beauty.
CON: You must share it with legions of tacky tourists.
PRO: The entire history of Western civilization is at your feet.
CON: Your feet develop giant balloonish blisters that no amount of soaking can deflate.
After my immersion in ancient and Renaissance history, I took my balloon feet far from the maddening legions of tacky tourists to the southern part of the city to see Fellini's home-base studio, Cinecittą. Turns out I missed the final tour of the summer season by one day, which is probably just as well because they now offer a Universal Studios-style theme park train ride through the backlots. (I later read that all of Fellini's giant props have been auctioned off.)
But another untrammeled attraction remained in that sector of the city: EUR, the acronym for Mussolini's 1942 Universal Exposition of Rome. Fascist kitsch architecture in all its modern, efficient glory. Above you see the "Square Colosseum" used to chilling effect in the recent film Titus.
Surely that would be my last experience with Il Duce on this trip, wouldn't it?
[
Italy: Sicily 1
|
Spain, Portugal, Morocco
|
France
|
Greece
|
Italy: Rome
|
Italy: Sicily 2
|
Italy: Mezzogiorno
|
Italy: Sicily 3 & 4
|
Italy: Sicily 5
]
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