Ho Visto*

Every Tuesday afternoon I head over to Trastevere for an appointment. Trastevere literally mean "across the Tiber" and encompasses a large area south of the Vatican on the west bank of the river. The northern area of the Rioni (Rome proper is divided into 22 districts or Rioni, Trastevere being number 8) is a warren of cobblestoned streets, alleyways, old palazzi, palazetti, churches and other buildings some dating back to the 12th century. It's also a beehive of trattorie, bars and trendy clubs some catering chiefly to tourists and others to the better heeled youth of the area.

I'm not working these days so I often leave a bit early, have a coffee at a bar just off the Lungotevere - I don't even have to order now just wave at Cisco, the barman, and my Caffè macchiato is made - and wander around the back streets. It is still an area I am not all that familiar with and I only get over there on those Tuesday jaunts. It's odd, but I think only normal, how once you get settled in a city you tend not to leave your own area most of the time. So Trastevere is mostly uncharted territory to this stranger from the Upper East side.

This past Tuesday as I was approaching the Piazza de'Mercanti I noticed this gentleman unloading his truck.

Firewood? In the middle of Rome? Why would he be unloading firewood? Sure our wealthy neighbours on the ground floor have a fireplace but I don't suspect many people in the palazzi in that area do. Then I realized it was in front of a trattoria that had been a favourite haunt of many film stars in the 60s and 70s: La Taverna de'Mercanti. And of course this would be for their famous wood burning pizza ovens.


And as I walked along the side of the building I noticed a screen door leading directly down into their kitchen and took a quick shot of one of the staff preparing for the evening onslaught.


When I mentioned it to my doctor, he gave that famous Roman "BOH!" and suggested that I come over one evening and take night time pictures as according to him it is quite lovely. But then he suggested I go and eat elsewhere - too many people looking for the table that Gregory Peck sat at!


*I Saw

03 novembre - Santa Silvia