Fa Caldo

I was warned that Rome gets hot in the summertime, but today really proved it to me. Normally, the mornings are somewhat cooler than the rest of the day, but this morning I woke up at 7.30, and it was already sweltering. By the time I got to the Forum at quarter to ten, the sun was beating down with an intensity that I had never experienced before. Even the gladiators and centurions who hang out by the Colosseum hitting on female tourists couldn't take the heat. From the distance of hindsight, it must have been pretty amusing (for any observer impervious to the heat) to see the motley crew all huddled together in the shadow of the Arch of Constantine, all vying for a bit of shade while trying not to get too close to anyone else's body heat. With no hyperbole at all, I can say it is actually about 15-20 degrees cooler in the shade than it is in the direct sunlight. Waiting in this historically-granted shade, I found myself chatting away to the two gladiators who stand near my tour group meeting point. They make a very amusing pair, when they are in action. One of them, Luca, is tall and tan an in very good shape, and he tops off this physique with shoulder-length hair that is streaked with blond in a way that I never would have imagined. Although he holds his strange hair back with a headband, he still manages to look much more convincingly like a gladiator than his buddy, Alessio. Alessio is somewhat shorter and very round, as if his mamma makes some really excellent pasta. He is also going bald, though right now it is just a little bit on the top of his head.

"Ciao, bella," Luca says, "fa caldo! Dobbiamo...." at which point he began to speak too fast for me to understand, but I caught something that sounded like "umbra" (which of course is Latin for "shade") so I put on a serious face and said "Si, si, si" with as much grave agreement as I could muster. Alessio and I then traded "fa caldo"s, and once we were in agreement about the heat, the modern gladiators and I managed to introduce ourselves and explain why we would want to stand in this corner of the Piazza del Colosseo. Actually, I did most of the explaining (in my combination basic Italian/sign language/Latin polyglot), since it was pretty apparent why they were there... We see each other every morning, so now that we have been introduced I think we are proper Italian amici. I would take a picture to post on the blog, but I am pretty sure I would then owe my new friends 10 euro.

The caldo continued as I made my way away from the Forum, planning to catch the 64 bus to San Pietro. With another dearth of tourists, however, I found myself with some extra time on my hands, and chose to spend it in the fountain on the left side of the monument to Vittorio Emanuelle II, or, the Wedding Cake. In all truth, I didn't really go swimming in the fountain (though I do hope that I will get to swim in at least one fountain before the summer is over), I merely removed my shoes and stuck my feet into the blissfully frigid water. People walking by seemed to think this looked like a good idea, and soon a fair number of feet were submerged. I could have stayed there a lot longer, but I had to at least consider the possibility that there might be tourists waiting for me to lead them in the Vatican.

Alas, when I got to Piazza San Pietro, I found myself one of maybe 25 people total who were in the square, and 20 of them were on a group tour already. Resolutely, however, I went and stood at the meeting point, grateful at last to the ubiquitous tour guide umbrella that I carry, which at least provided a bit of shade. No one was interested in the tour, so I returned to my pressing issue of the day: where will I sleep tonight? After spending one final night in the apartment last night, I faced today without a bed destination. After calling every convent in the city, I found that the only way to get a bed in one of them tonight was to join the order. Having decided that I was not quite ready to take the veil, I threw myself on the mercy of Franco, who kindly let me back into my old school. I will try the nuns again tomorrow (after all, I am getting very good at saying, "sono una ragazza povera, ho bisogno una camera da letto"), and hope for clouds and tourists.