Brush With Power

While I will be the first to tell you that Rome is by far the best city in Italy and is obviously the capital, I sometimes forget that being a capital city means that government activities are carried out there. You'd think I'd be more on top of this, as Rome is the 5th capital city I have lived in during the past 5 years, but then again, I rarely hang out on the Quirinal Hill, which is where most of the governing happens.

In one of those rare occasions, however, I was giving an Angels and Demons tour, part of which is a long walk on the Qurinal from Santa Maria della Vittoria to the Quirinal Palace. As we were walking, we heard the unmistakable sounds of a Carabinieri cavalcade. This is not an uncommon sound in Rome, as the Carabinieri love any chance to wear their fancy dress uniforms and ride motorcycles before and behind (and around, if they can fit on the tiny streets) whatever dignitary or celebrity or wealthy businessman is riding in the Alfa or Mercedes or BMW with the removable siren on it. Sometimes I think they must practice with empty cars, as they (and the Polizia Municipale, come to think of it) always seem to be cavalcading something.

In any case, this particular group was making a lot of noise, an obvious sign of having someone very important in the nice car. I moved my group out of the center of the street, to give them some room to pass, but nonetheless, the entourage slowed as it approached us. We stopped, ever eager for a celebrity siting, and were not disappointed. Who should be inside this car that the big man, the Italian Stallion, Silvio Berlusconi himself! I do what 33% of people do when they see someone famous: I stood very still, with a very goofy grin on my face, but one of my tourists was at least mobile enough to turn to me and yell, 'Oh look, he's waving at you!'

As the cavalcade rolled off, I could see that indeed, Prime Minister Berlusconi had been waving, but I can't decide if it is because he wanted me to vote for him or because he was trying to invite me to one of his legendary parties...