...is a ghost town! It is also approximately the same temperature as the surface of the sun, except more humid. Last year I managed to get myself to Ireland before the dog days of summer really kicked in, but this year, I am in Rome, and working the whole month. The heat, however, is nothing compared to the silence in the city. My neighborhood is usually full of families and screaming children (which I don't miss as much as some other things), and the piazza has shops all around it that are now boarded up with signs reading: Chiuso per ferie!
In August, Romans get a big holiday, and I don't mean something like Labor Day weekend; they take 3 WEEKS of vacation, and most people leave the confines of the Eternal City for somewhere cooler, like the beach or the mountains. My own landlord went to Reggio Calabria, and said he'll be back at the beginning of September. (Here's hoping the washing machine doesn't blow up.)
However, it is not just the private citizens who head for the hills; all the shop owners go as well, and to my great dismay, this includes the men who own and operate I Suppli, a little hole-in-the-wall tavola calda that makes the best suppli in the entire world. They also make breathtaking pizza bianca. I was in there a few days ago, and they know my face (I am in there often enough that when I walk in behind a herd of little old ladies, I just wave at the guys behind the counter and they shout, 'Oh-o! Suppli! Ciao Alessandra!' This makes me very happy, because I get presto suppli, but I think it really angers the ladies.), and the main man started saying things really quickly to me in Italian. I hate to admit when I don't understand, so I did my typical smile and nod, and say 'si' a few times. The next day, however, I felt like a complete idiot, because there was the Chiuso per Ferie sign pasted onto the boarded up wall of I Suppli. They had been trying to ask me what I would do without them for 3 weeks. I still don't know the answer!
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