Things they are a changing

So there are a few things I'm missing while here in Roma.  Or, rather there's things I've noticed are not  here. 

1.  Cats - different places used to be just overrun with feral cats here.  It wasn't uncommon to see dozens in a day.  To date, I've only seen one sleek, well fed black guy moving qickly from one place of cover to another.  

2.  Gypsies -  there were dozens of hordes of children and women blocking the sidewalks and swooping down on unsuspecting tourists to pick their pockets or worse.  Indeed, in one memorable encounter many years ago, I got a pinch on the soft skin of my arm that left an ugly bruise that stuck with me for more than a month.  Now, it's like they've vanished - maybe they took their cats and moved along.  

3. Water in the fountains - the Trevi fountain, the boat at the bottom of the Spanish steps and several others are covered up with plastic or worse.  Even the fountain in Piazza Barberini had no water running one morning I went out early - later in the day it was running, however.  Perhaps Rome is getting green and rethinking the constant flow of non-stop water? Perhaps all the calcium in the pipes clogged things up? 

4.  TV antennas - Roma's gone digital!   These used to be just part of the skyline, an ugly part, I'll admit, but a part none the less. Now, when I look out from a high overlook, all I see are church spires and red tile roofs.  Quite a welcomed change, really.  

5.  Motorini - the constant buzz of these little motor bikes was always just part of the background noise here. Somehow, it seems less pervasive and annoying.  Maybe all the Vespa riders of yesteryear have grown up and now drive mini cars?  I can tell you, the roads haven't gotten any wider, but they've gotten more crowded.  One trick I've had to remember is how to cross a roman street.  Slight break in the traffic? Just go! I did this in Barcelona and Dave and Deb just about had a heart attack.  It's the only way to be, I'll tell you.  Just go!

6.  Italians - when I went to the market, I felt like I was in the United Nations! I had to look hard for Italians who were working in the stalls.  Many of the people were speaking Italian, but others...I have no idea what they were speaking.  And the spices?  

They looked and smelled like things I had seen in Arabia, and Asia, but never before in Italy.  Maybe it's because it's too hot and they're all at the beach.  Maybe it's because I haven't ventured much out of the tourist areas, but I do miss them with their beautiful hair and impeccable sense of style.  

7.  My old friends - Thom, Hannah, Susan, Ellen, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Ole, Evelyn and Federico.  Rome isn't the same without you, even though it was many, many years ago that we were here together as a cohesive, fluid group, those memories are as heartful as the original events themselves:

Singing in the church, dancing in the fountains, walking the best places till all hours, playing bridge till later than that, going to Porta Portesi before church, taking road trips with very little money by train or hitching, window shopping every Sunday and stopping for a cioccolato caldo, eating all the mandarini before even getting home from the market, missing the last bus...all these and so many more live in my heart. 

Thank you for helping to make Roma one of those places I'll always want to return to.