Rome was alive, people like ants moved through her streets. For a while I watched as a spectator, like watching a geological event with wonderment. Then I began moving, calculating dollars to lira; some cheese and salome in one store, bread in another, fruit another and of course a bottle of wine to bring back to the room to share.
When back upstairs in the Pensione all I could speak about was the light and people, movement, this was Rome! Years later that walk in Rome is still vivid in memory, as if an essence was captured in those moments on the street, my first evening in Rome.
We arrived in the heat of the day when all of Rome had found a quiet place in the shade after the big meal. The sun was high in the sky and there was little shade as we walked draging our bags from the train station past the beggars through unfamiliar streets toward the Pensione we wanted to rent for the next few nights.
The beads of sweat formed on my forehead, the light was piercing like the heat. There was no breeze and the streets were empty. The smell of food occasionally passed our path. We passed a four star hotel with the uniformed man standing with nothing to do.
The elevator at the Pensione was not working, the caged in space with visible cables going up inert. The stairs wound around the elevator shaft to the third floor room. My entire body was perspiring as I carried the bag up the stairs to what we hoped was the finish line, our room.
The room was very inviting and fit expectations, the double bed was two singles pushed together as we had seen in other pensiones. There was a sink in the room with a small mirror above it. After some water on the face we both layed down in the bed.
Time passed, it was early evening. I ventured down the stairs and pushed open the door leading to the street. The light hypnotic, was like an inviting perfume, orange, pink and rust hues painted by an Italian master. The street was full of people, the contrast from when we had first arrived was startling. People were moving quickly through the streets with bags and packages, moving toward home I imagined
