I am so so sorry. That poor aching heart of yours could use a break. The trouble is, I can't think of one damn thing to write about these days that's uplifting.
One of these days I'll have to share with you excerpts from my memories of Roma between 1962 and 1965 and what it was like for an American family with three kids under 10 years of age to move from a green leafy suburb of Cincinnati to living first in a hotel off the Via Veneto, and later in an attico-superattico just off the Via Aurelia. Roma was a lot less crowded obviously and, therefore, exponentially cleaner. The cinghiale that now graze on the trash in the piazzas roamed the fields and ruins well outside the Roman walls. I've been back many times since the late '60s and each time I noticed marked differences in people and attitudes. My last visit in 2018 was the most dismaying. Mountains of putrid trash, pushy and disrepectful tourists (all with selfie sticks), and many antiquities, churches and museums off limits without pre-ordered tickets... I found even the food lacking... and I had so wanted to share MY Roma with my husband. You have the right idea living in Amelia. If I were to return to Italia, I'd head for the hills, too.
Okay, to have perspective over time--that's worth a lot, especially coming from a brilliant human like you. I had suspected as much. Having moved here in 2014, I can only see the differences over the past eight years. But to see them over decades ... enviable. And yes, dismaying.
The food IS lacking, BTW. Not everywhere, of course. But Rome is not what she used to be.
generally, SD county is pristine; esp. beaches. but downtown sd is filled with homeless and unsightly and unhealthy debris. i'm from san francisco but have lived in SD the past 12 years and have watched the city decline much.
As a native Californian, it blows my mind to hear about the homeless problem there. Obviously, the cost of housing is staggering, even for people who aren't homeless and can afford to keep some kind of roof over their heads. But for the marginalized? It must be awful.
i suppose one could argue that marginalized is relative. comparatively, housing is expensive here. but i would not complain that i can't afford a house in bev hills, nor in the dakota in NYC. everyone has limits, financial and other, and thus chooses what they can afford and where.
I suspect you're probably not on the Roman Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Card list, eh?
It's odd, but of all the places in the world I've ever wanted to go, Italy has been pretty far down the list. Rome is even farther down, and that was before I read this. When I travel, I HATE crowded, dirty, and smelly- though I've done that before. I also have a pathological fear of rats, which probably forces Rome to the bottom of the list.
Yeah, I got kicked off one of these damn travel sites. I can't remember which. If all rates wore a chef's toque and sang songs like the one in Ratatouille, I probably wouldn't get the heeby-jeebies when I saw one.
Stacey, I respect you and your writing. And I love Rome dearly. (I click my heels together and repeat, "There's no place like Rome. There's no place like Rome....")
But Lord knows you speak (er, write) the truth. (Okay, so maybe I disagree with the "overrated" part, but otherwise....)
> Americans of a certain age will remember, as I do, the Native American with a tear trickling down his cheek.
YES! That's the exact feeling I have when I see the trash on the street...really anywhere in Italy, but especially in Rome.
> Rome deserves better. Rome deserves to be cleaned up, repaired, protected, loved, and valued.
It's abundantly clear that today's column was written from a position of love, not of disparagement.
Anyone leaving a flaming bag of fecal matter upon your doorstep is not paying attention.
I do not know the solution, but I sure hope that those who pass that way learn to respect the streets, respect the area, and recognize how fortunate they are to be there, however long or brief that may be.
And thank you for supporting. I'm crazy about Rome. So, yes, this article was written from a position of love, not disparagement. What's interesting and a little troubling to me is how few writers are telling the truth about what's going on there. Go on any of these travel-porn websites and it's one article after another gushing about how great Rome is. And it IS great. But it's also these other things, too, that need addressing. And because bloggers aren't being paid to write a lot of nonsense, we're in a unique position to tell the truth.
Well, I know what I'd do if I had a goodly amount of money and more time than my years will allow. I'd just do shit, like buy a helluva a lot of land around her and grow sorghum. What!?
I'd create a virtual wine market on the Internet to enable smaller wineries to reach a huge international audience of wine lovers. Are you kidding?!
I would buy the big barn on the field out behind here and turn it into a performing arts center and make art. Get outta here!
This valley I live in - which I have unilaterally named the Val di Cucco (Monte Cucco, which overlooks the valley, being the highest mountain in Umbria) and see it transformed into a major recreational area (biking, trekking, hiking, mountaineering, bird watching, river rafting, spelunking etc). Impossible!
The point is to, sure, press through the obstacles the bureaucrats put in the way, but to put the smartest young people to work right here so they don't have to depart the scene, and to expose them to the fun and rigours of entrepreneurialsm.
Now, back to my day-dreaming. Well, maybe after we harvest the olives and my wife and I get our new house in order and after we cater to the fabulous needs of our grandkids.
Yep. And don't even get me started on over-touristed Florence, which we just returned from. Nor how airbnbs have essentially gutted the humanity out of Venice.
Thankfully, however, there are so many amazing cities and towns in Italy where people are kind, tourists are few, and both are respectful of the place.
And you know exactly what you're talking about, too. You are an expert on Italy. But yes, sadly, Italy is being drained drop by drop of the blood that once made her what she is.
"It’s hard to appreciate works of art when all you see is the back of somebody’s head." -- Reminds me of when I visited the Louvre in 1977. I made a big point to "see" the Mona Lisa. I suppose you could say I did. I saw the frame that was holding in, and the glass that covered it (and the glare that made whatever was under the glass invisible), and I saw that it was about the size of a postage stamp. I saw all this by standing on my tip-toes and looking over the heads and shoulders of the 200 people standing in front of me, also "seeing" the Mona Lisa. That's when I decided, "fuck this popsicle stand," and explored any part of the Louvre where the people were not. Saw some amazing things that way, none of which are mentioned in the brochures.
I have to avoid crowds, just for the sheer frustration of them, but also because I really am at least mildly agoraphobic. (Just once it almost hit the state of full blown panic at a Mardi Gras thing at UCLA.) I guess I'll content myself with seeing the Rome that is displayed in the movies.
I live in NYC - Same. :( I love Rome and am heading there over Thanksgiving with my partner, who's never been outside the US. We're staying in Trastevere and I'm REALLY hoping it's not too bad. Moreso for HIS sake. I'm used to what cities can be; he's not so much. Fingers crossed!
Oh, I hope you have a fabulous time! The street cleaners come through Trastevere most mornings, which does alleviate some of the trash problem. But Rome is better in the winter than the summer, in my opinion. Fewer tourists, fewer smells.
Oct 18, 2022·edited Oct 18, 2022Liked by Stacey Eskelin
Thank you - we're so excited!! Great to know re: the street cleaners. My BF HAS been here to NYC of course, so it's not like he'll be stunned to see trash, but I just want him to fall in love with Italy as much as I have over the years, and I want her to show off her "best self" - ha! And I agree - as someone who LOATHES summer with everything in me, I'll never travel to Europe in the summer; Oct. - Dec. is my jam.
Stacey, you're absolutely right, of course. But oh how this hurts my heart. Che vergogna!
I am so so sorry. That poor aching heart of yours could use a break. The trouble is, I can't think of one damn thing to write about these days that's uplifting.
One of these days I'll have to share with you excerpts from my memories of Roma between 1962 and 1965 and what it was like for an American family with three kids under 10 years of age to move from a green leafy suburb of Cincinnati to living first in a hotel off the Via Veneto, and later in an attico-superattico just off the Via Aurelia. Roma was a lot less crowded obviously and, therefore, exponentially cleaner. The cinghiale that now graze on the trash in the piazzas roamed the fields and ruins well outside the Roman walls. I've been back many times since the late '60s and each time I noticed marked differences in people and attitudes. My last visit in 2018 was the most dismaying. Mountains of putrid trash, pushy and disrepectful tourists (all with selfie sticks), and many antiquities, churches and museums off limits without pre-ordered tickets... I found even the food lacking... and I had so wanted to share MY Roma with my husband. You have the right idea living in Amelia. If I were to return to Italia, I'd head for the hills, too.
Okay, to have perspective over time--that's worth a lot, especially coming from a brilliant human like you. I had suspected as much. Having moved here in 2014, I can only see the differences over the past eight years. But to see them over decades ... enviable. And yes, dismaying.
The food IS lacking, BTW. Not everywhere, of course. But Rome is not what she used to be.
what makes the people of rome, nyc, san diego, la tolerate filth; what makes peple of vienna, heidelberg, denmark keep things clean.
How I wish I knew. Seriously. I don't get it.
I haven't been to San Diego in at least 35 years. I gather this is a comparatively recent development?
generally, SD county is pristine; esp. beaches. but downtown sd is filled with homeless and unsightly and unhealthy debris. i'm from san francisco but have lived in SD the past 12 years and have watched the city decline much.
As a native Californian, it blows my mind to hear about the homeless problem there. Obviously, the cost of housing is staggering, even for people who aren't homeless and can afford to keep some kind of roof over their heads. But for the marginalized? It must be awful.
i suppose one could argue that marginalized is relative. comparatively, housing is expensive here. but i would not complain that i can't afford a house in bev hills, nor in the dakota in NYC. everyone has limits, financial and other, and thus chooses what they can afford and where.
I suspect you're probably not on the Roman Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Card list, eh?
It's odd, but of all the places in the world I've ever wanted to go, Italy has been pretty far down the list. Rome is even farther down, and that was before I read this. When I travel, I HATE crowded, dirty, and smelly- though I've done that before. I also have a pathological fear of rats, which probably forces Rome to the bottom of the list.
Yeah, I got kicked off one of these damn travel sites. I can't remember which. If all rates wore a chef's toque and sang songs like the one in Ratatouille, I probably wouldn't get the heeby-jeebies when I saw one.
Stacey, I respect you and your writing. And I love Rome dearly. (I click my heels together and repeat, "There's no place like Rome. There's no place like Rome....")
But Lord knows you speak (er, write) the truth. (Okay, so maybe I disagree with the "overrated" part, but otherwise....)
> Americans of a certain age will remember, as I do, the Native American with a tear trickling down his cheek.
YES! That's the exact feeling I have when I see the trash on the street...really anywhere in Italy, but especially in Rome.
> Rome deserves better. Rome deserves to be cleaned up, repaired, protected, loved, and valued.
It's abundantly clear that today's column was written from a position of love, not of disparagement.
Anyone leaving a flaming bag of fecal matter upon your doorstep is not paying attention.
I do not know the solution, but I sure hope that those who pass that way learn to respect the streets, respect the area, and recognize how fortunate they are to be there, however long or brief that may be.
Thank you for sharing.
And thank you for supporting. I'm crazy about Rome. So, yes, this article was written from a position of love, not disparagement. What's interesting and a little troubling to me is how few writers are telling the truth about what's going on there. Go on any of these travel-porn websites and it's one article after another gushing about how great Rome is. And it IS great. But it's also these other things, too, that need addressing. And because bloggers aren't being paid to write a lot of nonsense, we're in a unique position to tell the truth.
And the same problems exist in other cities and towns throughout the country. It's sad really.
I just wish I knew what was going on. Because it's NUTS.
Well, I know what I'd do if I had a goodly amount of money and more time than my years will allow. I'd just do shit, like buy a helluva a lot of land around her and grow sorghum. What!?
I'd create a virtual wine market on the Internet to enable smaller wineries to reach a huge international audience of wine lovers. Are you kidding?!
I would buy the big barn on the field out behind here and turn it into a performing arts center and make art. Get outta here!
This valley I live in - which I have unilaterally named the Val di Cucco (Monte Cucco, which overlooks the valley, being the highest mountain in Umbria) and see it transformed into a major recreational area (biking, trekking, hiking, mountaineering, bird watching, river rafting, spelunking etc). Impossible!
The point is to, sure, press through the obstacles the bureaucrats put in the way, but to put the smartest young people to work right here so they don't have to depart the scene, and to expose them to the fun and rigours of entrepreneurialsm.
Now, back to my day-dreaming. Well, maybe after we harvest the olives and my wife and I get our new house in order and after we cater to the fabulous needs of our grandkids.
Yep. And don't even get me started on over-touristed Florence, which we just returned from. Nor how airbnbs have essentially gutted the humanity out of Venice.
Thankfully, however, there are so many amazing cities and towns in Italy where people are kind, tourists are few, and both are respectful of the place.
And you know exactly what you're talking about, too. You are an expert on Italy. But yes, sadly, Italy is being drained drop by drop of the blood that once made her what she is.
"It’s hard to appreciate works of art when all you see is the back of somebody’s head." -- Reminds me of when I visited the Louvre in 1977. I made a big point to "see" the Mona Lisa. I suppose you could say I did. I saw the frame that was holding in, and the glass that covered it (and the glare that made whatever was under the glass invisible), and I saw that it was about the size of a postage stamp. I saw all this by standing on my tip-toes and looking over the heads and shoulders of the 200 people standing in front of me, also "seeing" the Mona Lisa. That's when I decided, "fuck this popsicle stand," and explored any part of the Louvre where the people were not. Saw some amazing things that way, none of which are mentioned in the brochures.
I have to avoid crowds, just for the sheer frustration of them, but also because I really am at least mildly agoraphobic. (Just once it almost hit the state of full blown panic at a Mardi Gras thing at UCLA.) I guess I'll content myself with seeing the Rome that is displayed in the movies.
You had me at "fuck this popsicle stand," my friend. Those are words to live by.
I live in NYC - Same. :( I love Rome and am heading there over Thanksgiving with my partner, who's never been outside the US. We're staying in Trastevere and I'm REALLY hoping it's not too bad. Moreso for HIS sake. I'm used to what cities can be; he's not so much. Fingers crossed!
Oh, I hope you have a fabulous time! The street cleaners come through Trastevere most mornings, which does alleviate some of the trash problem. But Rome is better in the winter than the summer, in my opinion. Fewer tourists, fewer smells.
Thank you - we're so excited!! Great to know re: the street cleaners. My BF HAS been here to NYC of course, so it's not like he'll be stunned to see trash, but I just want him to fall in love with Italy as much as I have over the years, and I want her to show off her "best self" - ha! And I agree - as someone who LOATHES summer with everything in me, I'll never travel to Europe in the summer; Oct. - Dec. is my jam.
I'm excited for you, Wynne! Do report back. I want to hear all your impressions and experiences.