The cantering horses of Leonardo da Vinci

27Aug2011,  01:43am

Well, a 3am bed-time after wandering around with the oceanographers meant a late beginning to my last day in Rome, 9:30am. I caught Audric on his way out to wander the city, and wished him and Julia a good trip to France. And then exploration began. I decided to not have a plan for the day, but to wander and meet people and talk to them. A random selection of the interesting people I met:

An old man, who owned a tiny leather goods shop, and whose family had run it for two generations. He was childless, and regretted not marrying for many reasons, not the least of which was to let the shop continue on after his death.

• A newlywed couple from Pittsburgh on their one-year-delayed honeymoon. Their favorite part of Rome was the Spanish Steps; they had been there every day on their 4-days-so-far trip. 

• Seventeen thousand people (or so it seemed) at the Trevi fountain, milling around, wishing they could clamber into the fountain because it was about 98degF, but knowing they can’t (which makes it so much worse and so much more tempting)

• Clint Winant, whom I met out on the street as I was wandering in the evening; we had a lovely discussion about the need for a place to work away from the office; apparently he occasionally finds himself wandering outside and wondering why he wasn’t working.

• A young man from Canada, who was kind enough to take a picture of me outside THE BEST gelato place EVER (l’Alberto del Cacao). I had a bit of chocolate smeared on my upper lip and was completely oblivious, so it took me a while to figure out why he was laughing the entire time… there are a couple of times it would be nice to have someone along to point things out and keep me from wandering around Rome looking like an idiot (fortunately I had a look at the picture immediately). Though truthfully, by definition I will always wander around looking like an idiot. Just gotta laugh at yourself, right?

• A German family of three, with a young boy about eight years old, who was obsessively turning the crank on one of da Vinci’s flying machines. His parents just rolled their eyes at me and said, “he will not stop. We try to stop him, but he will not stop.” Fortunately, these magical contraptions were made for young girls and boys (and older ones too!) to try out. We spoke for several minutes about the nature of children, regardless of where they are or where they were raised, and how we all could learn a thing or two about creativity. Da Vinci was quite a genius, it’s true- I wish we could have made his utopian city, it was beautifully laid out. He did, in fact, invent something to walk on water (a la Ever After, for all of you girly movie fans out there), but it was more along the line of skis than the boat-shoes you might think of.

And those were just the people I interacted with directly. Most of the day was spent attempting to blend into the landscape. You can always tell if that goal is successful by the reaction of tourists, and locals, to your presence. If both groups steer clear of you, they know you have somewhere to go, and aren’t aimlessly wandering like a tourist. 

It’s an interesting feeling, realizing that you can be absorbed so easily into another country, another place. I thirst for it. I so dearly want  to return- or even just try out another new place. This has made me think I might just get up and go somewhere- even if it’s just another city in the US. Make no plans but a place to stay. Go out and meet people. Watch, listen, learn, and see. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe in a year.  That would be a most fulfilling hobby.