Polizie in Stilettos
August 21, 2004
Ciao amici. A few interesting discoveries below.
Scarpe belle! (Lovely shoes)
A couple of days ago, we saw in our neighborhood near the piazza a handful of police cars, a couple of fire trucks, and an ambulance. Within two hours, access was restricted to a sizable section of eight blocks or so, and many more police cars had arrived. We wondered what could have caused the commotion — a street fight? An accident? Some sort of violent break-in? When we saw all of the streets closed down and so many cars and sirens, our imaginations got the better of us, and we wondered if maybe another al Quaeda link had been found in Italy.
Well, as it turns out, the culprit was…a small kitchen fire. In one of the apartments around the corner from us. This was interesting in and of itself, given the great commotion, number of official vehicles, and neighborhood-wide lockdown, but what was pretty entertaining was our bizarre discovery that some of the policewomen from the four different units were wearing fantastic shoes. As in, heels.
I mention this because these same women were armed with guns, mace, cuffs, the works — but they were wearing at least 2 1/2-inch heels. For context, just imagine the sound effects: “Stop, criminale! Polizia!”, followed by *click click click click click* as the policewoman tried to run down the suspect. Or, *clackety click clackety click* if the officer that morning had chosen slingbacks for her ensemble. I have no idea why, but the idea of policewomen wearing fine designer leather footwear is amusing me to no end. It seems akin to a firewoman scurrying up a ladder in stilettos.
Avventura a Piazza della Republicca
(Adventure in Piazza della Republicca)
Last night on the way to a piazza near us to people watch, we found an outdoor movie going on in a separate nearby piazza. A multi-month filmfest is in the works, turns out, and they’re showing a couple of different Italian and foreign movies each night. We stopped for a while to watch; the piazza had dozens of rows of chairs set up as in a theater, and people had brought their dogs and drinks with them, so it was a sight to see. The outdoor screen was enormous, and the temporary theater had been set up in between Valentino on one side and Emporio Armani on the other. It was great.
After our movie pitstop, we moved to Piazza della Republicca, a large square nearby. One of the bigger restaurant bands was playing standards and American 50’s songs, and many couples of all ages danced both in the restaurant and around the piazza, which was fun to watch. Across the way was a crowd of what must have been a few hundred people, watching a street performer who was an awful lot of fun. And around the corner from that, a woman in a redder-than-red Elizabethan full-skirted gown was posing in front of one of the department store windows. She had some sort of box or platform beneath her skirts, though, because she was nearly 9 feet tall. (She basically poses as a statue, turns out.) Very interesting stroll.
Mi Caro Cane
Charlie has adjusted to everything — his new neighborhood and neighbors, no grass, new sights and smells, the bells that ring out from the churches surrounding us, and neighborhood dogs wondering who the new black-patched kid on the block is. Everyone calls him “CHARRRlee!” so it’s added a fun new dimension to our everyday walks with him.
Finire
I’ve finally started taking some pictures, and will get those up soon to give a better idea of our surroundings and haunts. We’ve gotten a few more things to better settle the apartment, so that makes us both more comfortable. A few of the neighborhood stores are starting to open up, so it’s good to see what else is close by. While I’ve been typing, Thom just read that Julia Child died. Sad news.
Arrivederci,
Jen