Four Seasons ?

We woke up Sunday morning with no place to go and no where to be...so we didn't. We stayed home! It rained on and off, the kids watched a movie, Josh finished unpacking his gear, I puttered around (and did some blogging). It was nice to have a mellow day. But the best part was, that at 6pm, Morris was coming over so Josh and I could go to town alone.

The plan was to grab an early bite (7pm IS early by Roman standards) and then go the Teatro Marcello, outdoors and set among ancient pillars and Roman ruins - a marvelous backdrop - to hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons. When we arrived, we were informed the concert was moved indoors to a church around the corner due to the weather. It wasn't raining this evening, but the rain earlier in the day had led to this decision. The musicians had to protect their precious instruments. After walking down the street to the Church, we decided to skip Vivaldi, lovely as the concert would have been outdoors, sitting on a pew in a church was less appealing - particularly since we'd been inside all day and the temperature this evening was a perfect 75 degrees.

We took advantage of our location and walked up the steps to the Capidoglio. From there we had a perfect view of the Forum. Rome is nice during the day, but when lit up at night, it is really special.

I recalled seeing a flyer for a Flamenco performance in the Piazza Navona for tonight. So we decided to check it out. It's always fun to find music impromptu and while the Piazza was full, it was not unbearably crowded. Sure we reminisced that we'd seen better Flamenco in Seville, but hey, we're in Rome.

On a day like today, how can you tell a Roman from a (well-dressed) tourist? The Roman is wearing suede boots or stilettos (or stiletto boots) and the tourist is wearing sandals. It is 75 degrees after all. It's clear that Romans dress for the season and not for the weather. Perhaps this is pervasive in other areas without defined seasons (like LA for example?), but we've really had quite a chuckle when passing by men and women who are wearing light winter jackets and scarves during the 85 degree days. The fashion statement for the men this season is a sleeveless jacket - a vest of sorts with several outside pockets. I think Josh would look snazzy in one too -once it gets below 60.

So maybe it was fitting that we skipped the Four Seasons (Vivaldi) because we came to Rome to skip the four seasons - even if the Romans don't.