Rop Saltberg
I said goodbye to a group of colleagues in Rome on Sunday. We gathered at Campo de' Fiori under the statue in front of Giordano Bruno. The colleagues looked at me inquiringly and said that this is the last time. They weren't going to say hello again.
They were right. It was already the second time.
After five years I realize all too well that it was only a beginning to get to know Rome. A human life is not enough, everyone says. But the other thing is also true: once you're there, it's almost impossible to get out. The eternal city constantly hinders my departure. Just when I think I know now I am again enchanted and I decide to stay a little longer.
But the boxes of household goods are really packed and there seems to be no turning back. You immediately wonder what you will actually miss after escaping this country. Here's my list, in no particular order:
- Ice cream with pistacchio and stracciatella (everywhere)
- The sunrise from Angel Bridge (Rome)
- That beach at the nature reserve (Fregene)
- The inimitable archaeological museum (Naples)
- Basically everything in that city, on the camorra na dan (Naples)
- The most beautiful station that Mussolini put down (Milan)
- Pizza al taglio with dried tomatoes (Pizzeria da Simone, Rome)
- Raw paintings by Caravaggio (also everywhere)
- That boat trip to the Aeolian Islands (Sicily)
- The fairy tale of Teatro Massimo around midnight (Palermo)
- Silent mountains where there are no people for a while (Abruzzo)
- Displaced beaches where there are no people for a while (Sardinia)
- The Vatican Museums sometime early in February (Rome)
- The forgotten south, the mezzogiorno (Lecce, Brindisi)
- Pasta with pesto, beans and potatoes (Genoa)
- Buttocks of the David by Michelangelo (Florence)
You will of course see that I forgot everything and the list must be at least twice as long. After five years in Italy, see it as a start. I'm leaving on Saturday.
Photo: Castel Sant'Angelo at sunrise, Rop Zoutberg
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