Exploring Romanina

 

When we told our Roman friends that we had spent the afternoon in Romanina, one said "that's not even a place." That's a harsh judgment, but not entirely inaccurate. Romanina is a third-or-fourth-ring suburb of Rome, southwest of the Center and flanked on one side by via Tuscolana. It has the feel of an area, rather than a town or village. There's some commerce on the streets that course around it, but there's little to be found on the residential streets. The furniture store in the photo above is "the exception that proves the rule" (one of our favorite phrases, guaranteed to win most arguments). Despite our friends' cool response to our venture into Romanina, we came away once again appreciating what we found--the "Roman" experience.  

We parked our scooter at a McDonald's--here seen from in back--on one of the area's major thoroughfares. 

Down the street was an establishment that could have been in "beautiful downtown Burbank" (as Johnny Carson put it) or in Waco, Texas--or anywhere. The signage on the long building with a classic suburban parking lot reads "Old Wild West," and inside the structure, part of it was (in English) a "Steak House."

Across the busy street was a very Italian-looking building, whose function was impossible to determine.

Within 5 minutes we'd located the area's treasure--a long, thin, slightly curving park: Parco della Romanina. At each end, a painted arch welcomed patrons to (at that time) its parched grounds. Pine trees bent from prevailing winds.

It was mid-day and hot, and not much was happening in the park.

On one wall, a painted sign featured drawings (and names) of two women, presumably from Romanina, and the words "For all the women who struggle against the mafia(s)."

In contrast to the somewhat inviting Parco della Romanina, a small neighborhood park was overgrown to the point of being unusable--not uncommon in Rome and environs. 

We always enjoy looking at housing, including apartment buildings.

And we found an unusual single-family residence with a castle-like turret. Perhaps abandoned. Or they're just not picking up their mail.

The La Mela Hotel, not far from the western entrance to the park, had some interesting high balconies. 

We found an open (and worthy) church to explore and admire.

After combing the neighborhood for some time, we finally came across a compact shopping area. It's a relief to know you can buy stuff in Romanina. Dianne appears uninterested.

Exhausted by the richness and splendors of Romanina, we returned to McDonald's--and our scooter.  

Bill

Rome's Best Posters, 2014

Compared to any place in the U.S., Rome is a poster city.  Some are legal, some are "abusivi"--illegal--and most of them are interesting in one way or another.  It wasn't a great vintage, but here are our 2014 favorites:

Bill

As in the U.S., the Italy's right wing--here, the Lotta Studentesca and Forza Nuova--have appropriated the family, as if the left didn't care about families, and as if the policies of the right didn't damage them.  The poster announces a "March for the Family" in Piazza Mazzini.  Bring your three kids and wear jeans.  And smile a lot; raising 3 kids is easy.  Are they all boys?

We first shot this one through a bus window, then returned to photograph it again.  It's Ronald, of course, and next to him the words "I'm destroying it," meaning the world (a take off on the company's ubiquitous slogan "I'm lovin' it," of course).  Across the golden arches it reads "McDeath."  This is a rare poster. 



Here are two of the most crowd-pleasing Popes (at least prior to Francis), Pope John Paul II (left) and John XXIII (right), freshly made new saints on April 27.  The political party, Azione Cattolica Italiana, is thanking us all--for just what we can't say.  Or is it thanking them?  Colorful, though, with slanted graphics.  These were everywhere.  

This is a right-wing effort.  The words below translate as "Honor to Fallen Comrades, Victims of Anti-Fascist Hatred."   The "7" refers to January 7, 1978, when a man on a motorcyle shot and killed 2 members of the neo-Fascist group, Fronte del Gioventu'.  The killing took place in the Tuscolano neighborhood on via Acca Laurenzia, where there is an informal memorial to the event.  Historian and guest blogger Paul Baxa wrote an insightful post on this event and its aftermath.  

Here, a larger poster for a TIM fiber network is partially covered by a poster announcing an event around the work of American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski--one of our favorite authors, despite his outrageous sexism.  The coloring and the pose are reminiscent of the 2008 "Hope" poster of Barack Obama, but the sponsor, CasaPound, is right-wing.  A CasaPound poster made it into our 2012 year-end poster reflections as well.

"Enough Immigration, Enough Banks, Enough of the Euro"/"We want a Europe of Homelands"
The right-wing message, clear enough, is distributed by the Fronte dei Popoli Europei--a group with which we're not familiar, and the Lega Nord [see the circle at bottom right], a once powerful northern Italian party that in the past advocated the secession of the north from the Italian nation.  Although the Lega Nord no longer has much power or influence, the anti-Europe, anti-immigration sentiments of this poster are common in Italy.  In the background, the arm wielding
the hammer suggests the appeal is to the working class. 

"All' Assalto" might be translated "On the Attack" or "To the Barricades."  The author is the Lotta Studentesca [LS, Student Struggle].  The best we could do with the words at the bottom is "Not in anger, not to destroy, but for the red dawn," whatever the "red dawn" is.  The LS is a right-wing organization committed to educational change.  The building is the famous "Square Coliseum," a Fascist-era structure in EUR with visual links to the Coliseum and, therefore, imperial Rome.  

We chose this one not because it's a great poster--the layout is standard for politics--but because the message is clear.  The group "Contropotere," its symbol a pair of pincers, wants to get rid of the new Rome mayor, Ignazio Marino ["Rome, throw out Marino"].  However, the words at the top--listing the homeless, the unemployed, workers without contracts, students, and others--suggest a left-wing orientation, and Marino is center-left.  Anarchists at work?