C'era Una Volta: Once Upon a Time, there was a Tram

San Lorenzo is known for its wall art, and justly so, and most of it is where one would expect--on the exterior walls of the neighborhood's buildings. But one that caught our fancy is located not only inside, but inside a commercial establishment that's only been around a few years: C'era Una Volta [Once Upon a Time There Was...] Il Caffe--basically a bar like any other bar, serving coffee and sandwiches. On some evenings, men gather to watch a soccer game on a small TV. There's a place to bet on sports. 

C'era Una Volta is located at a critical intersection in San Lorenzo, where the historic via Tiburtina (San Lorenzo's "Main Street") and via dei Reti (the core of the area's transportation system) come together.

A grey day in San Lorenzo, looking straight up via dei Reti, with C'era Una Volta at right

The back room, usually open only for lunch, is a pizzeria/cafeteria, and on its back wall is that mural. "Once Upon a Time," the mural tell us--and it was only a few years ago at most--via dei Reti was a thorough for trams, though cars and trucks used it too. As far as we know, the only tram that ran on those lines--one in each direction, between Piazza Verano and Porta Maggiore--was the #19, right there in the mural. Until earlier this  year, several miles of the tracks used by the #19 tram were being repaired. The tram had been replaced by a bus--yes, the #19.

The mural (above) doesn't do justice to the bar's clientele. While C'era Una Volta has women customers, most of its patrons are men. Indeed, of the 5 or 6 tables on the sidewalk outside the bar, one or two are usually occupied by older men (or one older man), using the table as a space for social interaction, sometimes without any purchase. Just a place to hang out. 

Inside, too, most of the patrons are men

In contrast, the only patrons in the mural are women, and upper-class women at that, with fancy coats and vintage hats out of the 1930s. Their red lips--and the empty chair covered in red--are a nice touch, suggesting an elegance that the caffe', comfortable and efficient as it is, doesn't possess. On the sidewalk, a woman in more ordinary dress appears to roll up a sleeve, and another, behind her, seems to be picking something up. 

There's only one obvious male in the mural, and not a single student, or so it would seem, even though today's San Lorenzo is populated by, and enjoyed by, students from the nearby university. 

Prominently featured, although it hasn't been in operation for more than a year, is the #19 tram. 

Bill 

San Lorenzo is a fascinating neighborhood. Here are a couple prior posts featuring it.

San Lorenzo: Where Maria Montessori Got Her Start

The Mural on Scalo San Lorenzo: Reading the Politics of the Neighborhood

Rome's Public Markets: a Cautionary Tale

Cemetery wanderings - a great trek through Cimitero Verano in Rome

Sites of Anti-Fascism: Trionfale, Garbatella, and San Lorenzo

 

Bar Names, Part III

RST collects bar names.  Why, we're not sure.  Maybe because bars are so obviously at the center of Italian--and Roman--culture: places to eat, drink (espresso, beer, wine, you name it), talk, watch the street, play cards, read the newspapers, gamble, pass the time, and observe the Americans (that's us) pulling up on their scooter, leaving with backpacks and hiking poles in hand, returning hours later to share a large, cold bottle of Moretti at a table outside.  

Here's the latest bunch (links to the first two parts at the end of the post):   

Europa is a somewhat common bar name.  This one specializes in sandwiches, drinks, and porchetta--the latter a pork concoction especially popular in the Alban Hills.  This bar is located in Lariano, on the southwest slope of the Hills.

Cute but depressing.  Bar Snoopy is in  the small hill town of Monticelio, northeast of Guidonia.  

Á suburban establishment.  Unique, and odd, given that JFK died in 1963 and brother Bobby in 1968, and it's unlikely
this one's named after Ted.  Nice outdoor space.  

Caffe' Cleopatra, a roadhouse bar (situated on a busy thoroughfare outside the city proper), probably
(can't recall) on the way to Cinecitta', where the film Cleopatra was made.

Bar Centrale.  Most of the towns in the Roman countryside have a Bar Centrale.  

Bar del Pino (Pine Tree Bar) is named after that huge pine in the background, which sits in
the middle of via Ozanam, on the side of Piazza San Giovanni di Dio.

Bill
For Bar Names Parts I and II, click on these links: http://romethesecondtime.blogspot.com/2016/08/bar-names-part-i-il-mio-bar-and.html
http://romethesecondtime.blogspot.com/2017/02/bar-names-part-ii.html

Bar Names, Part I: Il Mio Bar and....

We "collect" bar names, and here we offer two: Il Mio Bar (My Bar) and Il Tuo Bar (Your Bar [singular, familiar]). We have yet to find Il Vostro Bar (Your Bar, plural) or Il Nostro Bar (Our Bar). If you spot one of these...or have a favorite bar name, let us know--and send photos.    Bill

Casal Bertone

Monte Verde Vecchio