Nice from one perspective - another stand-alone bar outside Rome

Stand-alone bar, in '30s architectural style, with signs for Lotto,
Tabaccheria, etc.  This bar was on a particularly busy cross-roads
and probably accessible only if you are going out of Rome.

The stand-alone bars of Rome and its environs are a special pleasure of ours.  Many of these (by the looks and placement of them) seem to have been put up in the Fascist era, as the road system in and around Rome expanded.

looks nice from this perspective

We ended up in this one because we needed to return some hiking boots we came away with after hiking with an Italian group (Bill thought they were Dianne's, Dianne thought they were Bill's, and we found ourselves with 3 pair of hiking boots).  In case you wonder why they weren't on our feet, it's de rigeur - even proscribed -  when hiking with Italians to bring an extra pair of shoes to wear in the car - so you don't wear your dirty hiking boots in someone's macchina.

So we met the owner of the boots near her workplace, out of Rome a ways at this bar she suggested.  And, being us, we couldn't resist having a coffee in the bar's sweet outside spot. At least it looked sweet from one point of view. From another, the "terrace" was filled with garbage cans, leftover furniture, and even (though out of the photo) an unused refrigeration case.  The Italian sense of style seems to have only one perspective here.  We'll leave the theories up to the reader.

but not so nice from this one

Dianne

Rome's Stand-Alone Bars

We've been intrigued by the phenomenon of the older, small, stand-alone, non-prefab bar. Dianne noticed the first one, on via Ostiense, built in 1936 (top photo), and we came across a second (bottom photo), in front of the ex-mattatoio (the old slaughterhouse that is now the MACRO-Future art gallery). Dianne's theory is that the via Ostiense bar was built, perhaps by the government, when via Ostiense was reconstructed to accomodate growing numbers of automobiles. The other may to have been built at about the same time, probably for the slaughterhouse workers, or, given the gothic styling, it may be much older. We know there are others around. Let us know if you find one.

Bill and Dianne