An Evening in Rome
I’m standing on the Ponte Sisto bridge. I close my eyes and inhale a puff of cigarette smoke from someone passing by, with a hint of spaghetti Amatrice wafting from a restaurant across the way. My eyes stay shut. The dichotomy of flavourful spiced tomato pasta with man-made waste continues to be the cocktail of Rome’s aged city.
The brisk night air is refreshing. Ahead of me, I then stare at St. Peter’s Basilica, with its prominent dome lit up and the moonlight shimmer off the serene Tiber River. I snap a photo. My camera will never quite capture the comforting sounds of being surrounded by beatboxers impressing crowds under the lights of lamp posts or the bustling passionate chatter from bars.
Somehow, I belong among these strangers. In a city like Seattle, I feel cold and unable to meet anyone’s gaze as I pass their begging eyes for some kind of comfort. What’s makes Rome different? Although I don’t know the language every interaction feels welcoming; even by vendors who insist I buy their 1 Euro LED plastic arrow toys, while showing me how they’re slung up in the sky with a rubber band.
I’m mesmerised by the flying contraptions. I’m tempted to purchase these cheap thrills because watching the purple and blue light up arrows all descend flickering together towards the ground makes me think of falling stars, brightening the dream sequence I feel I have walked into. But I don’t. Instead, I trudge ahead crossing the street where car headlights blind me in the darkness, as if to wake me from my aimless puttering.
Then instrumental tunes ahead quicken my pace. When I’ve reached the source of the sound, it’s a cellist playing in the center of the square with only one spotlight from the ground illuminating him as he with closed eyes passionately bows his instrument in the Campo de’ Fiori. I’m his sole audience. While the city around me creates ambient clanging of forks scraping China plates and children’s laughter echo against the square, I’m staring at another marvel of human creation: the sound of music.