ROME - I returned to the Spanish Steps on a sunny morning to see if I could view the elegantly cascading stairway unimpeded following the installation of a replica Berlin Wall for 20th anniversary celebrations on the night of Nov. 9. The installation, complete with sound and light (the latter only at night) is still there, so I have not been able to get the classic view.
It looks like the celebration - well-earned and enjoyable - will go on for a while yet. This is a big deal in Europe, bigger, I suspect, than in other parts of the world. While snapping photos and wandering up and down the steps - you can still do that - the milling crowd in attendance was serenaded by recorded 1960s hits over a powerful sound system. There was the metallic whine of the young Lou Reed doing "Heroin'' (the song, that is) with the Velvet Underground, Peter Paul and Mary belting out "If I Had a Hammer,'' John Lennon in his late-Beatles phase performing his half-serious, half-satirical call-out "Come Together.''
It seemed a bit incongruous at first, this 1960s open-air concert, given that it is celebrating events that erupted in 1989. But then, I recall that the Wall went up in 1961. Moreover, a generation of political leaders in the 1980s and 1990s - think of Havel, in Prague, who loved Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - took inspiration from the social movements of the 1960s, not least from their music, and it makes sense. Certainly, the fall of the Wall and the riptide of political change that raced through Eastern Europe signaled the ascendancy of communal capitalism and self-empowerment. There is a strong connection between those cultural and commercial changes ano the way we live now, including the triumph of global companies that embody these changes. Apple, for example. Google, for another, and the Whole Foods supermarket chain.
Besides, the songs were good and I liked hearing them. So, I settled back and listened to the music, my eyes sweeping over the rooftops for views of the Eternal City.
Showing posts with label Spanish Steps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spanish Steps. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Leonardo Express
ROME - My Egyptair flight from Cairo banked left and swooped down over blue water edged in brilliant aquamarine to land smoothly at Rome Leonard de Vinci International Airport. To get into the city, I took the delightfully named Leonardo Express - the train - to Termini Station, then hopped a cab to the palatial Rocco Forte Collection property here, the Hotel de Russie, located 5 minutes walk from the Spanish Steps.
The Leonardo Express is the fastest and cheapest way to get from the airport to Rome. If you are coming here, I recommend it. To use the train, you take one of the three rather slow-arriving lifts from the arrivals hall and choose among several clearly marked commercial agencies that sell train tickets. They cost 11 euros for adults and there is generally a 1 euro charge for handling. Do not forget to use one of the yellow machines at the head of track 2 at the airport to punch your ticket; otherwise, you risk a fine if the conductor discovers you have not punched it. This is the Italian system for train travel. Go figure. The 12 euro ($18 U.S.) charge, plus whatever you pay for your taxi, still puts you below the 40 euro set fee from the airport to central Rome and well below what most hotels charge to send a car for you. Heading back to the airport, you take the long walk out to Track 25 and buy the ticket at a tiny ticket table operated by the rail station; same price, same validation process.
After I settled into my garden-view room in the Hotel de Russie, I strolled out into a rainy dusk, umbrella in hand, and walked down the wet cobblestones, occasionally running into a tangle of umbrellas with other walkers. At the Spanish Steps, a temporary replica of the Berlin Wall had been erected, a band was playing, and a crowd had gathered. I had stumbled upon the altogether satisfying celebration that the city of Rome has mounted to mark the 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the signal event that symbolized the end of the Cold War in Europe. It was a satisfying moment, joining history and politics and romance in this intensely romantic city.
The Leonardo Express is the fastest and cheapest way to get from the airport to Rome. If you are coming here, I recommend it. To use the train, you take one of the three rather slow-arriving lifts from the arrivals hall and choose among several clearly marked commercial agencies that sell train tickets. They cost 11 euros for adults and there is generally a 1 euro charge for handling. Do not forget to use one of the yellow machines at the head of track 2 at the airport to punch your ticket; otherwise, you risk a fine if the conductor discovers you have not punched it. This is the Italian system for train travel. Go figure. The 12 euro ($18 U.S.) charge, plus whatever you pay for your taxi, still puts you below the 40 euro set fee from the airport to central Rome and well below what most hotels charge to send a car for you. Heading back to the airport, you take the long walk out to Track 25 and buy the ticket at a tiny ticket table operated by the rail station; same price, same validation process.
After I settled into my garden-view room in the Hotel de Russie, I strolled out into a rainy dusk, umbrella in hand, and walked down the wet cobblestones, occasionally running into a tangle of umbrellas with other walkers. At the Spanish Steps, a temporary replica of the Berlin Wall had been erected, a band was playing, and a crowd had gathered. I had stumbled upon the altogether satisfying celebration that the city of Rome has mounted to mark the 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the signal event that symbolized the end of the Cold War in Europe. It was a satisfying moment, joining history and politics and romance in this intensely romantic city.
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