Oggi e martedi, 29 Gennaio, 2013

For the greater part of my life, "city living" was not an art, not a craft, but a survival skill with a bit of flare and flourish. Urbanitas it was not. Walking along tram lines and piazzas, the differences between Rome and South Philly, my hometown, are like pie- topical differences, a middle commonality, and a deeper layer which distinguishes them. That deeper layer is most striking; it is the art, the history, the culture, the ancient quality embedded beneath subway lines. Philadelphia has retained in large part its Old World roots, especially Italian, making the transition between cities a slip, just a language jump, until you fall into that deeper layer- the urbanitas.

On the Janiculum Hill near Trastevere, the church of San Pietro in Montorio contained the seals and coats of arms of Spanish kings, the tombs of Franciscan monks and clerics, and the graves of Irish princes. Every square inch of Rome is an apex of culture, not only Italian. Rome, it seems, is not only the center of the world, but the beacon of urbanitas.