Thursday,
March 13,
In the Rain, Rome is Fashionable and
Gallant
The
ANNOTICO Report
Londoners will
usually slog bareheaded, even coatless, through most any drizzle or downpour.
But Romans
never carry rain shields below a certain standard of fashion. They also are
gallant. (Read to end)
In
By Christine Spolar
Tribune correspondent
March 12, 2008
In a city with movie-set vistas, even rain falls with
panache.
Facing winter's chill , Romans apparently would
never dream of getting wet (in stark contrast to, say, Londoners who
usually slog bareheaded, even coatless, through most any drizzle or downpour).
Nor would Romans carry rain shields below a certain standard of fashion.
On the dreariest of mornings, deliverymen in blue
overalls roll carts down cobblestone streets with one hand. In the other,
they hoist matching blue umbrellas. Women head to work
with pretty waterproof parasols festooned with prints of dogs, birds and
buckles. Businessmen
with nattily wrapped wool scarves at their throats embark on their journeys
with wood-trimmed umbrellas in smart contrasting shades.
Mothers
are by far the most precious of rain warriors. They grasp Mary Poppins-sized ombrelli,
stand guard outs ide schools and push and shove as
close to the entrance as they can. They call frantically to their over-dressed
offspring who might suffer a drop of the element: "Non ti bagnare! - Don't get wet!"
A friend of mine tells me that rain in temperate
You just don't do it.
I walk every morning for an hour--rain or shine--for exercise. I don't wear a
hood; I can't imagine trying to work up a sweat with an umbrella in hand. I
also realize that I am usually the only person marching ahead with a
lost-in-a-lagoon look. The mustachioed barman at my local cafe looks alarmed
whenever I stroll in for my morning cafe macchiato with raindrops rolling down
my face.
But one morning this week, walking in the rain lived up to
Self-conscious of my sodden state, I turned quickly away. Suddenly, I realized
he had stepped next to me and had lifted his umbrella to cover us both. I
looked up, a little wide-eyed. He shrugged, laughed out loud and maintained
guard. When the light changed, we nodded, I chirped grazie and we, both smiling, turned to our separate paths.
A moment of Italian galanteria had graced the day.
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