So the seven hour drive from Calabria to Rome is no big deal, although the lack of air conditioning does make it undesirable. I grew up in a family that drove on vacations, be it six hours to the beach, eight hours to see relatives, or three days to Idaho. You turn your head to check for traffic, and see an ancient wall looming over modern buildings. But in real life they are integrated with modern street life. In pictures, those Roman landmarks, the Forum and Colosseum, look isolated and rural. In Rome I saw it again in the mixing between massive, ancient buildings and daily life. The juxtaposition was strange, yet wonderfully beautiful. Outside the church, the scene resembled a dance club with loud music, dancing, yelling and laughter. Here, there were people of all ages sitting in the church, praying and leaving offerings. I noticed it in Placanica, in southern Calabria, when Nano and I went to a town festival of the patron saint, Saint Antonio. Americans aren’t as proficient at fluidly mixing generations. I noticed it in Caccuri, when I saw great great-grandmothers gossiping with great great-granddaughters on the street. This mixing is what strikes me most about Italian life. It was a setup I have never seen before, but somehow both exhibits became more powerful because of this juxtaposition. In one room, we encountered five photographs interspersed among limestone pillars, statues of Caesar, and pieces of the Temple of Venus. In the 1950s, film director Federico Fellini invited New York photograper William Klein to capture the Italy depicted in his films and these are the pictures we saw on display. Designed by Michelangelo, the Campidoglio was a center for ancient Roman politics.
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