tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post419472512808144805..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: From noon to dawn in RomeDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59498776668569024942011-12-01T14:52:18.364+00:002011-12-01T14:52:18.364+00:00Ah, what a beautiful quote (and with it all, you&#...Ah, what a beautiful quote (and with it all, you've identified, just in the comment, at least three more things to pursue). Now, as to your last comment, I can only say, be careful what you wish for!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-63607372982854181852011-12-01T10:01:22.252+00:002011-12-01T10:01:22.252+00:00And there was I, only yesterday, reading Kate Chis...And there was I, only yesterday, reading Kate Chisholm's Spectator radio review from July which said lovely pertinent things about the R3 Building a Library I'd done on Bizet's L'Arlesienne and in the same breath evoked Stephen Johnson's Discovering Music on Debussy's La Soiree dans Granade. This sentence especially for you:<br /><br />'...artists, writers, musicians often create places better if they have never been there, using their imaginative empathy to seek out the essence, the essential truth.'<br /><br />Which I'm sure you've done. Though I have to say that the reality in Rome can hardly disappoint anyone, ditto Venice - in both cases, away from the swamped centres of ancient/religious pilgrimage.<br /><br />Couldn't you serialise your novella on the blog?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-13962724887297937642011-12-01T02:49:10.140+00:002011-12-01T02:49:10.140+00:00With shame-face I confess I have never been to Rom...With shame-face I confess I have never been to Rome, though a friend goes there often, and each time he returns I make another mental note to go. In the meanwhile, at least I have your whirlwind tour as wonderful compensation, so many pleasures from just this glimpse. <br /><br />You did, though, send me scurrying back to something I wrote long ago, and from which I realize I still carry a vivid, but likely utterly inaccurate, set of images of Rome. This would be my novella about Florence Nightingale, who visited Rome in 1847. (Not destined for publication; as I was advised by an editor, well-written, but lacking any sex. But that’s just the point, I cried, she was highly and creatively repressed!) <br /><br />The particular image I recall of my imaginary Rome, and which I realize on reading your post stays with me still, is of the Piazza di Spagna, and I'm afraid I can't resist sharing it with you now:<br /><br />Florence and Sigma stopped at edge of the Piazza di Spagna and surveyed the view in front of them. All along the Spanish steps, gypsies offering out baskets of dried herbs laid out on branches of arbor vitae and groups of Roman women clad in peasant blouses and colorful skirts formed a series of lively and sumptuous tableaux. The air was alive with the music of Italian speech and redolent of lavender and green-sapped boughs. And above it all, the outline of the Trinità dei Monti’s twin cupolas was etched on the vivid sky.<br /><br />So, there you have a glimpse of my own imaginary Rome!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-64182631208286820372011-11-30T09:16:10.958+00:002011-11-30T09:16:10.958+00:00Yes, Will and Laurent, I was thinking what a shame...Yes, Will and Laurent, I was thinking what a shame it was that I never made it out there when you were living in that beautiful part of town. And remember, such an essentially unchanging place is never lost in heart and soul, if that doesn't sound a little glib.<br /><br />When in Rome, it seems, walk...as in London, the pleasure of getting to know a city better is being able to join the dots of the different districts. I still don't quite know where everything is, but I'm getting there.<br /><br />Gavin, I have a similar story involving a row about 'plate glass window restaurants' (zinc v perceived 'MacDonalds' brasseries) in Paris, four hours of separate ways and a surprise reconciliation in front of Ingres's 'Oedipus Questioning the Sphinx' in the Louvre involving a more than placatory present of a Proust watch...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-62400097805481526102011-11-30T08:12:07.156+00:002011-11-30T08:12:07.156+00:00The Orangerie on the Aventine Hill was where I wan...The Orangerie on the Aventine Hill was where I wanted to propose... but I blew my own cover. A glorious place.Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83547178264969447222011-11-30T03:10:10.732+00:002011-11-30T03:10:10.732+00:00I am sorry we are no longer in Rome, it would have...I am sorry we are no longer in Rome, it would have been nice to criss-cross the city with you. I know that tram line and the stop you were looking for. Lovely pictures like always. But you do walk a lot.Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-54976737505971450262011-11-30T02:17:24.857+00:002011-11-30T02:17:24.857+00:00Caro David, how homesick you made me with this pos...Caro David, how homesick you made me with this post. I only wish I could have done the walk with you. Each place you named brought back a loving memory of one of the most frustrating, crazy, wonderful places I've ever lived in and that I still miss horribly. All that and you had Abbado too... you lead a charmed life caro.Willymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652532356102638621noreply@blogger.com