Just Because

This time in Rome, I wanted to explore the neighbourhoods adjacent to the city centre. Trying to blend in with local Roman life (wish I could speak more Italian). You know that feeling when you're proud of yourself for ordering in a foreign language with pretty good pronunciation, only to look completely dumbfounded when the proprietor responds with a simple question back in Italian.

Traveling solo allows for spontaneity and whim. Changing your mind mid-course, just because. And not feeling guilty if that direction didn't quite work out. (Still waiting for a message from Marco to let me know he's organized a pickleball game for me while in Rome.)

Yesterday's morning coffee led me to Mi Garba Cafe, about a ten-minute walk to a spot next to a small roundabout (which they now call a piazza). There, I encountered... the HOM! If you've read my Pickleball Court Ranking Index, you've surely met the GOMs (Grumpy Old Men). Attending to their espressos and cornetti were a number of HOMs (Happy Old Men). Animated and chatty, they were hanging around, waiting for their other HOM friends to arrive. Maybe the GOMs can learn a thing or two? And... what happened to all the HOWs?

After a very pleasant stroll up a hill in Garbatella and a satisfying meal at a local restaurant, I walked back to my room through the residential side streets. Garbatella was, back in the 1920s, the site of an experiment to build a Garden City. As the evening progressed and the lights came on, the entrances to the residences caught my eye. Charming and mostly non-designer-y (which I wholeheartedly appreciate), I snapped a few that insisted I pay attention. Modest, completely unselfconscious, and sometimes unexpected, it made my walk home a treat.