Pic from of MAGA Caffeteria from my urban hike around Ostia outside Rome.
"Ostia" is the mouth, the area of the old Roman port. About 25 minutes from the airport, 20 by ambulance.
No foreigners visit Ostia. It's a Roman middle-class and working-class suburb south of Rome on one of the commuter trains. Its 3 miles of beach on the Med (The Lido) attract less-wealthy Romans in summer for beach getaways. It has a half-mile of spartan hotels, one of which I stayed in (Hotel Bellavista) for 5 days while Mrs. BD was in Ospidale Grassi about a 30-minute walk from my hotel. No fluffy towels.
This was an accidental visit by this accidental tourist. (Mrs. BD fainted on the plane to Rome - face plant - and fractured some facial bones. Dangerous to her eye, and she looked by post-car crash.) While stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues, I did spend one day hiking Ostia and getting lost and hiking the beach with my trousers rolled up like T S Eliot, took the train to Rome to urban hike one day, took train to Ostia Antica (do not miss that visit when near Rome) and had a wonderful day there until it closed.
So before I post some photos of Ostia Antica later (a truly magnificent ruin of a Roman port city, just 3 train stops from Ostia, an hour from Rome) I thought I'd post some fun observations about some aspects of the real, non-tourist Italy. Remember, Rome is sort-of on the edge of northern and southern Italy, and a blend of both cultures but more southern than northern. I've been to Rome several times. Once is enuf in my view. Fun stuff below the fold (BTW, Mrs. BD is just fine now)
- Everybody has a dog. Lots of them are mutts which is fine. None of them are trained in the least. To an American or Brit, it would be shameful. The dogs, regardless of size, tug on their leashes, ignore commands, bark, and regard strangers with paranoid suspicion. Do not try to pet somebody's dog - and if you try to, the owner will bark at you.
- Dogs are welcome in cafes. Dogs growling and barking at eachother is a basic cafe noise. There are not many kids because while Italians have lots of sex they do not reproduce much. Still, there is usually one squalling child per cafe to harmonize with the growling dogs.
- Lots of young people do not seem to have jobs. They live with parents, hang out, flirt, smoke, and drink beer. Dress like Brooklyn hipsters.
- If the temp is 60 F or below, the parkas come out.
- The hospital is a government hospital. I'll tell you just a little about it. Open wards of 10-12 beds. Cracked linoleum floors. Compared to American hospitals, very low-tech and dirty. No hosp gowns - you bring your own clothes. No a/c but they open the windows at night so skeeters and flies get in. Nobody on duty at night. One bathroom per ward, no toilet seats of course. You never know when the doctors make their rounds - could be 10 AM or 4 PM. You just wait and hope. Remember, they do not work for you. They get a gummint pay check. They seemed quite competent despite working in an Italian manner, and some spoke halting English which is why is was good that Mrs. BD's friend in the adjacent bed was polyglot - Slovenian, Croation, Russian, English, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, French. I mean fluent and accentless. A wonderful gal who we will stay in touch with. We watched an elderly nun die there, surrounded by fussing sisters. Don't even ask about the hospital food. Sheesh. All carbs, no fruit, vegetables, or dairy. Gross. I had to bring in stuff from outside. Excellent espresso and cappuccino in the hospital cafe where the staff tended to hang out and chat for lengthy times.
- Suppertime is 8:30 or 9 pm. People like to gather then in their neighborhood cafes. Everybody knows everybody and all are pals with the service people. It's all Italian kissy-face in the cafes while their dogs threaten to kill eachother. Loud? Many southern Italians are loud with only one volume of speech - what we term a shout - always with hands waving like a parody of Italians. They drink mostly beer.
- Roman women are beautiful and sexy - until they aren't.
- Restaurant and cafe food outside the cities and tourist areas? Terrible. I realized that the local cafe suppers of choice were rounds of antipasti and rounds of pizza. Nobody orders the secondi. It's all about jolly socializing with friends and neighbors. That's how I felt alien. In a town like Siena or Montepulciano, I fit in fine with all the visitors.
- Italian supermarkets are smallish but wonderful - full of Italian food! In Real Italy, I think the good Italian cooking is done at home. Of course, there are bakery shops and pastry shops and fruit and vegetable markets. I suspect that people cook more southern Italian there, pasta, beans, and braciole and tomato sauce and disgusting stuff like that which I hate.
- The Tabac shops are now selling marijuana in various forms. I didn't go for it, but maybe should have.
- Surprisingly to me, Halloween is a big deal. Saw no pumpkins though, other than chocolate ones.
- Streets and sidewalks are in terrible shape. Generally, lots of weeds and moderate dilapidation but not all.
- All shops except supermarkets are closed 12-2. Even the Ford dealership:
View from my charming balcony with dumpster view. The Med is out there.
Another:
The Lido in Ostia - packed in August, not much in October
Typical street scene. Every few blocks there are communal dumpsters with separated garbages. No personal garbage pick-up.
The main street of Ostia, Via Stella Polaris
Nice dog park
Nice bike parked outside hospital
A good Pistachio gelato for supper one night. I have switched from Hazelnut to Pistachio.
