The Eternal City is truly captivating.
Quite literally, these days, as we cannot leave the house.
Rome’s enchanting beauty has been consigned to mere memory. Or to incriminating photos people take while outside breaking quarantine.
But there’s a lesser-known attraction nestled in the neighbourhood of Testaccio. A destination that offers an authentic taste of daily Roman life.
Via Alessandro Volta, 39/B
Let me, an expert guide who has been housebound here for weeks, take you on a virtual tour. Sharing the insider secrets we locals keep to ourselves.
Soak in the stunning panoramic views
Most visitors flock to the Janiculum Hill or Orange Garden on the Aventine to enjoy sweeping vistas over Rome.
But beautiful though these views may be, they are clichè; picture postcard – monotonous repetitions that clog up your Instagram feed and numb you to their novelty.
For something a little off the beaten path, try the view from my room in Via Alessandro Volta 39/B.
On a summer’s day, the sun illuminates the walls a brilliant, burnished gold. A welcome change from their usual hue of Chicken Korma sick.
Take out the bins
It’s amazing how much waste you produce when you cannot leave the house.
Yet none of the self-declaration forms we must complete and carry with us into the outside world provide for taking out the bins.
Sneak out under the cover of dark, however, and you can still get away with a tri-weekly trip.
Freeing up valuable kitchen space and slightly alleviating the smell.
Clean the bathroom; scrub the toilet
It’s amazing how much waste you produce when you cannot leave the house.
Exercise on the roof
Per forza we must put ourselves through at least some phsyical punishment during our time in isolation.
Or else we shall emerge pale, and fat, and vulnerable to the Italian summer.
Improvised forms of exercise in Via Alessandro Volta 39/B include:
Wall tennis
Skipping with an electric cable
Jogging (until the bloke downstairs comes and tells you to stop
… And hanging around like a menacing gang while sometimes doing pullups
Check the mail
You never know.
There could be something from Student Loans or the Agenzia delle Entrate.
Or both!
Browse the museum
It’s an eclectic collection that adorns my wall.
A macédoine of prints threaded together by some undiscernible theme.
Critics might criticise the juxtaposition of WW1 propaganda posters with sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Yet this would be to overlook a playful side to Rome’s burgeoning contemporary art movement. Of which my room is very much a part.
Feed an aggressive Netflix habit
Netflix. Only Netflix.
Go on a day trip to the kitchen
By which I mean go into the kitchen, and stay there all day.
Wonder who designed these shelves. And why.
