Buskers on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, Rome

Several parts, excuse the hand wobbles

Part 1: A bit shaky handed, could say rainy day, could say 180 degree panning with feet not moving... or could say shaky hands. This is from the point at which we emerge onto the road coming from our apartment. I dwelt upon the bus with its apposite destination. But Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare) had not known he would have a road constructed, a wide cut through the Prati district)****, in the 1880s, with barracks of the army and carabinieri there, not too far from the Vatican City, just defeated in the new Italian Kingdom's fight with the pope for Rome.

**** that link is to the Italian Wikipedia entry for Prati, which is informative. Get that translated by opening in Chrome, don't click for the version at English Wikipedia, which is rubbish.

For part 2 we have crossed the road to be nearer. One interesting phenomenon in this little recording is the way people passing by go out of their way to suggest they are not listening, cannot see, need not contribute a coin. We did contribute and bought a couple of CDs, see them being offered in the last moment of the film. The music may not be Opera House standard, but then we did not go to the Opera House. We went on a rainy day to the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome and got a bit wet. That's the relevant memory.

We are very close to the paid-access walkways of the Forum.

You can also appreciate how nice it is in Rome, especially staying in Monti, just nearby, to have daily glimpses of the Colosseum, without the urge to go inside and play Charlton Heston or Russell Crowe. For us all this is part of beloved furniture.

What went on in the Colosseum as we call it, the Arena back then, was pretty appalling. See here, and especially here. Now hurry and join the pack with your online, beat the queue ticket.

....

Just a little more music: Yesterday, Lennon-McCartney. In the video you can see the styles of different visitors. The east Asians–Koreans, Chinese and Japanese–lead in general refinement and modest style.

The musicians, the buskers recorded, made very little money,
but this pair just nearby were making buckets of money.
We are inclined to empty-headedness as a species, I suppose.

Smiles on the Spanish Steps 25 October 2018

Happiness

She danced, I caught it on a movie with her parents smiling,
but I have no parental consent, so not posted.

Then into Via del Babuino

Exchanging notes with Silenus,
whose sculpture deemed so ugly when put in place in the 1580s that people called it Babuino, a baboon.
The name stuck, to the extent that the street was eventually renamed Babuino.
Restored and recapitated in recent years.

Exchanging notes with a Chinese man. His wife, my wife in the 'Luxury Outlet' behind me.
He took my photo, I took his photo, we smiled, I went to his side of the road.
From Beijing but living in London, in investment.
We talked a little in Chinese, with his use of phone to find the word investment.
He said the economy in China was bad, things in China were bad.
He may be one of those who made money and who have run from campaigns in recent years.

outside the Hotel de Russie

and a final note from Piazza del Popolo