Reflections on a day in "Quiet Rome"
We had a feeling that our trip to Rome this last Saturday was going to be different from past visits to the Eternal City. Rome is incredibly popular and in recent years, it has been packed with tourists, even in what used to be considered “the off season.” In fact, one of the biggest complaints about Rome is that there are far too many tourists; too many pushy people with selfie-sticks; the museums, monuments and piazzas are overly packed; too much chaos. Last October, we brought our dear friends Joycelyn and Steve to see the Vatican for their 1st trip to Rome and they were totally worn out by the crushing wave of all the people there.
Things were definitely not normal on Saturday.
The Inspiration for Our Visit: The Raffaello Exhibition
Our last trip to Rome was in February when we went to an exhibition of Impressionist artists at Palazzo Bonaparte. We had a wonderful day and this inspired us to attend a highly anticipated Raffaello exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale which was scheduled in March. Then the COVID contagion changed the world. The Italian government instituted a nationwide lockdown, so our trip to Rome was postponed. Of course, we were thrilled to find out that the exhibition would start again in June, so we bought our tickets. We were really excited about going back to Rome and seeing the art of Raffaello.
Our "Quiet" Day in Rome
Our journey began at the train station in Foligno and, as it turned out, this was a preview of things to come. Usually, on a Saturday morning, there are a lot of people headed to Rome. As you can see, there was virtually no one there.
On the train, social distancing was strictly enforced. We all sat in every other seat and were required to wear masks.
When we arrived in the main train station in Rome, we were shocked by how few people were traveling. Something else we noticed: the station is far cleaner than it was before COVID.
When Rome is Virtually Empty
Whenever you’re in a big city, there’s always a great deal of traffic, clamor, the smell of car pollution, the crush of tourists and a healthy dose of chaos. This is what makes places like NYC or Paris or Rome so interesting. There was hardly any of this on Saturday.
Before we went to the Raffaello exhibition, we spent time wandering around town. We hit some of the most popular monuments in the city and there were very few people.
One of the most powerful feelings we had was how calm the city was without traffic. You really don’t think about the impact automobiles have on the environment of a large city until they aren’t there. You could hear the birds, you don’t have to worry about getting run over and there wasn’t the usual smell of pollution.
The Big "Take-away"
Let me be honest. It was wonderful to be in Rome without hoards of people and traffic. The first time we were in Rome was in 1981. In many ways our experience on Saturday reminded us of how the city felt almost 40 years ago. We were just kids on a foreign exchange adventure and we didn’t know we would someday return to the Eternal City at this unique time in history.
Unfortunately, COVID has had huge, negative economic impact on Italy and especially on cities such as Rome. As we wandered the streets watching the restaurants setting up for lunch, we could sense how difficult it is for these businesses. And you know, Italians want you to sit and celebrate a wonderfully prepared meal. We wanted to eat at all of them!
Our primary “mission” on Saturday was to view the art of Raffaello, one of the most talented and renowned artists in the last 500 years. The exhibition was extraordinary, but for me, being in Rome in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, in a world that has been turned upside, down, this was truly a profound and humbling experience.
My most sincere hope is that, in the not-so-distant-future, the world will overcome this contagion and that we will all emerge with a stronger sense of what’s truly important in life. Rafaello’s art clearly shows us the way!
