Viale di Trastevere

Still don't have my camera.

Instead I'll update you on my feelings towards the street I live on.

I live on Piazza Ippolito Nievo. My legal team is advising me not to release my exact address, but it's a small section on the southern end of the relevant portion of Viale di Trastevere. The literal name of the street is "Avenue of Across the Tiber." VdT is the main road in Trastevere. Google map it. When you see in guidebooks that The Trast, as only I call it, is a seedy area (lookin' at you, Rick Steves), that is due almost entirely to VdT. It is fairly trashy and filled with Middle Eastern street vendors. Since the birthrate in Italy is around 1.5 (2.0 is the level of perfect replacement), a large amount of immigration is necessary for the economy to have sustained growth. Nevertheless, Italians don't like the idea of immigration very much. Claudio once mentioned how many immigrants, particularly Asians, live in Rome. I didn't notice at first but after walking down VdT I can see why many Italians aren't completely on board with heavy immigration. I'm not saying it's a bad street because it is filled with foreigners. I'm saying it's a bad street because the trash they leave behind when they pack up their vans of goodies for the night after absolutely no one stopped to buy their junk. About 2,700 years ago Rome was a very small village that existed entirely because it was located on a river and at the border between two city-states. Or was it two nations? I didn't pay attention very well in class last week... Anyway, Trastevere was the port for the Etruscans and other foreigners coming to Rome. So Trastevere has apparently been home to foreigners like myself and the street vendors for well over two millennia. But, if you just go a block off the eyesore that is VdT, you see the beautiful, quintessential Italy, filled with cobblestoned roads, bakeries, cheese markets, butchers, and everything else you can dream of. Trastevere is Rome. Rome before tourism. There is nothing fake about my neighborhood, with the exception of the three or four American universities. So far, the best bread, cheese, pizza and Trattoria (with the exception of Cacio e Pepe in Prati) have been on, or near, Via del Moro in Trastevere. Don't believe it when someone like Rick Steves tells you The Trast is a less than ideal place to visit. Sure, we don't have the Pantheon, Colosseum, or anything famous besides a Santa Maria. And really, *everyone* has a famous Santa Maria, am I right?  But if you're looking for the real Rome, it's the only place to visit. Just don't cross into The Trast on Ponte Garibaldi.