It’s a hot mid-summer weekend in Rome and despite the fact that the much-anticipated bi-annual sales started today, most Romans have headed out of town in search of cool breezes and fresh air, whether in the monti or at the mare. We’ve reached that part of the Roman summer in which getting away from it all is on everyone’s mind.
This is as true at the eCool Compound as anywhere in Rome, so we were extremely pleased when photographer Susan Sanders suggested that we treat eCool readers to this refreshing view of sand and surf at Sperlonga. Taken from the town of Sperlonga, which towers above beaches that stretch to its north and its south, the photograph shows the Angolo Beach and, at its far end, the cave used as a dining hall by the Roman Emperor Tiberius.
For more photographs by Susan, visit her photo blog: Rome With A View.
Here at the eCool Compound, we let the Fourth of July slide on by without much fanfare or fireworks. Nevertheless, for anyone who lives in Rome and is a student of the city’s ancient past, the founding of the United States is a fascinating topic, for the Founding Fathers also knew their ancient history and drew heavily on the model of the Roman Republic in deciding the form of the American government.
Thus, these photos, published on the La Repubblica website this morning, served as a reminder of American connections to Rome and made us wish that we’d spent the holiday in New York City’s Times Square, watching artist Troy Landwehr as he spent eight hours carving a representation of the singing of the Declaration of Independence out of a one-ton block of cheddar cheese.
The images made us giggle, of course, and provoked a long debate about whether or not the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be honored to be represented in a block of cheedar. (We suspect that they might prefer another medium, but you can decide on your own.)
We also began to muse upon the different ways in which Americans and Italians entertain themselves with cheese. Though this cheddar sculpture is certainly breathtaking, we think we prefer the Italian tendency to roll cheese around a hilltown in celebration of a holiday.
