Ghetto degli Ebrei

'It is lively; it is a gorgeous architectural jumble: Renaissance buildings next to medieval houses, Corinthian columns on sidewalks, in courtyards, even on staircases. And medieval houses gussied up with discreet and beautiful windows... and narrow streets hung with laundry that debouch into sunny small piazzas, some little more than cul-de-sacs; houses draped in ivy, courtyards adorned with succulents and fountains... To walk here is a tactile experience - sun and shadow on your skin as you walk down dark, narrow streets crowded with tall, narrow houses and exit into intimate piazzas. Architecture feels like your skin's skin and this makes a kind of moral sense. Here there are pomegranates among the ruins. Life is within us.'

from Italian Days - Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Chandeliers Descend From Pistachio-Coloured Ceilings

'Giolitti looks as if it should be the scene of a thé dansant. Grandmothers and their small charges are there, and young Romans about whose beauty can never cease exclaiming, and foreign cruisers and hustlers, and families... You can eat inside - dismiss all notions of an American ice cream parlour: chandeliers descend from pistachio-coloured ceilings; walls are painted blueberry-blue, raspberry, and cream; tables are marble-topped and hold floral bouquets. You can eat outside, where you will become part of the passegiata... the streets are narrow, Porsches and Alfa Romeo's shriek; the Pantheon rises dark and everlastingly beautiful behind you.'

from Italian Days - Barbara Grizzuti Harrison