'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
