The Passeggiata

Wow Factor: The Colosseum notwithstanding, tour guide Francesca Caruso gives her passionate take of the Eternal City. (photo by Rhodora Ayuyang)

It wasn’t a coincidence that the local PBS station was showing a marathon of Rick Steves travelogues in Italy, with the election of a new pontiff in the Vatican.  So I was happy to see in his most recent program of Rome that he invited Francesca Caruso, a popular tour guide that I had the pleasure of meeting, to participate in its filming.  While on his tour in 2008, she made such a fantastic impression on me that I singled her out as one of my “wow” moments:  “She personalized so powerfully Roman history with her depth and knowledge of literature and architecture.  I can only hope I could enjoy la dolce vita the way Francesca clearly has doing a job she obviously loves.”

Getting Back on Track: The road to happiness is through Rome, among other places in the world.

Francesca accompanied Rick on the passeggiata in the Eternal City, which is described as an early evening stroll from Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps.  While sounding rather innocent and leisurely, Rick’s book in 2008 says, “in Rome, it’s a cruder big-city version called the struscio (‘to rub’),” in which young Italians cruise the Via del Corso sometimes obnoxiously in motorscooters and dispense with rather bold remarks (“buono”/”buona” or “tasty”) to passersby.

Whatever the case may be, traveling, like writing, is one of my favorite outlets, not a surprise to those who really know me.  Maintaining a balance in life is such a challenge that to have any opportunity to  get back  into my comfort zone is most welcome and, I would venture to say, mandatory.