Driving to Capocotta

(David very happy with our cute little convertible car -- the Nissan Micra...)

Sunday, David and I rented a car to drive to Capocotta, a beach outside of Rome. We were meeting our new Roman friends at the beach for lunch and some fun in the sun: Chiara and her roommate Ricardo, their old school friend Andrew from Milan, Elizabeth -- a dancer we met at auditions and an old friend of Chiara -- and her husband Daniel, as well as Elizabeth's friends from London, a married couple with two young children. (Elizabeth and Daniel are both half Brit and Italian.) While Chiara wanted us to rent motos (scooters/motorcycles) to travel to the beach, as the traffic is bad, we prudently declined and decided to rent a car instead (since I don't have my license, a moto would require that David and I ride tandem, and we are simply not that risk-taking). David was ecstatic to drive, and even more elated when we got a small convertible car at Avis.


Once we were able to find our way out of Rome, the drive to the beach itself was easy. We were able to take in he scenery and listen to a collection of great Nu Jazz CDs we'd purchase the day before. We felt quite glamorous and were pleased with ourselves...

(David very unhappy with the traffic and utter lack of any kind of parking in Capocotta...)

...until we reached the beach. We'd been warned that the traffic and parking was a nightmare -- we did not realize just how bad and chaotic it was. There were cars and motos EVERYWHERE, and it seemed a free-for-all in terms of parking. We didn't know what to do, and David, very unhappy and panic-rising, nearly turned the car around to go home. Luckily for us, Chiara came to our rescue and negotiated a deal with a guy who hangs around the road finding parking for cars and/or makes sure double parked cars are not towed by the police. We gave this guy 10 Euro and, voila, we had our convertible parked properly!

In Italy, it is very useful to have an attractive, Italian friend who seems to be able to fix and negotiate any kind of situation.


Once the car was parked, we had a gorgeous and relaxing day at the beach. After a lunch of fresh seafood (simply grilled tuna drizzled in olive oil and lemon, octopus, grilled calamari) and Falanghina (Chiara's favorite wine), we plopped ourselves on lounge chairs on the beach. We swam a bit -- the water was cold at first, but then was lovely once we got used to it -- and generally lazed about on the beach, chatting with our new friends and playing with Jasmine, 3, and her little brother, Dylan, 7 months old.

Chiara and her friends have been tremendously generous and hospitable to us -- they have made our second Rome trip special and specific, and have made sure we felt a part of their community. Whether it's dinner or a Sunday at the beach, or wine or carcioffi (which more than one person have very concernedly explained to me are not in season, as if they would not want me to think that the carcioffi I might eat now would be of the normative standard of the dish when they are, indeed, in season), our Roman friends are terrifically interested in our seeing all the loveliness and colors of Rome as they enjoy their city. And this has made our trip wonderfully memorable, and also, I think we will leave Rome with new friends we'd love to keep in our lives.


TM