local life
When we look for Airbnbs when we travel, we usually try to seek out places that are off the beaten tourist track and are instead in neighborhoods where the locals live. We prefer being away from crowds, yes, but also observing how people live in other parts of the world.
Here are some notes from our trip to Rome in 2015:
We are staying in a flat in the Trastevere neighborhood, which is just across the Tiber from central Rome and just south of the Vatican. We chose it because it’s a family neighborhood, not so much a tourist destination. Our apartment is in a building with a large central courtyard and everyone has large windows that open into this area.
As I sit here on Sunday evening, I can smell that someone used a lot of garlic while cooking dinner, while it smells like someone else grilled some sort of beef.
I can also smell flowers and herbs from the multitude of pots scattered among the window sills.
I can hear families talking, a baby crying, dishes clinking, and someone listening to opera. Birds are chirping.
A dog just barked, but a stern female voice rattled off some rapid-fire Italian and the dog went silent. I think that dog knows who’s the boss.
The woman in the flat above ours wears high heels even inside. I can’t believe she doesn’t kick them off with a huff when she gets home, but she’s Italian. She must be cooking too, as I can hear her moving back in forth in just one area, which is above the kitchen in our flat. Her steps are staccato notes on hardwood floors.
Buona notte.