Snapped: Dinner in Fiumicino

It is that time of the year: evenings on the beach!

There is a small shack on the beach in Fiumicino, near Rome. Nothing more than a wooden structure, few square meters of covered space, and a deck. But Stefano serves one of the best dinners around.

A typical Italian setting: low key, limited choices, but fresh. And in a idyllic setting, facing west, over the Mediterranean.

Dinner on the deck


A view of the sea through the restaurant.


A significant sign.


Sunset as we had aperitivo...

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What is the verb for "lazy"?

I am "lazying"?

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Picture of the day: People

I walked around in Fiumicino, near Rome today. And started to take random pictures of people. I always wanted to do that. "Just pictures" of "just people"....

Is it really "just", though...? If you look at the faces, their expression,.. if you really look well, you will see how each has a story to tell.

With just one picture, capturing one particular moment, you can imagine the story or at least the context behind each.



In thoughts...




The tired...




The lady walks...
For those of you who have the bandwidth, here is the Flickr slide show with all of them. Best viewed in full screen (once you run the slideshow, click on the arrows icon in the bottom right corner):

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Snapped: The net

I have designed some pretty complex stuff in my time. And did some seriously complicated projects. But I have never figured out how fishermen can operate a large net. I would get it all messed up.
Snapped at Fiumicino port, near Rome.

More in this Snapped series.

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Snapped: Just to be sure

One of the fishing trawlers in Fiumicino port near Rome. Looks like a living example that the weakest shackle determines the strength of a chain.
Apart from the fact the anchor seems to be a second hand from an oil tanker. Slightly oversized. Maybe they nicked it from one of the Libyan freighters at the oil terminal a mile off shore here...

More in this Snapped series.

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Rumble: Flying again.

As the sliding doors of Rome's Fiumicino airport opened this morning, the smell of coffee and croissants welcomed me. Above the background noise of hundreds of people talking, the clickclacking of hand luggage and an occasional burst of laughter, sounded the high pitched noise of cups and spoons being put on saucers. The sound of Italian breakfast: cornetto and cappuccino. Feels like coming home. Is this weird or what? Arriving at an airport at 6:30, and feeling at home? Am I travelling to much? Lemme see: from three weeks ago: Rome-Brussels-Rome-Parma-Rome-Addis Abeba-Rome-and now Brindisi. Could be worse.

With a comfort of cornetto and cappuccino, who cares Windows on the departure screen crashed again?

Oh, and no sign of striking Alitalia crew members...

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Rumble: No fish today: Italian fishermen on strike.

Often, in weekends, I stroll along the port of Fiumicino near Rome, a base for the local fishermen. Today, there was something different: there was no activity by the fishing trawlers, they were on strike.
Banners on the boat said in Italian (and strangely enough, also in Arabic): "High Fuel Prices Kill the Fishery", "High Fuel, On Strike" and "Fuel Prices Kill Us. Only Imported Fish Today."





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Rumble: A Lazy Saturday in Rome

Tine and the girls were here last week. The first days, the weather sucked. Rain, dark, depressive. On Friday everything opened up, and Saturday was as glorious a day as it could be.

Here is a menu to spend a Saturday in Rome:

1/ Late morning, you drive to Fiumicino, at the sea:

2/ You pick your usual Cafe, with a terrace, and have a breakfast consisting of a Cafe Latte and one or two cornetti (croissants). During breakfast, you admire your two girls and how much they have grown in the past month.

3/ Take a walk alongside the port of Fiumicino. Stand still by the small things. People sitting in the sunshine, chatting. Fishermen mending the nets or preparing the boats for next week's trip.

4/ Then, in all laziness, drive off to town and scout the Campo di Fiori market. Suck up all the odours of flowers, spices, fish, meat on the roast, vegetables and fruits. Indulge into the crowds around the market stands. Enjoy the laughter and to-and-fro shouting of the vendors.

5/ End up at a restaurant, and have a late brunch, as the sun is already starting to set. Enjoy the busy-ness of the whole, the buzzing noise of hundreds of people around you, the street musicians, kids, the tingling of glasses as food is being served.

Rome is a city like no other.

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