An enterprising Roman named Nunzia Fiorini collaborated with Rome's transit system to convert an old tram into a kind of mobile 'dinner and a show,' not long ago. A multiple course dinner is served on the tram while jazz musicians play and diners are taken on a nighttime tour of the center of Rome.
Because The Spouse wants experiences more than things, and because he loves to see live music performances, and because he likes jazz, this was my Valentine's gift to him this year. We weren't able to go ON Valentine's day. We went on an evening closer to the end of the same month.
I kept waiting for this to be cancelled because of growing virus panic, but it wasn't.
We arrived at the meet-up spot - Porte Maggiore (literally, an ancient major entry into the city that still stands today) - early, so we had a drink at a nearby cafe and walked around this site. The Porte Maggiore is featured in my art history textbook. A double archway made of typically blocky, rusticated (meaning, the blocks are not refined and smooth) Roman masonry which has niches for statuary that is long-gone, it would have also functioned as a conduit for two aquaducts taking water into the ancient city.
One aquaduct would have occupied the channel exposed in the upper rectangular hole you see in the cross section, and the other aquaduct would have occupied the lower channel directly below.
I've written about the Tomb of the Baker before, but it's worth having a look at it at night, as the reliefs of the bread baking process at the upper register are easier to see. Recall that the large round cylinders were intended to evoke grain storage units. Eurysaces (YUR-eh-SAH-cheez) the Baker - a (Greek) freed slave who became a baker - placed his tomb at a major entryway to the city so that no one could ignore his legacy. You can see his name under the open cylinder rows, closest to the second circle from the bottom left. To have such a prominent, large and elaborate tomb monument placed at such a location indicates that Eurysaces was an extremely successful businessman.
And up came our tram....
We boarded.
And were treated to a wholly rehabbed interior.
(This is his excited face.)
(and isn't it appropriate that he would be sporting a black t-neck for this event?)
Studying the menu.
And before we left the pick-up spot, we were treated to a quick tune by Marcello Rosa, a well-known jazz musician of Rome.
He is a known fixture here. His pedigree in the jazz world is something you can investigate here. He and two other musicians occupied the pivoting space between the two adjoined cars. This meant, of course, that they did not play while the trams were actually moving between stops.
Instead, we listened to piped-in jazz, sipped on prosecco and wine, sampled our first courses, and took in the sights on a rainy February night.
First up, San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (literally, Saint Lorenzo Outside the Wall)...a church that The Spouse and I visited not long before, because I wanted to see the only Roman church that had sustained damage in WWII. A longer post about that will come later. It is definitely an interesting place!
But what this church name tells you is that it is placed just outside the ancient Aurelian wall (3rd century) of Rome. So we are not in the city center - yet.
I apologize for skipping the cheese course. We were hungry.
But here is the hummus and meats plate.
Hummus is a strange concept here, we think. Italians love and often incorporate chickpeas in their cuisine (Cicero's nickname was 'chickpea'), but their hummus is just that: ground chickpeas. Without garlic, lemon and more importantly, tahini paste, it's not the most exciting flavor.
And while I have no idea what this address is, I had to capture this spooky face above a doorway as we slowly made our way into the city center.
Next up, one of the two museums named The Museum of Modern Art. And yes, that IS confusing to students who you've told to meet you for a field trip.
And a pasta course. Ravioli with spinach.
A long-running exhibition at this museum is entitled Time is Out of Joint, which is a Shakespeare line. Given how long some of us may stay in quarantine, and how being in such a state can distort your sense of time (I woke up today thinking that it was Wednesday, and all of the conversations I have had with The Spouse during this phrase are running together in my mind), the sentiment is apt.
These Spanish style meatballs with almond sauce were very tasty. And we were getting quite full.
After spending some time moving towards the city center, we arrived at the Colosseum.
Already by this time, tourists had all but vanished from Rome.
To the left of the arena, you can see the Arch of Constantine.
At this point, we were allowed to hop out of the tram for a better view. So of course we took some selfies.
Then we hopped back on - while the Italians finished smoking, of course - for our last interlude with the musicians.
For me, this image captures almost everything: the famous trombone player and the Colosseo reflected in the tram windows, and the conviviality of the evening.
Marcello himself was an old hand at the business of sharing a little anecdote here and there between songs, mixing his Italian and English in this fascinating way. It was clear that he had spent a lot of time with American jazz musicians.
Roman surnames tickle me, sometimes. How would you like to be Mr. Whitebread (Panebianco)?
A little molten chocolate torte for our dolce. The wine flowed freely the whole time.
Next, we go past Rome's church: St. John Lateran.
As we taxied back home after departing TramJazz, we marveled at the emptiness of the city.
This is our street. The ornate fragment of the building on the left belongs to the Italian Senate, our next door neighbor. Tourists are usually taking photos of this beautiful, converted palazzo.
But not now.
And we came home to this, which always warms The Spouse's (veterinarian, animal-lover) heart.
He assured me that he had a great time, and wants to do it again, especially if we can book one of the evenings with a Dixieland jazz band that seems to be extremely popular here.
Use the link I provided at the top of this entry if you too are keen to see Rome at night while dining in an intimate, jazz-infused tram. It would definitely count as one of the more unusual experiences you could have here. And when this strange, strange time of eluding a virus is over, Rome would love to welcome you. The eternal city is lonely without its steady stream of visitors and residents, sifting through over 2000 years of historical layers.
