May Day,old fashioned style..

May Day is here and it brings back memories of  one of my first visits to Italy-many years ago, before the ‘euro’ and before the dawn of the shopping malls in Rome or ‘centro commerciale’-as they are called.

I was there with my family and we were enjoying a beautiful, sunny (as usual) day in the center of Roma. The Roman sun beating down and illuminating the flowers, the magnificent architecture of the Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum and the elegant Spanish Steps area.

However, there was not much to do but do as the Romans do bask around in the warm sun and stop and eat at the local coffee bars (at least the ones that remained open) and sidewalk cafes, grab a gelato, take a quiet stroll through Villa Borghese and then eat some more and stroll some more and take in the beautiful view of the sights and sounds of Roma.

Today, however, it is a different May Day..the shopping malls are all open hoping to snag away customers from the center of town who will ‘relish’ in going to a mall food court to enjoy a coffee and gelato instead of a coffee bar in Piazza Navona or Piazza Del Popolo in centro. And how about those cold steel buildings- no not me… I will spend my May Day admiring the beauty of the Trevi Fountain and the coliseum and basking in the Roman sun until Roman Sunset.