Human Waste On The Streets Of Rome To Cause Epidemic

THIS IS ROME 

HUMAN FECES & DOG SHIT ON THE STREETS OF ROME AND IT'S OK!

This is via Giulia in the historic centre of Rome:

It was one of the first important urban projects undertaken in Rome during the Renaissance and today it is one of Rome's elite shopping streets, (think Mayfair or Upper East Side NY), and it is, unfortunately, one of the streets where you CANNOT walk with your head high admiring ancient churches, gardens, antique shops or the architecture as you will invariably step into a sea of dog shit from one end to the other. It's a kilometre long and I have decided that it should be renamed "Shit Mile" (OK, so I'm being a little footloose with the metric system here but give me a break it sounds good in Italian "via Caccamiglio). 

Human Excrement Outside The Boyfriend's Window

Human Waste On The Streets Of Rome Is OK According To Italian Law

So, last week I phoned the vigili again, this is the third time, and I said they really needed to do something about the homeless man shitting outside the window. You may recall from an earlier post that I said I would keep an eye on it? Well, the situation hasn't changed and the homeless man who lives on the church wall by Largo dei Fiorentini is still going to the loo under the window and the vigili are still saying unless they catch him "red handed' all they can do is give him a fine. Yeah, like a homeless person can pay a fine - what are they gonna do, take his begging bowl? 

I'm sorry to say, I do not believe this! Where on earth, well first world countries anyway, is it possible for someone to openly and daily shit on the cobblestones to their hearts content without fear of prosecution, where people say "poverino" (which translate as "poor thing" - poor thing my arse what about my bloody health?) and 'What can you do?' Well, let me help you out here Romans...First, Mr Vigili send someone along to give him a severe talking to, he's not hard to miss and he's in his spot every day and if that fails then you need to lock him up or get him a porta-loo; Second every single dog-owner you see needs to be stopped and you need to check that they are carrying a pooper-scooper and if not then give them a fine; Thirdly diseases associated with human excrement include Hepatitis A, Cholera as well as respiratory and eye infections and should any of these conditions come to pass in anyone in my boyfriend's building I am going to suggest a class action against Rome City Council.

It's funny, I was invited to visit Sicily when one of my friends was dating the Mayor of Catania. We landed late and by the time we got in to the centre of town options for where we could go and eat were pretty limited so we ended up in a bar which served food jus off the main drag. It was a lovely summer evening with a gentle breeze ruffling our hair but the night air was slightly spoilt by the catcalls of the working girls outside the bar plying their trade to passersby. Obviously they didn't recognise the Mayor as he, being the good citizen, proceeded to call the carabinieri who came squealing and lights flashing around the corner in a matter of minutes and moved the ladies along...I bet if Rome's Mayor Alemanno had a street person shitting under his window something would be done...then again, I've passed his abode and he's got no shit outside either!

This Is 10 Yards From The Boyfriend's Front Door

This Is Outside The Boyfriend's Front Door

HOLLYWOOD BUYS PRESTON/SPEZZI "The Monster of Florence" Clooney Likely To Star!

As you may have heard Hollywood has bought the rights to the Douglas Preston/Mario Spezzi book "The Monster of Florence"....If you have any moral fibre and believe in right and wrong you would NEVER EVER BUY any books written by Michele Giuttari again..I purchased one once; it was badly written, the pace was so slow it put me to sleep - no, literally, I never finished the book it was too mind-boggolingly boring, the speech was stilted and the characterisation was so superficial I had to wonder if the man had any imagination or knew anyone. All in all the only Italian I have ever come across who does not know how to entertain! If anyone is looking for Italian crime books you need to check out Inspectors Zen and Brunetti because they rock!

So, I've been a little lax recently due to my being home, this long distant relationships can be ever so tiring, so bear with me as I bring you up to date. Here are some pictures of my friend Dana wearing MET jeans and MET's Green Leather Jacket from the AW10 collection. I think she looks awesome!

My Friend Dana In MET Jeans At Piazza di Spagna

AMA Ama Roma!

OK, fairs fair...yesterday I was complaining about the rubbish on the streets of Rome and I have to say a big Thank You to AMA as they really did take my woes to heart and came over to clean up the offending trash. I doubt a British or American counterpart would have been so conscientious and if you don't believe me ask the citizens of New York who don't live on Mayor Bloomberg's street!

As you may know I come from a journalism background but I now sort of work with fashion brands. So, having come from a sector as far removed from fashion as possible I had the usual preconceptions about the fashion world and I have to say I have come across some really smart and talented cookies, such as the fashion team at Cosmopolitan UK. But thanks to the way the industry now works and the obligation that the public be fed "newness" these talented individuals make our monthly fashion reads accessible and enjoyable while they as people truly shine in private. Once in a while though someone does come along who openly forces us to think about the hype we buy in to without sermonising but by using gentle irony so hats off to IhurtIaminFashion...a welcome, thought provoking look at those trendy, high caliber magazine shoots!

This Is Rome

Today's Post Is About Rubbish & Shit In Rome!

So, what I want to ask is why is Italian bureaucracy so cavalier in terms of respecting everyone's rights to live in a clean and healthy environment? My boyfriend is fortunate, (or unfortunate), to live in the centre of Rome on one of the most well known street's in the centro storico. One of his less salubrious neighbours is a homeless person who sleeps outside the church on the corner, yes there are thousands of churches on corners in Rome but this one is not particularly attractive so I will not give it a name-check...and for the past week the accumulated rubbish of this street person,  yes, he has tons of it!, has been left undisturbed beside the church by the authority in charge of cleaning the streets, AMA, so I decided to call them and ask, "why has no one cleaned up the rubbish this person is discarding?" The response was "What do you mean! Take his rubbish away? Oh No, we can't do that he has every right to leave his rubbish and possessions where he wants?" Obviously, I was flabbergasted as the local authority have imposed recycling on households in the centro storico, finally!, and will fine us if we don't (good idea but highly unlikely to work given the lack of governability here), yet they are perfectly happy to create a dump on a main tourist through-fare in the middle of Rome? Needless to say I insisted the rubbish should be moved and was finally given a reference number for my complaint '1481264' which I shall keep an eye on to see what this number actually means in terms of my complaint and let you know and of course if AMA is not going to collect the rubbish then perhaps my boyfriend should not be paying his AMA taxes:-)

My second complaint today was to the Vigile Urbano, the equivalent of the local police who generally deal with parking infractions but also look after other local law enforcement issues, are you recognising a pattern here?, to complain about said homeless person shitting beneath my window to the point that you can no longer open the windows in the sitting room lest you want the aromatic smells or shit wafting through the house. Their response to my complaint was, unless they see him committing the act of shitting beneath my window they can do nothing about it but if they do see him then they can give him a fine. Finally, I thought someone who is prepared to do his job but hang on a sec, if the person shitting under my window doesn't work, how will he pay a fine? 

So everyone, if you want to dump your rubbish where you fancy you don't have to head to Naples just head to the most well known tourists streets in Rome and leave it and if you feel like a shit while you're at it go for it as no one's going to get their knickers in a twist about it!