Rome has more than its share of pleasures, but it isn't an especially colorful city. It's not Mexico City, or Quito, or Guatemala City, places where an Indian heritage has infused these cultures with bright and bold costumes and striking carvings of painted wood. The Romans love their flowers, and the shops that sell them brighten many street corners. But by and large, Rome is whites and grays and browns and even yellows, leavened here and there by the light, tasteful pastels of newer buildings or the dignified, Mediterranean Siena red that found favor with Mussolini's architects.
Yet there are exceptions. Some are high-tech intrusions, best observed at night, others aggregations of color. Some are temporary--the product of holidays--and some intended to be permanent--as permanent, that is, as petty capitalism can be. Some are offerings by fans of the Roma soccer team, others by the city's graffiti artists. And some--a red car parked in front of a red door--are just coincidence. They are only accents, to be sure, but delightful ones, we think.
Bill
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| The Red Bar at Parco della Musica |
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| A wall painted by Roma fans, in Monti. |
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| A coffee bar, San Paolo |
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| Serendipity. A kind of found art. |
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| A bar in Monte Verde Nuovo, decorated for Easter |
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| Graffiti, on a highway overpass south of the city |
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