My CurioCity: Maria Pasquale, Sampietrini, and Rome Taxi Drivers
Storytrail spoke to Maria Pasquale of HeartRome about why the streets of Rome make her sick — and why she loves them anyway. For more curious stories from around the world (and to win a trip to Rome), visit www.storytrail.co:
“My sister always tells me ‘That is not normal, Maria’.”
This is how Maria Pasquale, a USA Today “10 Best” Local Expert and Fodor’s contributor, proves the zaniness of her daily life in Rome, where she has lived since 2011. Sometimes the abnormality involves eccentric local characters or Italian bureaucracy, but it mainly involves Roman taxi drivers.
Maria has been in three car collisions while cabbing around Rome. Two were small pings, but in a more serious one, the taxi driver ran a red light and hit a man on a scooter. Maria watched as the man’s body flew up into the air and landed with a thud on the street. Luckily, no one died, so it was business as usual.
“I’ve developed a serious case of motion sickness since living in Rome,” Maria said, “and it’s all because of how Romans navigate traffic. They tailgate, zip between lanes, and weave in and out of cars.” And to Maria’s estimation, it’s all done at 140 kilometers per hour. (That’s about 87 miles per hour for you rebels not on the metric system. Like me).
But the drivers aren't completely to blame for Maria’s motion sickness. Rome is also a culprit.
When Maria gets in a taxi, especially in her historical neighborhood of Trastevere, her driver often takes her along a street paved with ‘sampietrini,’ a kind of cobblestone that makes for a very bumpy and noisy ride. These square stones were the latest and greatest street material in the 16th century, being ideal for horse-drawn carriages and easily adaptable to shifts in the earth (no cracking or potholes). But 500 years later and with the invention of the automobile, they are less practical.
Bumpy car rides along sampietrini-paved streets have been known to generate vibrations that damage nearby monuments and buildings and create a rumbling noise that disturbs pedestrians and residents. When wet, the road becomes a hazard to scooter and car drivers — especially those traveling at 140 km/hr.
Despite the negatives, sampietrini have a cherished place in Rome’s history. The word derives from ‘sanpietrini’, as in San Pietro, the Italian for St. Peter. These were the workers who took care of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, and whom were tasked with repaving St. Peter’s Square with these characteristic stones after Pope Sixtus V’s carriage nearly toppled over there due to bad road conditions.
Later, these stones were used to pave the rest of Rome beyond the Vatican and, according to Maria, there’s even a little legend that streets paved with sampietrini represent the path towards St. Peter’s and enlightenment.
But Italian drivers are too busy going places — and driving Maria around — to worry about enlightenment. They do not get along with sampietrini, and in 2005, talks of replacing the traditional stones with a safer and more modern material began. Today, many of Rome’s streets are missing their characteristic stones, although certain historical and tourist districts will not be changed.
“I don’t like the fact that the local authorities toy regularly with the idea of laying down asphalt road instead,” Maria stated. “Sampietrini are an intrinsic part of the city’s history and character, and a monument of Rome just as the Colosseum is.”
Added Maria, “They are annoying, however, when you roll your ankle in a hole!”
When Maria is not being tumbled about Rome’s rocky roads, she is working on a series of e-books to be released in late 2016 / early 2017. Until then, you can read her essays on food, wine, travel, the arts, and more things from la dolce vita on her blog HeartRome.
This story is part of the Storytrail “My CurioCity” series, written by Abigail Levner. At Storytrail, we love discovering curious stories about the world’s best cities and sharing them with you in our fun little videos. Visit www.storytrail.co to watch them and to enter to win a free trip to Rome for two! To get in touch, contact abigail.levner@storytrail.co.
Maria Pasquale is a freelance food and travel writer. She operates the blog HeartRome, which has been recognized by Vogue, the BBC, Fodor’s, and more, and was a 2015 nominee in Italy Magazine’s Best Blog category. Maria is also a social media strategist and is the Rome and Italy contributor for the USA Today brands, 10Best and Tripology. You can follow Maria on Twitter @HeartRome, Facebook, and Instagram @HeartRome.
