And just like that, the first week after the summer holiday is already over. And where the arrival of a new season was palpable in the air at the beginning of the week – a fresh wind literally blew through the city – it ended with a weekend in which the sun was still doing its utmost best as if it not had been shining for months on end already. On Sunday morning, I therefore left for the beach. Somehow, I expected it to be reasonably quiet there, now that the summer is theoretically over. Nothing was further from the truth. On the Roman beach, I found myself in a classic Italian high-summer scene, where I barely managed to find a spot among all those cheerfully coloured parasols and large groups of family and friends.
The biggest and most important decision to be made is which Italian city will have the honour of hosting the festival. And in that race, a rather surprising decision was made last week…
At the same time, the fact that the summer holidays are over and working life has resumed is clearly noticeable in the city. This past week, my attention was particularly focused on receiving news from the Eurovision Songcontest. Because while the viewer will probably not get excited about Europe’s biggest music festival until sometime in May, behind the scenes it is an almost impossible task to get it all up and running in less than a year. The biggest and most important decision to be made is which Italian city will have the honour of hosting the festival. I remember very well that two years ago in The Netherlands, the decision was made in the middle of August. Italy is a bit later, but the race is fully on. And in that race, a rather surprising decision was made last week…
So, now the question is, which cities are still in the race?
Rome, capital of Italy and birthplace of so much of our Western-European history, is out. And one of the main reasons why is not exactly something people here are proud of: the city has been found too disorganised, especially in terms of transport and logistics. A decision I regret very much, because if there is one city that manages to fascinate everything and everyone, it is Rome. It might be a chaos, but it’s the most beautiful chaos on earth. However, when there are rehearsal schedules to be followed with military precision to give each participating country equal time in order to keep it a fair competition, that beauty alone is not enough. So, now the question is, which cities are still in the race? Turin, Milan, Bologna, Rimini and Pescara. All fantastic cities that can put on a fantastic event without any doubt, but it is not Rome. And I am not the only one who regrets that, so it turned out.
Just when I was telling Massimo that I hadn’t seen the father of Victoria (the bass player of Mäneskin, the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest this year) for a while, he came walking in. As soon as he saw me, he addressed the topic
Last weekend, I had my usual cappuccino at the coffee place in my street. Just when I was telling Massimo, the owner, that I hadn’t seen the father of Victoria (the bass player of Mäneskin, the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest this year) for a while – he’s also a regular at the bar – he came walking in. As soon as he saw me, he addressed the topic: how sad it is that Rome is no longer in the race. I nodded in agreement, but added immediately that in whichever Italian city the song contest will take place next year, with the Mäneskin band members – who will surely be invited as former winners – there will be a Roman representation anyway. “And what about you?”, he asked me then. I smiled, because of course I had given it a thought already. “Well, if possible, I’ll be there again too next year,” I answered. “Eh, you see!”, Massimo shouted from behind the bar – he never ceases to amaze me with his unique talent to be involved in all the conversations in the bar at the same time – “after all, they can’t do without us Romans!”. Of course, we could help but smiling about this comment with which we fully agreed. And for next weekend? A glance at the super-sunny weather forecast suggests that the whole of Rome will be heading to the beach again. By car of course, and all leaving at the same time, of course. Well, what can I say? Rome simply wouldn’t be Rome without that chaos on the roads.