Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904Waddington, Mary King
General
Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904
Waddington, Mary King
Rome (Italy) -- Social life and customs
We started out about 5 and went first to have a cup of tea at the café
the padrone recommended--Cova, I think--and then told the man to drive
about the streets and pass the principal buildings. We saw the Duomo
again, the Scala (theatre)--if it is open we shall go one night; the
great Galerie Victor Emmanuel, full of shops; and quantities of
churches, Santa Maria delle Grazie, of course, where is the famous
"Cenacolo" of Leonardo da Vinci, but the outside merely. The fresco is
only visible until 4--so we shall see the inside of the church another
day. We made a turn in the public gardens or promenade where there were
quite a number of handsome carriages and saddle horses--many officers
riding. It was rather late to attempt a country drive (we had said we
would dine downstairs at 7.30), for the turning and twisting about in
the streets and stopping every now and then had taken up a good deal of
time. We had a nice little victoria with a pair of horses, not unlike
the carriage Tomba gave us in Rome.
We went down about a quarter to eight. The padrone in his dress clothes
was waiting at the foot of the stairs and conducted us with much pomp
into the dining-room, where we found a nice round table in the window.
The room was quite full--many more people than in the morning, and I
should think almost all Italians. They looked at us naturally with much
curiosity, as such a fuss was made with us. W. smoked a cigar in the
court after dinner and talked to the man of the house who told him about
all the distinguished people he had had in his hotel. I found papers and
a "Graphic" in the reading-room and was quite surprised when they said
it was 10 o'clock.
May 7th.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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