Il Campo di Fiori

I read an article this morning about a visit to a local market in Southern Italy and it reminded me of the first time I ever walked into the market at the Campo di Fiori in Rome.

Campo di Fiori’s literal translation means “field of flowers” and the first time you stumble onto it, the first thing you see are the colors. In front of you is a veritable palette of colors you can only find in nature. Sounds, scents, hues, textures…they are all here in one compact area.

I say I “stumbled” onto the market because in effect, that was exactly what I did. I had read about the Campo di Fiori and I wanted to see it but it wasn’t exactly on my top 10 list of things to do while I was in Rome. Even though I was in Rome for two weeks, my sight-seeing would be limited to mostly weekends because I was really there to take classes and my school schedule started fairly early in the morning and usually ended after 8:00pm in the evening. Combined with homework that had to be completed in order to get my certification, my time was limited.

I had been to Rome in 2004 but we were only there for about 2 days and we crammed most of the big sites into that time. On my re-visit, I decided I would see and do some of the things I didn’t get a chance to do the first time I was there and I also told myself I wouldn’t go rushing around like a mad woman trying to fit it all in. What I didn’t see this time, I mused, I would come back to Rome and catch the next time. Campo di Fiori was for next time.

So on my list for “this time” was Piazza Navona. I had read about it. I had seen the pictures. I even saw it in the movie (dare I say it? “Angels & Demons”) and decided it was a must-see this time around. In addition to wanting to see Piazza Navona, the woman from whom I was renting my room while in Rome gave me some jasmine tea that I really enjoyed. The tea was a tiny “pearl” looking thing and I wanted to buy some before coming home. She told me the name of the store and I Google mapped it. It seemed to be within 15 minutes walking distance from Piazza Navona so after spending time at the Piazza, listening to singers and marvelling at Bernini’s “Fountain of the Four Winds”, I decided to walk to the tea store. After misreading my map several times and walking down the wrong, little cobblestoned streets several times, I finally found the tea store only to find out they were closed for a few hours. Of course, I had just missed them.

I decided that no tea was worth waiting several hours for and to try to make my way to any large or busy street and get my bearings from there. My map told me where the street was supposed to be but it really wasn’t there (or I just couldn’t find it). I decided to retrace my steps but once again got confused and as I turned down another street I emerged onto a small village of white canopies and a field of fruit-ful and vege-ful colors. I had found the Campo di Fiori.

No words I could type and no pictures I could post (although I will post one) can properly describe the cacophony of sights and sounds that set before me. The fruits, the vegetables, the olive oils and balsamic vinegars, the limoncello available for tasting, the cats wandering around the area looking for anything that might have made it to the ground, the pigeons strutting around looking for something to eat, the smells, the vendors haggling…all of it came rushing back at me for a brief moment this morning, sitting in my office at my desk in front of my computer, while reading that article about the open market in Southern Italy and it made me glad that I had the chance to get lost and find something I thought I didn’t need to see. A concrete field of flowers.

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