A day in the life of Rome (part 1)

Well, it was certainly quite the month-and-a-half for me as I went down to Rome (from Udine) to once again work on the Conclave (the one that chose the Argentine cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio as the new Pope)!

Back in 2005 I had worked for the American network NBC as a producer-translator during the amazing funeral of Pope John Paul II (and that very same evening we had checked out at Rome’s old PalaEur arena Queen with Brian May, Roger Taylor and with Paul Rodgers on vocals, formerly of Free and Bad Company!).  I had been the interpreter of NBC’s anchorman Brian Williams’s, indeed a very, very sharp guy.  We’d go down to St. Peter’s square to interview American tourists and followers on the death of the old Polish Pope (NBC, CBC, CNN and the other international tv networks were located right in front of St. Peter’s and on top of a roof).  That followed with the Conclave which had elected Joseph Ratzinger as the Vatican’s 265^th Pontiff.  I had been standing on the roof watching that famous white smoke come out of the small chimney located right next to the Basilica with the following phrase that all the world anxiously waits for when a new Pope has been elected: “Habemus Papam” (We have a Pope)!

So with the abdication of Ratzinger from his position as St. Peter’s successor, I contacted one of the NBC staff members at the Rock Centre (Rockefeller Centre) in NY and asked if they were going to need people again for yet another Conclave.   Just around the very same period a friend of mine in Rome, Isella, with whom I had already worked in 2005, called me to say that the NBC folks wanted to see me rather urgently in order to begin working on things.

And so it was that on February 15^th I took a train lickety-split down to Rome as Ratzinger had resigned just shortly before, and the entire world’s massive media army was getting ready to land once again in Rome (some 6,000 journalists showed up this time for the event).   What followed would be quite memorable, as you shall see from the next postings.  

The first memorable event occurred on February 22^nd, just two days before Italy’s national elections (one of many…) as the leader of the “Five Star Movement”, Beppe Grillo, was going to hold a final rally, his so-called “Tsunami Tour”, in Rome’s San Giovanni’s square (or St. John as it’s called in English. The Pope is actually the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of San Giovanni, and NOT, contrary to popular belief, of St. Peter’s.  On April 7^th, 2013, he went to San Giovanni for mass and to be officially named as Rome’s Bishop), a square which has a certain historical importance as it has hosted in the past some rather memorable political rallies.  It also hosts every May 1^st (international workers’ day) the free outdoor concert which attracts thousands of fans from all over Italy and some very interesting acts too (years ago I saw Sting there).

The convenient thing about San Giovanni is that as the crow flies it’s only about 400 meters from our place in Rome, so there was no need to take a car.  I simply walked over with my camera equipment and my press pass.  Now, knowing somewhat Roman-Italian organization (or should I say, “disorganization”), I didn’t request the photo accreditation, so I simply started walking around trying to figure out what would be the best way to get near to the stage to take pics of Grillo (it takes awhile but by ONLY using English and with a few cameras and a press pass around your neck you can get almost anywhere in Rome seeing that the average Roman still in 2013 speaks Shakespeare’s language rather poorly.  They basically “freeze” when they have someone in front of them who is English mother tongue).

I got refused entrance to the stage area the first time, but I didn’t give up as Grillo was going to show-up around 9 pm, and it was still early.  “Patience Mario”!, I said to myself.  And that patience paid off as I went back to the very same person who had refused me entrance to the stage the first time.  For some strange reason, he let me through to go to the stand where the accreditation area was located.  And there, using only English, I managed to get in line to go under the stage where Grillo would “bark” to his many faithful party followers (the guy reminds me of Il Duce when he used to yell to his beloved Fascist followers!).

Oddly enough, the Italian media was off-limits to the event.  It was only open to the foreign press, and having a London-based press card, I got in rather easily (again, only using English too).  Italian journalists were naturally 

“offended” that they had been deemed off-limits by Grillo and his staff members, and naturally called the cops!

And so there I was, right on the same stage with Grillo himself who walked by right under my nose.  I also got to go right under the stage where I shot the pictures you can see here below.  And it was all done by just using English.

My impression of Grillo that evening? As I said, he seems to do an awful lot of barking.  Just how much he’s able to “bite” remains though to be seen…