So I’m back in Rome after two months away. What’s the first thing I noticed? THE NOISE! My god, I can barely hear myself think (not always a bad thing). I’ve totally got out of the habit of apartment living, being surrounded by hundreds of people. The main culprits are:
The Man Upstairs: while I’ve been away he seems to have installed a basketball court and is practicing for 8 hours a day.
The Cicadas – aka The Tree Cricket: wow, can those bad boys make some racket. I could hardly hear what Monica was saying to Chandler last night (guess who got the entire box set of Friends for Christmas??)
Car Alarms: ahh, the sound of Rome.
People: I’d forgotten how LOUD Italians are. I’ve just overhead a fascinating conversation in the street, four floors below, about varicose vein surgery. Or possibly about a holiday to Sicily. Or what to have for lunch. Who knows?
Scooters: can’t beat the delightful sound of ‘motorini’ screaming up and down the road all day and night.
© Animation Library
Friday Night Disco: somewhere in the vicinity is a nightclub that gets going at midnight and finishes just in time for breakfast. Not sure exactly what ‘banging tunes’ are being played but they sure do have a mean bass line.
Saxophone Man: actually, this one is quite pleasant. Every afternoon I’m serenaded with some delightful songs by someone who is a pretty good musician. I feel like I’m in some old black and white movie, where the cool cats gather on their New York fire escape to play some hip sounds, man.
Fingers crossed, in a couple of weeks, all this racket will just become white noise and I’ll be able to actually concentrate on what I’m supposed to be concentrating on. (The book, folks, the book!!) Either that or noise-cancelling headphones will become a permanent fashion accessory.
Any particular noises that drive you to distraction??
BARBED WORDS 
So many to choose from! Noisy neighbours are my biggest annoyance. Then there’s police helicopters flying overhead all night, barking dogs and house alarms. Silence is definitely golden!
LikeLike
I agree, silence is the way to go!
LikeLike
I’d like to share this post with the neighbours downstairs who have to put up with the kids running (flat footed) and pushing their toys up and down the apartment all day
LikeLike
You forgot about the noise of Italian Ambulances which have threatened to ruin every trip I’ve taken there!!
Glad to see you back blogging 🙂 x
LikeLike
Glad to be back! And, yes, ambulances and police cars are always a delight to listen to…
LikeLike
She’s baaaaaack! *happy dance* We get the scooters (or chicken chasers, as my brother cutely calls them) bombing up the lane, and that’s about all noise-wise (we live in the back of beyond). O, and the neighbour Gargamel coughing on the other side of the wall. What book????
LikeLike
So nice to be missed!!! Very jealous of your peace and quiet. Book is a children’s book that has been on the go for quite some time…but determined to get it finished. Dare I say, in writing, that I aim to get it finished before Christmas??? Oh, go on then!
LikeLike
We also live in the back of beyond in a lane that leads to our house and another. So once it’s past 8 o’clock at night it is spookily silent here! It can be very unnerving when the dog suddenly barks at ‘ something’ in the garden. I just always hope it’s a fox and not an axe wielding maniac……the result of way too many teenage horror movies!!!
LikeLike
Horror movies were pretty big when we were teenagers, weren’t they? Especially the axe wielding maniac ones. I can’t watch anything scarier than Harry Potter now (and even then I have to hide behind a small child!)
LikeLike
Noisy husband, noisy children and people noisily eating apples! All three top of my list! I would like to just be plugged permanently into my iPod with my heavy bass dance music blasting into my inner ear – having said that I do still hear noise when I am in a quiet room. Maybe the noises are in my head? Who said that?
LikeLike
Just as long as those noises stay in your head and don’t get shared with the rest of us!
LikeLike
What are you complaining about? Sounds like a party! Seriously, after 7 years in NYC I could not sleep at friends’ houses in the ‘burbs – too quiet!
LikeLike
I’d love to be like that. We were all woken up last night by the LOUDEST thunderstorm ever. The apartment floor actually shook with every boom!
LikeLike