Cirrus@Austlit

My desire to live in Rome germinated on a European holiday almost twenty years ago. I exited Trastevere train station, bleary eyed after the long-haul flight, and was instantly revived by the sight of women in tight skins and stilettos zooming past on their Vespas. Men at the local bar made fun of my Italian pronunciation. Come si dice 'tre'? they would tease each time I turned up to buy tram tickets or the paper. How do you say three? Tre, trre, trrrrrre, I'd sputter, trying desperately to roll my 'r's. ' (Introduction)