Forza Italia? No. and other Rome, Italy Local Custom Tips

The lift in my block of flats was very intimate. It was necessary to make conversation as one stood breast to breast.
The young lad from the flat downstairs got in with his friend and because they had a little English and perfect manners - and because Italia was about to play Australia in the World Cup - we have a perfect conversation topic.
He pointed at me and said - Australiana!
His friend was very interested.
So I did a round or two of Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy!
Which amused (and embarrassed) them mightily.
And I managed to intimate that they might be shouting - Forza Italia!
But no. They clouded over. And managed to convey to me that a political party had used Forza Italia as a slogan (batardi!) and the young people no longer used it. It had been appropriated and tainted.

The pizza joint downstairs had a tv and showed soccer matches so whenever there was a match on the joint was crowded with fans, munching on pizza and supping beer or wine - people stopping in the street to check it all out through the open doors.
And one would hear the chanting.

Roma Roma Roma
Roma in the night.

As far as I can gather there are two local teams. Roma and Lazio. But where I lived in Trastevere they all seemed to be Roma fans.
Francesco Totti comes from Testaccio - just across the river - and he is huge in Rome too. But he doesn't play for Roma. I am almost sure he plays for Juventus. But I know someone will correct me if I am wrong.

If you want some excellent local fun - just turn up to any bar or cafe that has a tv on match day - and I can guarantee excellent local fun.

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And another thing that had moved on since I had got my ideas of Italy inculcated.
The ubiquitous scooters were no longer called Vespas. Motorini. (Singular motorino, I think.)
Little motors.
Any language is always moving on of course. Each new generation likes to put their stamp on it.
The little motors were everywhere still. Often ridden by people who were smoking a cigarette and talking on their mobile phone (cellulare).
But I was glad to say I rarely saw someone without a helmet.

Eavesdropping on the train I would hear people on their cellulari say something like -

"Pronto. Certo. Certo. Treno. Cinque. Piazza Venezia. Ok. Ok. Graz'. Ciao ciao."

I had a pretty fair idea of what was going on.

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