tumbleweeds on quattro venti

Today is Ferragosto, a national holiday that has a religious basis (the Assumption of the Virgin? after what happened to her, you'd think she'd know better than to make assumptions, ba-dump-dump! Seriously, folks...) But in effect, it marks ground zero for the Italian summer holidays. Which means that Rome is empty, man. Empty like a neutron bomb hit: the buildings are still there, but where are the people? Before leaving for Italy, I'd heard that "everybody goes on vacation blah blah Rome in August ghost town blah blah" but, in reality, while there were lots of shuttered store fronts, there was still a lot of stuff going on. Not now; wow. I should totally use this as an opportunity to go commit some awesome property crimes. Or stay in air-conditioned comfort and read Ovid. Whatevah.