There was a beautiful sunset tonight. I was crossing the Ponte Sisto with a few bits of recycling and quite a crowd had stopped, leaning against the wall, to take in the view up the river to the dome of St Peter’s. Nothing so unusual in that except that usually this crowd would be tourists, perhaps a tour group with matching brightly coloured earpieces and a guide, a group to be pushed past and resented for clogging up the way. But tonight it was a crowd of locals: the bloke from up my street was there sat on the wall with his dog beneath him. This was Romans taking time to enjoy their city. Rome is now in the third phase of lockdown, and the fourth is only days away. From 4th May people were allowed to return to work and to visit their relatives. On 18th May gatherings of friends were permitted and shops and barbers’ shops reopened. Next week travel between regions will become possible and there will be no more quarantine for visitors from abroad. It is fair to say that many of t...