Il Rientro: The Return from Summer
September Blues, a Florentine Leather Legacy Shares Insider Tips + 3 Roman Rooftops
Issue #12
September in Rome.
The barest chill before sunrise, cerulean skies and soaring temperatures.
The sun sets sooner, sure, but the air has barely changed.
Plants still give off a scorched sweetness, despite a recent deluge. Those drops evaporated as fast as they fell, and yesterday my shoes left dusty prints on the front hall floor.
It’s still summer until you open the calendar and notice we’re in the ninth month, the first of the final four that end in ER.
Babies have been conceived—perhaps in the last hours of 2024. Who knows how many millions of women grew a human this year.
And there’s that chilly little whisper: what have you done so far?
September used to thrill me as a kid. Now it makes me nervous.
In Rome, we’re entering a phase of perfect beach days we can only (maybe) plan for the weekend, but probably won’t since we’re all playing catch-up after August. Or broke. Or both.
I read somewhere that vicinity to water is part of the happiness matrix. A phenomenon called the “blue mind,” breaks down the science.
Our bodies and the planet are mostly water.
We spend our first nine months in water.
Humankind evolved from water. Spending time by water is proven to release the happiness hormones. Dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
Large bodies of water absorb worry and make everything weightless.
Water is relief.
Rivers flow at a predictable pace. Oceans beat the shores in primordial patterns that we can hear and feel—a mother’s heartbeat we can see when it strikes the sand.
Of course it hurts to be away from it.
We’re all summer orphans now, reacquainting our feet with socks and our shoulders with sleeves.
We’re back to work, back to school, back in traffic with our sun-tanned arms coated in beaded bracelets, those cruel summer souvenirs.
Eventually they’ll break, spilling beads all over the floor for us to symbolically sweep away. Will we finally feel ready then?
In the United States, I used to feel anticipation of the academic year—a swirl of optimism and anxiety.
Summers off are wasted on children, so eager to move forward, faster, newer, taller.
We have no idea what awaits, that one day we will wish the clocks would stop so we could press pause on our lives.
Over here there is no corporate retail calendar blasting fall flavors and rousing excitement over holiday decorations and new items to buy. Most of us feel a little poorer at the end of summer anyway (financially, not spiritually).
There’s nothing to collectively celebrate until Christmas, which is really just a few big meals and more debt.
When you can’t be seaside, the sky is the next best thing.
The best way to uplift the spirit at the end of summer is to do just that—hit the nearest rooftop.
A psychologist once advised me to look toward the farthest point on the horizon when I’m feel overwhelmed. Behold the expanse of sky. Acknowledge the space. It releases something tight in the chest.
If the sea is a mother’s embrace, the sky is a father pushing you on a bike and letting go so you can fly.
My Favorite Rooftops in Rome
These are three of my favorites, but the list goes on and on. I’ve been writing about hotels for Departures magazine this month, and there isn’t one on my list without a soul-stirring view. I will keep on reporting. Stay tuned!
A Florentine Leather Legacy
This month I profiled Misuri, a family-founded leather factory and store, still going strong four generations in.
I spoke with Carlotta Caserta, who, along with her father Filippo, is carrying the family business into its second century. Read their story here.
This article is part of the Crown Jewels of Florence series, where I go behind the scenes with real Florentines to cut through the veneer of a tourist-centric city.
Carlotta was born and raised in the Santa Croce neighborhood, and shares some of her favorite spots for shopping, dining, and drinking.
This is the local flavor I live for, and I hope you do too!
Next month: The elegance and volcanic verve of wines from Mount Etna, a recipe to make the forever-summer set fall in love with fall, local shopping tips, and more…
XOXO,
Annie