I can't say I ever felt really unwanted or disrespected in Rome but in Atrani there was such a welcoming feeling from everyone there. The entire town seemed so joyous and open to us and everyone else visiting their home.
And of course the buildings. The town's plan is mad, little alleys twisting through the town and staircases leading up and up through the mountains. It is unreal. There is such a different mentality to the treatment of public and private than at home. In Atrani everything is public until you hit someone's front door. It seemed so wrong walking through the intimate alleys and staircases when I first arrived, I was sure that I would be scolded. It is such a new way of living to me and yet they have been living this way forever.
I am actually reminded of a few books I read for Urban Theory last semester. In Jeff Speck's Suburban Nation he discusses how in America we have created such lavish and expansive private sectors that our public sectors become harsh and unwelcoming so we never leave our little islands. It is so strange and so true. Here the private homes are comfortable but the real living is done in the town with other people.
Piazza Umberto I was used as Atrani's living room everyone gathered there to share their day. And after only three days there we were welcomed in and surrounded by the locals as we cheered on Italia in the World Cup. There is nothing like that I have ever experienced before, we were invited to help cheer on a team that wasn't ours but we were so happy to and we celebrated the win with an entire town in their living room.
I love Rome, but Atrani felt like being with your best friends and your family.
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