Silvia

Ciao!! I'm Silvia and I'm an archeologist, a tour guide and a story teller. I was born and raised in Rome and I am a typical Italian woman: pretty short, gentle hips, and a love for life and carbohydrates! As for my accent, it's the result of my being Italian plus my living in NY years ago- plus all the other accents I have come in touch with during these years. Once upon a time, I used to consider just the antiquities as worthy of any interest. My ideal world would lay a few meters underground and be characterized by a lot of mud and amazing recollections of the past. I couldn't help myself even during my time away from studies and I used to keep reading novels and watching movies about the past. This is when I began showing my family and friends around to share our rich past and history- our past is emotional enough without any embelishment. Little by little I found I really wanted and needed to keep sharing what I had learned. I guess that things are different now; I love Rome from the oldest cobblestone up to the highest dome. But even more, I love the stories that lay behind them, the lives of real people who changed our history, and were much more similar to us then what we believe. You know, I love finding skeletons in the closet (except at home!)

My favorite Italian Gestures

Make it short / Taglia corto

I always teach this gesture to my guests on my tours. Sometimes I get excited and go into a lot of detail about the various masterpieces we see together. If you've heard enough and want to move on, simply let me know that I should wrap things up, make it short or, in Italian, "taglia corto."

Move your hand across your face while making the scissors gesture, giving the speaker one good snip, letting them know that they can make it short, or "taglia corto". That's it! If they don't get it the first time, you may have to let them know you've heard enough. With me, however, I will know what you mean right away!

Caution! Use with extreme prudence with wives or daughters! You have been warned!!