Adesso ho capito (Now I understand) that siestas are common outside the United States because people do not have air conditioning! It's not just because the main meal of the day is lunch and so people are too full to go back to work. It's too hot!
August and is low season for European travelers to come to Rome, it's too hot. We haven't been here since the end of June and it looks like it hasn't rained since we left. The contrast of the burned ground cover and green vineyards is beautiful.
I told my husband the other day that I can survive here with no air conditioning if I sit still in one place in front of a fan. But just sitting drives me nuts! Then it just hit me a few minutes ago that the many locals without air conditioning are resting right now! They aren't fighting the heat, they are sitting or maybe evening napping (for me it will be in front of a fan) and they will go back to work later....when it cools off!
I don't know why I didn't put this together earlier, you probably did! I think I needed to live it to get it. Now that I am living it, I am going to enjoy my siesta in front of a fan!
