Isabella

The image of her sitting in via Roma, remembers the description of the grandmother of the protagonist of "The tin drum", a novel by Günter Grass, who in her youth roasted sweet potatoes, sitting with her wide skirts, one above the other, facing on fire. She picked up the potatoes from the field and settled herself on the chair with a stick, occasionally turning the ones she set to heat. She ate, greeted by her full skirts, scanning the horizon.

When one day a small fugitive chased by gendarmes appeared in the distance. The fugitive found shelter under her skirts. The grandmother let him in by lifting his heavy robes slightly, and she saved him. The one, who later became the protagonist's grandfather, fell in love with those skirts so much that he never left them. A love story in Grass's tale, but not for Isabella, who after years of violence finally managed to escape, and leave the fugitive behind.

Leaving meant losing any material possessions, finding oneself stripped of everything, but again with freedom. Isabella had always dreamed of coming to Italy. She was hoping for a vacation, and not for turning a street corner into a bed, on less fortunate nights.

She has a small dog, a backpack and some blankets with her. «The cold is coming, but I'm not afraid of it - she says - I have often slept in the cold since I was a child. At home with my parents, I remember, there were no radiators, and we used to keep the feathers of farmed chickens together as blankets. I'm used to it, and now I'm no longer afraid of anything».