We wander the streets for a bit from piazza to piazza, finding small parks along the way such as the Piazza Benedetto Cairoli that is reminiscent of a New York park. Simone is loving all the florists and street flower markets. So many peonies!
We make our way to Piazza Venezia and see the hustle and bustle of this huge intersection that sits in front of the Alter of the Fatherland (Vittoriano) building. It's a monumental white stone building that dominates the skyline. Adjacent and surrounding this are ancient roman ruins and more of those interesting signature Roman trees. This is Rome! Monumentality amongst the ruins.
We walk up the via die Fori Imperiali, the avenue up to the Colosseum. Off to the side we get our first real view of Ancient Rome - looking over the Roman Forum below.
We search for the jump the queue line, seemingly like everyone else, and decide to take a guided tour. It was a wise move. The guide was great, enlightening us as to the history of its construction, the gladiator battles and the subsequent uses after its decline. I particularly liked our guides joke that "The Greeks may have invented politics, well we invented political propaganda" in reference to why the colosseum was built. Yes he probably uses it all the time, but there's some truth to it and a sense of Italian pride in it also. It's an amazing place to offer a perspective of time and life, considering your place in the history of civilization.
We miss the guided tour of the Palatine Hill and Roman forum so we tackle it alone. This was probably a mistake in hindsight as it is definitely something that needs to be explained and elaborated on. Nonetheless it is a nice walk through the ruins and gardens, albeit tiring as it quite hot here now. If I had a Fitbit it would be going crazy. If I had a Fitbit!
With the subway out of action due to strikes we decide to walk. We're told that everyday at least someone is on strike in Rome, whether it be transport, the waste collection or some other public sevice dept. Rome seems totally walkable. We make our way into Monti for lunch, stopping at a little ristorante near via dell' Angeletto. What can I say, lunch is yum! Some bruschetta and Culatello with Buffalo mozzarella for start followed by pasta. So simple yet delicious. We follow lunch with a quick walk to gelato at Fatamorgana. Really interesting flavours here. I try the Kentucky chocolate, it's a tobacco flavoured chocolate gelato. Interesting! That's all I'll say.
We walk some more, making our way to Trevi. Winding our way through the cobbled tight streets, the sounds of revving Vespas and Scooters echo around us. You fear for your life at times as they scream up behind you. We know we're getting closer to the Fontana as the crowds are building. We turn a corner and low and behold, Trevi Fountain. It's stunning! The first thing that strikes me, other than the huge amount of people, is the scale of the space. It's quite a small and intimate piazza dominated by this wonderous sculpted fountain. The sound of the running water spilling into the pool below helps soften the noise of the mass of people. Sim and I throw our coins in the water, sit for 15mins or so at the waters edge before setting off on our way to the next piazza.
We make our way though the streets to the Pantheon. Again I marvel at how beautifully this city unfolds in front of you, slowly revealing it's grand piazzas and building monuments as you snake your way through its streets. Little triangular squares create small vistas and allow glimpses to your destinations beyond. We walk through a stepping narrow street before opening up into the Piazza Della Rotonda with the Pantheon it's backdrop.
Entering into the large building you can't help but look up into the open occulus to the heavens. Stunning. One thing that also struck me was the geometry in the flooring, which echoed the forms of the dome. Such a beautiful grand Ol building.
That's me on the far right!
We make our way to the Piazza Novona, stopping along the way to look at the Ferrari shop as well as a cool woodworking shop where they're making Pinnochio timber puppets. Entering into the Piazza Novona my immediate impression is how vastly large it is compared to others, although I have since read it was used for chariot races in the old times. We stop for some rather expensive lemon granita and lemon sorbet with gin. Despite the price it's nice to stop and relax and take a load off. It allows us an opportunity to people watch and just sit. Seriously that Fitbit would've exploded for sure by now!
After our refreshing drinks we wander around the corner to the quaint square of Santa Lucia, with its beautiful trees and vine covered buildings.
We wander back to the river, piazza hopping as we go. We stumble into the Campo di Fiori where they're cleaning up after the markets in preparation for the evening dinners.
We make are way back over the Ponte Sisto where it all began today and head back to Trastevere to our apartment.
What a day!
La dolce vita!
Buonasera
mat + sim
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