When in Rome...

(July 1-3)

I loved Rome! I went with my shipboard neighbor Allie. Our train ride from Civitivecchia to Rome we started in relative country, passing small beach towns with brightly colored houses and brilliant blue swimming pools and fields with hay bales and sunflowers with their faces turned towards the sun...and before we knew it we were in the Rome. We found a city that was clean and filled with welcoming people, beautiful sights, and delicious food and gelato. I loved the water fountains along the streets that seemed to be around every time we got thirsty with fresh, cold water running continuously from metal spouts into their ancient stone basins. There were rooftop gardens on almost all of the buildings, along with the parks, these oases of green complemented the city's atmosphere of relaxation. The leisurely Italian way of life is definitely at odds with the fast-paced American style of living. The Italians seem to take their time enjoying everything in life, whether it was walking down the street with family, enjoying their meals with friends at cafes, or crossing the busy streets in the face of the onslaught of traffic which kept us hugging the relative safety of the sidewalks. The regularly spaced gelaterias and fruit stands were a welcome relief in the heat of the day and we definitely visited them a lot. I would even go as far as calling my stay in Rome a "Tour of the Gelaterias of Rome"...I tried noccioli (hazelnut), spagonia (berries and cream), blackberry, blueberry, pistacio, nuasella (nutella), yogurt, yogurt fragola (strawberry), ciocolotto mandorla (dark chocolate), and canella (cinnamon, definitely my favorite!). They were all delicious and I enjoyed every bite...as they say, when in Rome...

After getting off the train we stopped to get freshly pressed panini with fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese before making our way to the Roman Forum.Throughout history the Forum was a marsh, a meeting place, used for grain storage, and a place of worship, politics, and commerce. The Forum was harmed during the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 and in the earthquake and floods in 847 and as a result many of the buildings were left in pieces. There were many random pieces of column and elaborately carved stone on the ground all throughout the ruins. My favorite parts of it were: the remains of the Temple of Saturn, there are only a few columns left, the massive Arch of Septimus Severus, which is relatively whole and celebrates Severus' victory over the Parthians with elaborate panels, and the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, left relatively unharmed and whose front columns create an impressive view upon entering the Forum. (Photos to come...). We then climbed the adjacent hillside to explore the Palantine; it started out as the residence of the emperor and became the residences of the ruling class. All of the ruins were very impressive, but we were trying to navigate through everything from a little book that I bought that was lacking in its map-qualities.

We decided to go visit the Colosseum to get out of the hot Italian sunshine. It was very impressive to imagine the stone-covered remains of the amphitheatre covered with white marble, the floor intact over the corridors beneath, and the ancient Romans filling the tiers. It was really interesting how much we still don't know about the logistics of the Colosseum: how they managed to close the celing when the weather was bad and how they raised the fighting animals up from beneath the floor into the arena. We walked through Piazza Campidoglio and the Capotiline Hill on our way to our hotel. Hotel Smeraldo, where we stayed, was very nice, clean and quiet. There was a rooftop garden at the top of the hotel from which we could look out over the rooftops of Rome...many of them also had rooftop gardens, so looking out from our rooftop was like looking out over a floating garden under the fluffy white clouds. The hotel was close enough to everything we wanted to see that we just walked everywhere and all of the walking made it so that we knew our way about the central part of the city by the time we left! We had dinner in an alley restaraunt near our hotel: spinach gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese and spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. The combination (we shared, of course) was perfect.

Walking around our first night we ended up crossing the river and walking to St. Peter's Piazza at sunset. The evening was gorgeous with light pink clouds in the soft blue sky and the Piazza was calming in the absense of the daily crowds. At night the streets of Rome weren't a dark place to be afraid of, but filled with a soft light and everyone enjoying the cool respite from the daily heat. We joined Italians (and tourists) who hit the streets for their nightly walking-about-time and made our way to the Piazza Navona, a much-touted hot spot for enjoying the night. It definitely lived up to its good reviews: filled with artists selling their scenes of Rome, families enjoying dinner in the outdoor restaraunts lining the square, and people just enjoying the good weather and a delicious gelato. Bernini's "Four Rivers" fountain was breathtaking, lit up from beneath with underwater lights and from above by the still (somehow) glowing night sky.

Allie and I woke up early to beat the crowds to the Vatican and it definitely paid off...we made our way through the only stirring streets of Rome before 7 am to St. Peter's Piazza. When we reached the Piazza there were only a few early risers out and about as we walked straight into the Basilica to explore the massive cathedral. It was filled with red-robed priests and young altar boys going through the morning abulitions, nuns in their immaculate habits on the way to morning prayer, and fathers with their collars buttoned up tightly making their way to work. The size of the cathedral was very impressive and it was very relaxing to experience it before the rush of tourists hit. We were at the Museo Vaticani before it was open actually, so although we didn't have a tour reservation, we only had to wait the twenty minutes before they opened and then went in to learn about the history of the church...just kidding, we were there to see the Capella Sistina, which we tried to see first but after an hour of following the signs that were directing us we found that we were actually going through the Museum on our way. So I definitely got my fix of Catholicism for the next ten years. My dissinterest aside, there were some really interesting paintings, especially one of Raphael's which included Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Zoroaster, and Raphael himself. The Sistine Chapel definitely was worth the long walk through Catholic history; we took our time enjoying Michaelangelo's majestic paintings. It's hard to imagine them being his first major work as a painter, but his scuplting background is very much appreciated with the realistic imagery of the human body. After we were done enjoying the famous ceiling we took our sore necks outside and had lunch in the shade at St. Peter's Piazza, admiring the incredibly long line of people waiting to get inside the Basilica in the hot sunshine.

We luckily met up with two of our other friends, Kate and Megan, in a random shop where we were tasting local cheese and condiments (Balsamic dressing with provolone, delicious!) on our way to meet them at the very crowded Trevi Fountain. Both the Trevi and Spanish Steps were very crowded with people, locals and tourists alike; I personally enjoyed the Pantheon much more. The sheer size of the columns inspired an awe that required an extended rest by the fountain in front of it to take it in. The open ceiling allows light inside and the sloped floor accounts for the eventuality of rain also making its way inside. After a delicious al fresco dinner of pizza we met up with Mari, a friend from Willamette, and her family at the Pantheon from where they took us to Giolitti, one of the most famous gelaterias in Rome. The number of flavors of gelato was overwhelming but I eventually decided on mora (blackberry) and blueberry; they were well worth the fight through the crowd to order.

By our last day we knew our way around our part of the city fairly well and enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the heart of Rome for most of the day. I woke up to the morning market at the Piazza Campo dei Fiori whose stalls were filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, pasta and olive oil, meat and fish, and limoncello and wine. It was filled with locals out buying their daily produce and the sweet strawberries I bought were the perfect way to start the day. We spent the rest of the day walking around. We window-shopped in some of the more expensive areas of town (Fendi, Tiffanys, Gucci) and explored some of the more interesting (and less outrageously expensive) local shops. We saw the Piazza del Popolo and climbed the stairway leading from it into the gardens surrounding the Villa dei Medici. It was very relaxing and a nice way to spend our last day in the city.

All of the people were helpful and kind-, whether we were asking for directions, wanting to buy food, taking forever to choose our gelato flavors, or just walking about. People we talked to went out of their way to guide us, give us hints on the best sights, and to make jokes. They were all very happy that we loved Rome as much as they do.