Rome, part 1

(Written on Friday, June 5, 2015)

Ciao from Roma!  We are so, so happy to be here.  It's beautiful here, of course, and we took advantage of the warm summer weather with a jam-packed day of sightseeing today.

We actually flew in yesterday evening but our flight was delayed and it was so late by the time we got in that pretty much everything was closed.  Part of the Rome airport caught fire three weeks ago and flights have been expected to be delayed since then.  Our quirky British pilot remarked, "There are a lot of things I can control as a pilot, but two things I can't control are Italians and fires."  Good thing everyone had a sense of humor about that one. :)

Italy is one of my favorite countries in Europe.  In my own little fantasy world, I would own a nice villa in the countryside that I'd visit once a year and occasionally take a train into Rome to see the sights (of which there are many).  We only have a day and a half in Rome (one full day tomorrow and another half day after we get back from a short trip to northern Italy) so we wanted to maximize sightseeing today.  Joe has never been to Rome so I especially wanted him to see the major landmarks before we drive to Assisi tomorrow morning.  Here are my impressions of Rome so far:

1. People may not necessarily go out of their way to help you, but they're generally polite.  People generally appreciate when you try to speak Italian with them (very unlike my experience in France, where people corrected my terribly accented French or pretended not to know English).

2. I only know a few phrases in Italian but you can get by speaking Spanish -- most native Italian speakers will probably understand you since the languages are very similar.  If you want to know how to learn more Italian words, people are generally willing to teach you a little. :)

3. Italian food is fantastic and I've been looking forward to this part of our trip for months.  Fruit and vegetable stands are plentiful (so are flower stands for that matter).  Italian staples, such as pizza, pasta dishes, and salads, are much more lightly flavored and rely more on freshness of ingredients.  Gelato is on every corner and, because it is much lighter than ice cream, it cools you off without making you feel uncomfortably heavy.  (I plan on having gelato daily while we're here)

Fruit stands everywhere!

Mmmm...pizza.

Rum cake!

4. Randomly, there are a lot of Bangladeshi immigrants here.  I suppose this is a good time for me to practice Bangla while overseas.

5. One thing to keep in mind about Rome -- there are random ruins everywhere you go.  People are still excavating stuff and engineers have to plan building / road construction around these ruins, which I imagine can be difficult.  We often walked by blocked off, unlabeled areas with old columns and bricks, clearly relics of ancient Roman times.  A quick anecdote -- while visiting Piazza Venezia, we ran into a giant area which was closed to the public.  It turned out that Rome authorities were trying to expand one of the metro lines but found the ruins and had to rethink their construction plans.  I have no doubt that this happens all the time.

6. Salads are generally served without dressing in our experience.  It's pretty standard, however, to have bottles of olive oil and some sort of acidic mixture (e.g. champagne or balsamic vinegar) at your table to add to your salad.  Oh -- another thing -- I finally understand what good quality balsamic vinegar tastes like.  It's much sweeter and much more viscous than what's in the cheap bottles you get from grocery stores in the US.  The last time I was in Rome, I was too poor to order anything from a sit down restaurant so I feel lucky that we get to actually enjoy a greater variety of foods this time around.

Here's an overview of our busy but unforgettable day:

We left the hotel early this morning to see the Trevi Fountain, which was actually under major construction, unfortunately.  This is really sad because I have fond memories of eating gelato with countless other tourists along the fountain nine years ago when I was last in Rome.  This is what we could see, which was sort of a sad sight, given how beautiful the fountain is (but we obviously understand the need for renovations):

No one could actually throw good luck coins in the
Trevi Fountain, so tourists had to resort to throwing coins
in a bowl under a picture of the Trevi Fountain statue.  SAD!

Afterwards, we headed to Piazza Venezia, which features a monument dedicated to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emmanuel II.

Monument dedicated to Vittorio Emmanuel II.

Conveniently, Piazza Venezia is at the edge of the many other tourist attractions in Rome, including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill.

We started with Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome.  Palatine Hill offers a breathtaking view of all of Rome, including the Tiber River and the nearby Roman Forum just below.  According to legend, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were twin brothers raised by forest animals, including a she-wolf.  Rome gets its name from Romulus, who eventually killed his brother over a brutal argument about the exact site of the new city.  For more on the story of Romulus and Remus, see here.

Palatine Hill is filled with ruins, of course, including the Imperial Flavian Palace, dating back to the first century.  The first Romans were said to have settled on Palatine Hill in the 6th century BCE.  Augustus, Rome's first emperor, was also thought to be born on Palatine Hill.  Parts of the living quarters of Augustus and his wife Livia can also be seen here.  The entire area is still being excavated and archeologists are continuing to discover old remains every day!

The view from the top of Palatine Hill.

Next, we moved on to the Roman Forum, known as the commercial area just below Palatine Hill.  This was where senate meetings happened, public speeches and processions could be witnessed, and the venerated Vestal virgins lived and carried out important Pagan rituals.  Remains of several temples can be seen, including the Temple of Saturn and the "so-called" Temple of Romulus.  The Temple of Romulus was constructed by Emperor Maxentius in honor of his son, Valerius Romulus, who died as a child.  A nice basilica constructed during the Renaissance period is connected to the temple.  The most amazing part about the Temple of Romulus is that it still has the original bronze (YES, BRONZE!!!!) doors and locks (!!).  I could visit this place again and again and never tire of it.

A view of the Roman Forum from Palatine Hill.

The original bronze door and lock
to the Temple of Romulus still remain.

Temple of Romulus, later turned into a Christian church.

More of the Roman Forum.

More of the Roman Forum (possibly Temple of Saturn or Temple of Castor/Pollux?).

More of the Roman Forum.

More of the Roman Forum.

Very little of the paintings remain in the Roman Forum.

One of the arches serving as an entry point into the Roman Forum.

One of the arches serving as an entry point into the Roman Forum.

Relic from the Roman Forum.

Relic from the Roman Forum.

Finally, we walked to the Colosseum, which was constructed by Vespasian in the first century AD.  The structure has undergone reconstruction over time due to various earthquakes and battles, but remains relatively intact, thanks to the Italian restoration efforts (and robust architecture!).  The Colosseum held over 55,000 spectators, who would watch gladiators fight to the death.  By the way, gladiators were typically slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war (i.e. people who had no choice in the matter).  Some Romans in the community did volunteer to be gladiators but this was rare and was generally done for a short period of time to gain personal fame.

The majestic Colosseum.

By the time we finished seeing the Colosseum, we were both pretty tired, dehydrated, and hungry, so we walked through the LGBT district (people refer to it as the "gay street"?) to grab some lunch.  We settled on one of the many pizzerias along the street and split a large piece of pizza with basil, tomatoes, mushrooms, and ham.  I also ate a peach from a nearby fruit stand (there were lots of these everywhere!).  By the way, the peaches here are SO good - they sort of remind me of what we get in Georgia in July.  Evidently, cherries are also in season so we'll have to try some in the next few days.

After enjoying a nice lunch, we meandered over to the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, considered one of the oldest churches in Christiandom and is the official seat of the Bishop of Rome (the pope).  Even though the basilica has been reconstructed numerous times over the course of history, the original structure was built by the order of Constantine.  As you might know, Constantine attributed his victory in a war to the Christian God (apparently he had a vision/dream the night before the war of a shining cross) and subsequently converted to Christianity, after which he built the original structure of the basilica.  This church has been reconstructed many times since then, is actually operated by the Vatican, and is considered the most important basilica in Italy, and one of the most important in the world (earning it the title "archbasilica."  The interior is quite elaborate, with colorful frescos covering the walls and ceiling and ornately decorated columns and altars.

Beautiful hallway in the archbasilica.

The high altar at the center of the church,
where there is a statue of John the Baptist.

Exterior of the archbasilica.

Shortly after walking through the archbasilica, we made our way to Campo de Fiori (translating to "field of flowers"), where people were gathered to enjoy the outdoor markets (including flower shops) lining the streets.  We got there a little late so we didn't see too much, unfortunately.

One of the flower shops we saw in Campo de Fiori.

At a flower shop in Campo de Fiori.

After a quick rest, we walked to the Pantheon, the oldest structure from the ancient Roman civilization still currently intact.  Originally a Pagan temple, it was converted to a basilica (so all of the Pagan statues were removed), but the original building dates back to the first century CE.  It underwent some major renovations after earthquakes and wars during Hadrian's time, but that was during the second century.

Part of the dome of the Pantheon.

The interior of the Pantheon. Unfortunately, many of the original Pagan statues in this structure were removed/destroyed.

Feeling exhausted, we then meandered over to the Piazza Navona, where people gathered to enjoy small musical performances, magic acts, and small art vendors in the square.

People gather in Piazza Navona.

To end the day, we finally wandered over to a restaurant close by to enjoy some pasta dishes, salad, and wine.

Arugula salad with parmesan cheese.

Linguine with seafood -- this was so delicious.

Creamy pasta with mushrooms.

We enjoyed some limoncello (on the house!)
after our lovely meal.

Shortly after, we walked over to the nearby Ponte Umberto bridge to enjoy the picturesque views of the sun setting behind St. Peter's Basilica.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Beautiful views of the sun setting behind St. Peter's Basilica.

We rented a car this morning to drive to Assisi and have been enjoying views of mountains, vineyards, beautiful villas, and random ruins along the way (Joe is driving our rental car as I'm typing away).  Can't wait to stop at a winery for lunch in the Umbria area (close to Assisi)!