April 15th in Rome

On Sunday, 4/15/07, we began our day with breakfast at the hotel, dining on scrambled eggs, cooked proscuitto which served as Italian bacon, chocolate and glazed croissants, fresh fruit, coffee, juice and sandwiches of proscuitto and provolone. As we leave the hotel, I turn my head toward the Trastevere district and the Ponte Sisto bridge leading to it, which offers a wonderful, early morning glow. It is eerily quiet in the early morning, as compared to the frenetic energy so prevalent in the later evening, as Trastevere seems to be the place for the young and beautiful to live and to hang out.

We continue down via Pettinari, and pass by a church, Santissima Trinita del Pellegrini.


Joe urges me to stop taking photos and move on, as we need to meet our Rome Walks guide for a tour of Palatine Hill, the Forum and the Colosseum. Since this was only our second day in Rome, and we hadn’t yet developed the sore leg muscles and feet that we would later, we eagerly set off on foot, past Area Sacra dell'Argentina, part of which is the cat sanctuary. Here are the remains of four temples discovered in the 1920's, among the oldest found in Rome. It was here that Julius Caesar was assassinated.

We continue down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, past the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument, past Mammertine Prison and the Forum, turning the corner to set our eyes on, for the first time, the great and mighty Colosseum.

Our guide, Julia, hailed from England and was well versed in the history of the ancient Roman ruins. While we both enjoyed the tour, Joe seemed to like it better than me, because I often reached points of information overload and would wander a bit, taking photos while Julia lectured. We met Julia atop the Colosseum Metro and with our group of 10, began the descent down to street level and reluctantly passing the Colosseum for now, began our ascent up Palatine Hill.

Here we saw the ruins of Domitian’s huge palace, first stopping at an overlook of the stadium.


Since there is so little remaining, it was necessary to use our imaginations while Julia filled us in on what to imagine in its place. She discoursed on the history of the hill, Roman emperors and the ages before the fall of Rome and after. We heard of the story of Romulus and Remus, and the excesses and cruelties of Caligula and other emperors.

Next, we stopped at a place overlooking the Circus Maximus below and across from us, the Aventine Hill. Here, too, we could spy the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the far distance. There were races being held on this day. We walked further and crossed to the other side of the hill, overlooking the Forum ruins below. From here we saw below us the central courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgins, adorned by eroded and often headless statues of senior Vestals, and the spot believed to hold the sacred flame, in the Temple of Vesta. We can also see the Temple of Romulus, currently serving as a vestibule to a church, and the three fluted columns remaining from the Temple of Castor and Pollux. Next to this is the eight columns of the Temple of Saturn, dedicated to the mythical god-king of Italy.

After a short break, we descended to the Roman Forum, first coming to the Arch of Titus, erected by Emperor Domitian in honor of the victories of his brother Titus and his father in Judea. Inside the arch you can see a relief of a procession of Roman soldiers, triumphantly carrying off the spoils of Jerusalem.


From the arch, we crossed the Forum to the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, now part of a church. The door of the church, now many steps up, was once at ground level. We walked further along, stopping in front of the Temple of Julius Caesar, where his body was cremated after his assassination in 44 BC. Julia exhorted us to come back with flowers, so that one day we could tell our grandchildren, “I once laid flowers at the final resting place of a great man, Julius Caesar.” We looked in the opposite direction to the Arch of Septimius Severus, one of the best preserved monuments of the Forum, erected to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the accession of the emperor.

We then retraced our steps back toward the Arch of Titus, and walked along the colonnade surrounding the Temple of Venus and Rome, on our way to the Colosseum. We passed the Arch of Constantine, erected to celebrate the emperor’s victory over his co-emperor, Maxentius. Most of the medallions, reliefs and statues adorning the arch were stolen from earlier monuments.

We waited in a short line to enter the Colosseum, and were a bit disappointed to discover that we couldn’t tour underneath the arena to see the areas where the gladiators and animals were kept. Emperor Vespasian was responsible for commissioning the great amphitheater where deadly gladiator combats and wild animal fights were staged to entertain the emperor and Roman citizens, wealthy and poor alike. Parts of the outer wall of the Colosseum were removed to help build other places, including St. Peter’s. There were 80 arched entrances allowing spectators quick access to the entertainment, and the absence of a floor that once existed allows viewers to see the area underneath the arena where animals were kept. Joe and I often remarked to one another, “You do realize that we’re standing IN the Colosseum, right?”

After our three hour tour, we bid arrivederci to our group and set off to find lunch. We walked past the Colosseum along Via Labicana and came to a small restaurant on a corner offering sidewalk seating that seemed full of Romans, a good sign of good food inside. In addition to sating our hunger, we also sought refuge inside from the heat and sun, and to take a potty break and get off our feet. The wait staff spoke no English, but with a menu in both Italian and English, we found it easy to order what we wanted. Like most lunchtime dining in Rome, no pizza was offered but pasta and meat dishes instead.

After eating and resting, we set off the short distance to San Clemente, http://www.basilicasanclemente.com, one of many, many churches we would visit this week. We took photos of the ceiling frescoes, mosaics, and tomb of a cardinal in the 12th century basilica. We admire the Schola Cantorum and apse mosaic. San Clemente has three layers of history: the top layer is at street level, which is a 12th century church; below that is a 4th century church; and below these two layers are ancient Roman buildings, including rooms dedicated to Mithras, a god worshipped by an all-male cult.

Leaving here, we walk through an Esquiline neighborhood of beautiful mansions and make our way toward the piazza of Santa Maria Maggiore, a very large church offering many different architectural styles. The marble floor of the nave and bell tower are medieval, while the ceiling is a Renaissance one and the front facade is baroque. In the piazza is an obelisk, topped by a bronze statue of Mary holding Jesus while placing her foot on the moon. We rest on a bench in the Sistine Chapel, taking photos of the altar in its center, decorated with four gold-leafed bronze angels.

After a very busy day of touring the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, and two churches, we head back to the hotel for a rest, waking later in the evening ready to hit the streets again, this time in search of dinner. We head over the Ponte Sisto bridge to Trastevere, hoping to eat at Dar Poeta without a reservation. Over the phone earlier, the staff had told us there would be a 15 minute wait and when I asked the desk person at our hotel about this, he replied, "They always say there's a 15 minute wait at every place, but it's note true. You'll wait much longer than that." As we bumbled along with map in hand, trying to read it under a lamplight in order to find the restaurant, we asked for help from a group of three young people. Two of them were Americans setting up a business venture in Rome, and the other was from Ireland and worked at the UN. They walked us to Dar Poeta, which was very crowded outside with people waiting to eat. They assured us there would be a very long wait and when I asked them about an alternative, Da Ivo, they walked us there.

Da Ivo offered us a table inside, but told us we would have to wait if we wanted to eat alfresco. While Joe and I dithered about where to eat, we made the waiter a bit crazy, who began talking about us to the outside waiter, who began talking loudly and shaking his head. Then the waiter talked to two patrons outside, who looked at us as if we were crazy Americans. For his good nature, I snapped a photo of the waiter. The reason he's smiling here is because Joe just told him he looks like Al Pacino. Apparently the actor is revered here, because during our time here I often saw photos of the actor from his Scarface movie. The pizza here was the best I had on the trip. For the first time, we had suppli - rice and mozzarella balls - which were yummy and Joe had artichoke bruschetta. What a wonderful ending to an amazing day.

April 14th, arrival day in Rome

We arrived in Rome on time, somehow making up in the air the time we had lost on the runway in Philadelphia. Fortunately, Joe had packed sleeping pills and once in the air, we each took one. Although I don’t remember sleeping much, we must have, because the flight of 8 hours went by fairly quickly. We retrieved our luggage and met our driver from Rome Cabs, who looked at our two, very large bags in consternation. She and Joe managed to fit one in the trunk of her Mercedes, and the other next to her in the front seat. After a 20 or 30 minute drive at a high rate of speed, we arrived at our home for the next five nights, Hotel Ponte Sisto on via Pettinari, across from the Ponte Sisto bridge.

Hotel Ponte Sisto turned out to be a perfect location, very close to Trastevere and a 10-15 minute walk to Piazza Navona. The lobby offered a lounge area with several sofas and chairs, and adjoined a large courtyard area with patio furniture covered by awnings. The room was very nicely appointed, with a king size bed, nightstands on either side, a desk and a spacious closet, all in a beautiful, dark wood. The bedding was ivory and luxurious, and mono-
grammed with the hotel’s logo.





The bathroom was tiled in a marbled dark green and was spacious, especially by European standards. The bidet went unused, one of those European things us simple Americans can’t figure out. The hotel offered breakfast until 10:00, and that’s where we started our day each morning. The buffet was ample, with plenty of coffee and juice, eggs, croissants, fresh fruit, proscuitto, cereal and more.

We decided to follow the common advice about jet lag – just ignore it and carry on. After unpacking our clothes and changing into a clean outfit, we set off in the direction of Trastevere, the area “across the Tiber”. This area of Rome is heavily populated with young people, and at night it becomes the happening spot for those 25 and under to hang out. One day while sitting alfresco at an internet café having lunch, a group of American students studying in Rome congregated here, trying to decide where to go to celebrate one of their birthdays. Ah, youth. At night, there are throngs of young people sitting on steps, congregating in piazzas, spilling out of nightclubs onto the sidewalk.

Trastevere seems to be a more authentic type of Roman area, a neighborhood part of Rome and yet set apart too by its location across the river. It’s a maze of narrow, cobblestone alleys called vicolo. At home, we would never consider driving down such a narrow way but here, you must constantly be on the lookout for motorbikes and Smart cars. It wasn’t unusual in Rome to see pedestrians standing flat against a wall in order for a car to pass by.

After looking at the map, trying and failing to figure out how to get to the Santa Maria church, we stopped someone and asked. He pointed us in the right direction and we came into the piazza, where several people were sitting at the base of the fountain of Piazza di Santa Maria. We then went into our first church in Rome, the first of many, many more to come.


Santa Maria is a medieval church and probably the first official Christian church to be built in Rome, at a time when Christianity was still a minority occurrence. Above the portico are statues of four popes decorating the balustrade. Above this is a mosaic showing Mary feeding the baby Jesus.

After this, we wandered the streets for awhile, absorbing the Roman atmosphere. We then stopped for refreshment at Ombre Rosse in the Piazza Sant’Egidio, sitting at an outside table. I ordered wine but Joe felt like beer. It wasn’t easy trying to figure out what beer to order, as the waiter barely spoke English and had a difficult time trying to convey the differences among the beer. Finally, Joe just pointed at one of the items, unsure of what he was getting. We also ordered proscuitto panini, the first of many to come. As we sat, we greatly enjoyed watching the passers-by, and all those who stopped to browse at the seller’s tables in front of us. I was elated to be drinking wine and eating panini al fresco in Rome! What I had planned for months was finally here, and my feet, for the first time, had set foot in Europe. Needless to say, I was exhilarated.

After our rest, we headed back over the Ponte Sisto, past our hotel, and onto Piazza Navona. We first came onto the Fontana del Moro, then continued along the piazza. Disappointingly, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was covered with scaffolding, so we could only catch glimpses of it.



We then walked to San Luigi dei Francesi to admire Caravaggio’s three paintings of St. Matthew in the 5th chapel. This one is St. Matthew and the Angel.


We had our first Roman dinner at Ditriambo near Campo de Fiori. It is a small restaurant with about 12 tables. It became almost comical as the door continued to be opened throughout the evening by those trying to get in without a reservation. For the primi piatti I had salt cod ravioli with chickpeas. I believe Joe had veal with polenta. I really don’t remember the rest. After dinner, we went in search of gelati, and came upon Blue Ice. Every day thereafter, often twice a day, we ordered gelati. My two favorites were tiramisu and banana.

After enjoying our gelati – another first for me – we strolled toward the amazing Pantheon, its façade softly lift in the evening.

Thus concludes our magical first day in Rome.