Roma Finale

We awoke to a wet and rainy morning here in Rome. We got up and got dressed and headed out to finish our explorations. When we left the hotel it was dripping a little bit, but the rain had stopped for the most part.

We stopped at the corner bar for a caffe (espresso). It was very delicious and only 1,60 Euros to drink it at the bar, compare that to easily six dollars at your local Starbucks.

We walked to Termini Station and caught a bus headed for Piazza Venezia, home to the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument and behind that, the Capitoline Museum.

The piazza was incredibly busy today. There was a lot of cars and buses in the streets and a lot more foot traffic than I remember seeing yesterday. It seemed like everyone was going to see the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument today.

We climbed the tower of marble staircases, at least 150 stairs in all. We got to the top and were treated to an excellent view of the Roman skyline; one of many we would enjoy today.

We walked behind the monument and came to the Piazza Campidoglio, a smaller piazza surrounded by three buildings on the top of the Capitoline hill. In the middle is a bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback, ready to lead his troops to battle. The fourth side is a ramped stairway back down to the street level.


Also today, they were having an antique car show at the Piazza Campidoglio. There were many 1950s American-made cars on display around Marcus Aurelius.


We walked inside to the first building of the Capitoline Museum, the Palazzo dei Conservatori. This building gave a lot of Roman history starting with the founding of Rome. There were busts of famous Romans, and larger-than-lifesized marble and bronze statues.


In one large, glass-roofed room, there was the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, along with a 10-foot tall head from a statue of Constantine and an original bronze statue of Hercules. There was also an original wall from the Temple of Jupiter, that once stood on the same spot as the Capitoline Museum.


One room was a fresco covering the entire wall. Not only was the painting the main scene, but it also included a frame around the painting, a chair rail with crown molding and other decorations that looked like they were attached to the wall. The artist had even painted the interior around the windows and the frame of the doors.


There was also a temporary display of an original marble sculpture by Michaelangelo that was on loan to the Capitoline Museum. The sculpture, Two Wrestlers, was in a glass case in the middle of an exhibition room. It was only about two feet tall, but was an amazing piece of art to see.


We continued to an underground passage that held many tombstones and epitaphs from ancient times. It was a little eerie to see all these grave markers while you were in an underground showroom.


In the second building, the Palazzo Nuovo, we saw many more marble busts and statues. These were mainly of emperors, senators and gods and goddesses. Several rooms held 20 or more busts and statues.


After leaving the Capitoline Museum, we decided to head over to Piazza Navona. On the way we decided to stop by a small restaurant to have a little snack. We got a nice table inside alongside many locals. We ordered a half-liter of house white wine (which was excellent again) and a pizza with fresh prosciutto. The pizza was hot, with a thin, crispy crust. The cheese was melted just right and the prosciutto was amazing.


After we left the restaurant we decided that we needed to have a little gelato, so I had Straccitella (chocolate chip) and Fior di Nutella (Nutella), while Jessica had two different types of caramel that were delicious.


We walked along to Piazza Navona and were amazed when we got there. It was probably the largest piazza that we had been to. It was literally double the size, or more, of the Trevi fountain area or Spanish Steps. The whole piazza was packed with people, mainly locals. There were little kiosks where people were selling trinkets or drawing portraits or caricatures. There were also  people playing instruments, a magician and many nearby restaurants. There was a great vibe there, with many families getting together to just hang out. No real agenda, just locals coming to the neighborhood piazza to see their friends.


We then had a short walk to the Pantheon. Again, we were treated to a wonderful piazza, though quite smaller than Piazza Navona. The Piazza della Rotunda was also slam-packed with people, with mainly a similar crowd as Piazza Navona, just on a smaller scale. Unfortunately there were some restorations going on to the Pantheon and half of the front of the church was covered with scaffolding. But the magnificence of the Pantheon was still there as crowds of people flocked and pushed toward the entrance to take a glimpse inside.


Then we sat on the wall right beside the Pantheon and people-watched and took a short break ourselves. We made some good photos with our tripod and then decided we were hungry again and decided to look for some more food.


We had decided yesterday to go to the Trastavere neighborhood for dinner tonight since it is supposed to have the best mom-and pop type restaurants in Rome. We knew that we wanted some good home cooking and some traditional Roman cuisine.


We took a tram across the Tiber river into Trastavere and walked a few blocks to the Piazza de Santa Maria in Trastavere. On the way to the piazza we saw a nun and a priest sitting together at a table, and both were drinking a Guiness beer. Only in Italy! The Piazza de Santa Maria in Trastavere was a quaint little piazza with a small fountain and plenty of nearby restaurants. We found one just a half block off the piazza called Ristorante la Canonica.


We started with a bottle of white wine and a bowl of pasta e fagioli. Then we shared calcio e pepe (spaghetti noodles with cheese and pepper; a classic Roman dish) and Saltimbocca alla Roman (sliced veal with prosciutto cooked in a white wine sauce). The pasta was very good and had an unexpected spice and bite to it, while the veal was melt-in-your-mouth good. We finished off the dinner with a helping of tirimasu.


After dinner we walked back to the tram stop and changed to our connecting bus back to Termini Station. We got back to the hotel and packed up for our trip tomorrow to Naples. Luckily, we discovered that the European Union has switched back to Standard Time as of this afternoon. That means that we are now only five hours ahead of the East coast and we get an extra hour of sleep.


Tomorrow is our first train trip, and we are heading south to Naples. We are looking forward to the ruins at Pompeii and Hurculaneum, the island of Capri and, of course, lots of pizza. Hope all is well in the United States. Happy Hallween! Ciao!