Old Rome and New

In a sense, today really started yesterday afternoon. With no guided tours booked for a few days, we strolled around Trastevere discovering new nooks and crannies on every street and street corner. Trastevere’s streets are cobble-stoned labyrinthine. There are right turns and left turns and Y shaped turns wherever you look and each one is lined with restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, as well as a bit of retail sprinkled through. I’m still trying to find my way home half the time as they all look alike. But even with the abundant graffiti trying to equate itself with street art, Travestere is pretty. The architecture is old and gorgeous, the doorways, the terracotta gradients of colour, the piazzas and fountains and churches everywhere, are a delight to experience. Unlike the USA, where we travelled in February this year, everyone here seems happy and energetic. People in the US just looked depressed. This is a massive difference.

After coffee at a local bakery where we introduced ourselves to the main man behind the counter as Austalians, we checked out our first church, a basilica no less in our own neighbourhood. This is Santa Maria in Travestere, one of the oldest churches in Rome, built in 1138-43 on a site of a much older church built in 217-222. It has three naves with columns and a highly decorated wooden ceiling. Along with some incredible artworks in the side chapels, this basilica is much admired and has the bling factor.

The fountain in the piazza at the front of the basilica is large and cooling. We had a beer and some light food in the afternoon before returning home around 3.30pm. I decided I would take a short nap around 4pm and Chris came and woke me at 10pm to have a morsel of food before showering and off to bed again. Clearly, my body still needed the sleep catch up. I took some pics of our neighbourhood at night from our balcony and with the sounds of life wafting up from the streets below, glasses clinking, laughter, chatter, shouts, far-off sirens, I couldn’t help but think of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Thankfully, no murders just over yonder. We both slept reasonably well last night and woke early to the gulls honking and the church bells ringing the hour.

Brekky again at Griselda where the owner recognised us at once, giving us a hearty Buongiorno Australians and shaking my hand. We planned out our trip for the day over cappuccinos and croissants, thanked everyone, and headed out to walk over the Ponte Garibaldi, the next bridge along from our local bridge. We stopped half-way to photograph the island in the Tiber, Isola Tiberina, and then made our way to my first taste of Roman ruins; the Teatro di Marcello. This theatre was started at the end of the Roman Republic, in fact Julius Caesar himself had the land cleared for it, but alas for him, he was murdered before construction could be started. I did feel a little awe-struck and noted to Chris how chunky the thing was and that it was no wonder that these things have stayed up for two thousand years. Yes, do marvel at my architectural descriptions. Next stop, the Egyptian pyramids. Pointy.

After the theatre we walked to maybe the grandest, most imposing monument in the city, outside the Colosseum, the Victor Emanuel II monument, bult in 1885-1935, and dedicated to the first King of a unified Italy. It is full of steps, colonnades, porticos, columns, marble, fountains, equestrian sculpture and two statues of the goddess Victory. It is huge in size, and we splurged on tickets to ride the lift to the top of the thing which gives unparalleled 360° views of Rome. We strolled quietly through the military museum part and stopped for a cool drink at the monument’s café, located somewhere in the heights of the structure, and which had in Italian and In English, a sign that read, ‘how to order’. From the cafe, you could look down over the Roman Forum and over to the Colosseum, and in the other direction, across to the Vatican and St Peter’s. Not a bad view for a café.

Our first tram home. Easy. Some lunch at a local bar, un panino per me, and some bruschetta for Chris. Neither of us could resist a cold beer. Resting at home this afternoon. Using Italian is going relatively well, although I could probably raise the bar a level or two. Chris is using it in small ways too which is great. A lovely day out, but wow, the heat and humidity do take it out of you. Italy, so far, I love you.Lue lisää