Roamin' with the Romans

After spending the early morning taking in the wonders of St. Peter's, Rome's streets beckoned us to walk its busy streets.  As we left the sacred space of St. Peter's we joined the day-to-day hubbub of the neighborhoods of Rome.  Our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking the city.  Since Arthur had decided we needed to get to the Vatican before breakfast, we picked up some pastries.  We then ventured down some residential streets until we wandered into a daily market.  We perused the goods and purchased some grapes and peaches. Arthur then proceeded to eat about 2 pounds of the best grapes in the world.  We also had run out of our travel size toothpaste so we picked up some on the island in the middle of the Tiber River.  It makes us feel very exotic when we use it even now.

Next stop was  the historic Jewish Ghetto, the Roman neighborhood separated from the where Jewish settlers historically resided, often through prejudicial laws.  Here many historic injustices occurred.  The Jews were confined to the ghetto for over 300 years by the Catholic church and then in 1943 when the Nazis occupied Rome over 2000 people who lived here were rounded up in the piazza we were strolling through and taken away to concentration camps.  Like so many others in the face of injustice, the site also boasts of the resiliency of a people to make lives for themselves and their children in the face of such oppression.  In the midst of this site rises the Great Synagogue, as well as the Turtle Fountain, often attributed to Bernini.

After crossing the Tiber River we were in Trastevere-- the quintessential Roman neighborhood.  It is out of the city center and the ancient district with no significant sightseeing stops except for the charm and character.  We wandered the back allies, peered into some shop windows, watched the older women sitting outside their apartments chatting, and dodged vespas.

 Two churches in this area date back to 300 AD and were originally house churches for the early Christians.  Some of the pillars were scavenged from ancient temples, mosaics from the 14th century,  and alters and bell towers from around 1800 made this churches an interesting architectural collage-- just like most of Roman with layers of history.  We stopped for lunch at a street side cafe and had amazing carbonara.

After stopping for lunch, we next went on Rick Steves' "Heart of Rome" walking tour.  This tour started out around Campo de Fiore (the field of flowers), a large marketplace of produce and, well, flowers.  The statue of Giordano Bruno, an early heretic eventually killed for his believes by the religious authorities, stands out in Arthur's memory.

It seems amazing that Rome, so predominantly Catholic, chose to immortalize a famous heretic in one of its main markets, but he now serves as a symbol of the hard fought fight for freedom of religion.  As Americans, we sometimes think of our own heritage, be it the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth or Roger Williams founding Providence, as the complete story of the establishment of religious freedom.  In reality, the story goes much farther back, with millions dead as Europe struggled to learn to live with the differences caused by the Protestant/Catholic split.  We could go much further back, perhaps even to Cyrus the Great or further, but that post shall wait.

Our walk of Rome led us past several fountains.  Like true tourists, we tossed a coin into the Trevi fountain in hopes of returning once again to Rome.  More than anything else, the novelty of roaming the streets together in this ancient, bustling city is the memory of that afternoon.  We had walked portions of this walk the day before in the early morning to see the Pantheon and the churches in the area.  The picture on the left is at around 8:30 in the morning and above is about 3pm. Once again starting our early days made a difference as mid afternoon was a completely different experience with tour groups crowding the streets.  Silly tourists. 

We ended up cutting the walk a bit short so we could get to the Borghese on time.  The Borghese boasts some of the most remarkable pieces of art we saw on the entire trip.  Thus far, we have really sung the praises of Michelangelo, but man, Bernini did some amazing things in sculpting.  His Apollo and Daphne, capturing the beginning transformation of Daphne into a tree, is beyond what either of us believed possible in marble. In the room right next to it, his David is milliseconds away from unleashing a world of hurt on a certain unsuspecting giant.  Another incredible piece, not a Bernini, worth mentioning is a reclining Venus, whose mattress, though made of stone, is made to look as comfortable as any Serta sold in the States; the detail is astonishing.  We only had two hours in the Borghese, the block off times to keep crowds manageable, but the time was well spent and well worth it.

Night was breaking as we left, and Rome at night is even more beautiful than during day.  We stopped by a pastry shop for some cannoli, and munched happily on our treats overlooking the city from the Spanish Steps while people watching.  We especially enjoyed watching a group of tourists from Korea take selfies and enjoy themselves.  After a while we walked towards the Colosseum and viewed it lit up at night, an extraordinary sight.  Alas, the day must end, as shall this post.  Omnia Vincit Amour.