Day 59 - [R]ome

A golf cart tour of Rome

I dallied around a bit in the morning which meant that my initial plans to get a breakfast before joining my scheduled tour fell foul of my first breakfast choice having a stove issue! I abandoned the plan for a sit-down breakfast in Trastevere, feeling the pressure of time and headed on towards the tour pick-up point with the thought that I would get closer to the pick up, and see about a coffee if I still had time when I got there.

The monolith wall hiding the mausoleum above my AirBNB	A view of the mausoleum from well below	A better view of the mausoleum from below
A church hidden in a high-walled courtyard	The church from the gate	Street scene of the top of the Trastevere
Via di Santa Dorotea – Paola’s daughter’s street	The church of Saint Dorothea	Door to the church (detail) – internally, the church is being renovated

The walk into my tour pick-up location meant crossing the Tiber River.

The Tiber River, looking Northwest	The Tiber River, looking Southeast	Along the embankment, reminding me of London’s Embankment
Street scenes in old Rome

The golf cart tour of highlights of Rome was definitely a good introductory visit to the main highlights of Rome. It didn’t allow us to get off the cart and take photos of some highlights (because they couldn’t legally park the carts nearby). None of the stops really gave enough time to visit the highlight for more than a quick round of photos, but that was actually ideal. Something like the Trevi Fountain is pretty much ‘done’ with a photo shoot. (Not true if you wanted to wait in the long queue to visit the edge of the fountain and throw in a coin, or take a selfie, but that isn’t in my list of interests.)

The Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Elephant and Obelisk (detail)

The guide explained that the elephant (carved by Bernini, I think he said) was placed as it was to point its arse at the Senate building (off to the left of the photo) when there was a dispute between the church and the state (maybe the reformation, but I’m not sure). He also pointed out that the trunk appears to be flipping the bird at the senate. The obelisk was later placed on the elephant to denote conquest by the state.

The first real stop was at the Pantheon. This huge monument has existed for approx. 1900 years, originally being a temple to the pantheon of Roman gods, and later converted to a church, which explains how it has remained in tact and in use throughout its history. This is definitely a place to return to for a proper visit.

The side of the Pantheon (where we parked)

Another side view of the building as it was revealed showing the patchwork of building evolution

The main facade of the Pantheon

Next stop, the Trevi Fountain. I was very much looking forward to this visit, having recently seen photos of it from other friends who have travelled through Rome recently. I was so amazed by the fountain that I posted it on social media. The most staggering thing was that the fountain is a building facade, not a free-standing monument. I had not understood that before getting there, and it completely amazed me. Of course, the place was overwhelmed with tourists even this late in the season and on a quite cold (though sunny) day.

Panorama of the Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain	Detail of the main statue collection
Close-ups of how the fountain is formed into the building facade
The crowd at the Trevi Fountain when I first arrived	The quite elegant church overlooking the fountain, ignored by everyone

Back into the golf carts (parked a little way off) and back into traffic. We drove across the top of the Spanish Steps, then headed down to park off the piazza at the bottom of the steps. Here was another photo stop that pretty much covered the attraction. I would only return to get photos from the top of the steps – the view we glimpsed while driving slowly past was pretty wonderful.

First look at the Spanish Steps	A better effort of capturing the magnificent vista to the church – the whole point of the steps	Explanatory material
The fountain at the foot of the Spanish Steps	The Piazza di Spagna (hence the name of the stairs)	The Column of the Immaculate Conception (Google tells me), in the piazza

The next ‘stop’ was the Piazza del Popolo. This is a truly grand piazza and was the entry place for travellers visiting ancient Rome (if I’ve remembered the story correctly). We couldn’t get out of the carts for this stop, and it’s a huge space to try to capture on a phone camera. Quite remarkable to visit. About this time I asked our guide about the obelisks we kept seeing, and whether they were ‘related’ to the ones that I’d seen in Paris and Istanbul. He told me that the Romans brought many (don’t remember if it was hundreds or just 40-ish) obelisks back from Egypt after conquest. Many had been repurposed or destroyed over time but something like 21 still remained, 13 of which were in Rome. In recent history, Italy had gifted some of these obelisks to France (Paris) and Turkey (Istanbul) and other places for various reasons. That aligned with what I broadly understood about the matter, but the uncertainty of my recounting it here means I have to do some research to settle my mind on the matter.

The Piazza del Popolo	Across the Piazza to the twin churches
The main gate providing entry to visitors in ancient Rome	The obelisk in the middle of the piazza

The tour drove on past the Piazza Navona, home to famous statues of the four rivers (Tiber, Nile, Ganges, and Danube, I think). This is definitely another place to come back to for more detailed exploration. On we went, almost back to our starting point (I recognised some of the streets I’d walked down that morning) and stopped in a little side street in front of a tiny gelato store. Part of the tour was a ‘cultural experience’ – gelato! Worked for me.

Piazza Navona, as we drove past one end
Street scenes around where we stopped for gelato – note the green golf cart, our tour vehicle

The last stop was the Colosseum. I was very keen to visit, but have also booked a proper tour of the site for the next day, so I only really needed to see it for this to be a win. It really is an astonishing construction in the middle of a huge, modern city.

A glimpse of the Colosseum from the far end of via degli Annibaldi

The Colosseum

The Colosseum and surrounds

Panorama of the Colosseum – overdid the J. J. Abrams lens flare here, but the sun was not cooperating

I cadged a lift off the tour guide back to their base, as it was much closer to my AirBNB than the Colosseum. I took a leisurely walk back to the AirBNB, deliberately wending my way through Trastevere to get a sense of the place in which I’m staying. The first stop was at the complex in which Julius Caesar was slain by 23 senators. (Though a local who looked like he was preparing to busk suggested that there was some uncertainty about whether this was really the place.)

Three buildings in the complex – the central one is the murder scene
Not great overview of the site	Explanatory material	Explanatory material

Panorama of the building complex (allegedly) where Julius Caesar was assassinated

The walk back involved crossing the Tiber again, this time on a different bridge.

The Lungotevere dei Vallati (one way on one side of the river)	The Lungotevere Raffaello Sanzio (the other way on the other side)
The Isola Tiberina in the Tiber River	The Isola Tiberina

I wandered through Trastevere heading for a particular restaurant that advertised traditional Roman food. When I got there, I ordered the ‘Traditional Roman Stomach’ thinking it was a quaint mis-translation of ‘stomachful’ of food. Nope. It was offal – but not awful. The La Canonica was really nice and I received excellent service from my Bangladeshi waiter.

Street scenes in Trastevere
The view from lunch at La Canonica	Traditional Roman Stomach
More street scenes in Trastevere
I tried to get a clear photo of this guy, surreptitiously while walking past. He’s wearing a laurel wreath (fresh laurel) which is an indicator that he’s just been at his university graduation. Our tour guide this morning commented that Italian graduates wear the laurel wreath where other university students wear a mortarboard.	Everywhere in Rome, manhole covers (and some other infrastructure) are emblazoned with SQPR. I thought it was only related to the ancient Roman empire, but not so!

When I got back to the AirBNB, I took some photos of the complex in which the apartment is located. It’s a fascinating and romantic little community of small apartment buildings built onto the very steeply sloped hillside. It’s a gated community, so feels very secure, though it’s also a closely compressed community, so hearing your neighbours live their lives is unavoidable.

Scenes in the apartment complex that houses my AirBNB

I spent the afternoon completing another blog post, then had a very light dinner with some food leftovers that I’d accumulated. I spent the evening reading and watching more YouTube-housed nonsense before an early night. I had an early-ish tour appointment and wanted to try to get breakfast in beforehand.

Daily facts: Location: Rome Temp: 11 Weather: Partly cloudy, a light wind made it cold