November 1997 & December 2000

After I sprung the idea on Jake at Ti Amo, a local restaurant in Laguna Beach, we made plans to visit the ever-popular Rome at a very unpopular time - Thanksgiving.  Researching the trip was a weighty endeavor, but the payoffs were immense since Rome has so much to offer.

One horrendous TWA flight and twenty beers later, we descended upon the outskirts of the city with adventure on the agenda.  The airport was deserted and we wanted to take a train into the city rather than a taxi, so we left our fellow travelers behind and descended into the bowels of the airport to find our departure area.  Once in the right location, we struggled with the map, times, and cost of the train.  Finally an amiable old man assisted us in English and we settled down to wait for our ride into town.

The ride was comfortable and gave us a sense of the rural outskirts before we transitioned into an urban setting. We hopped off in the trendy neighborhood of Trastevere and took a short taxi ride to the Hotel Genio, just north of the Piazza Navona.  Our hotel was moderately priced with clean rooms and attractive balcony views of the city. We were also right next to a taxi stand, which proved to be convenient.  It is just a block east of the pricier, albeit nicer, Raphael.

Rome is definitely a walking city although it's not necessarily pedestrian friendly in certain areas.  The city is best viewed on foot because so many attractions are very close to one another.  Walking is also a great way to get a feel for the city and to understand the subtle shifts in the personalities of each of the neighborhoods.

After a quick catnap and a spritzer, we ventured out to the piazza for some eats and a chance to consult the guidebook.  The piazza is picturesque with the fountains, Fontana del Moro and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.  It is the perfect place to enjoy a late-afternoon beer and watch the world go by.

During the Christmas season, the piazza transforms into a winter wonderland with oversized nativity scenes and booths selling candy, nuts, toys, piñatas, ornaments and food.  The area is filled with bulb lights and the music plays constantly, which lends a surreal mood to the area.  We were also in Rome during the end of the 2000 Jubilee, a Holy Year for the Catholic Church, so the hype was even more pronounced.

The small back streets north of the piazza house some of the best food we found and the prices were extremely reasonable and they weren't filled with tourists.  Plan on getting lost in the neighborhood and once you're not sure where you are, look for a restaurant with a decent amount of people in it and plunk down for some food. It's bound to be tasty and entertaining.

Well, we walked around the corner trying to find the heart of town and we ran smack into the Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotonda.  It is huge, awe-inspiring and right next to a McDonalds.  The engraving, "Marcus Agrippa, son of Claudio, third term in the triumvirate, built this" was terrifically unsubtle.  We popped in for views of the colorful marble floors, the massive coffering and the utilitarian and impressive oculus.  Everything is built on such a grand scale it takes quite a while to soak it all in.  The tomb of Raphael rests along the side of the temple.

Around the corner is Hadrian's Temple and some other things that are all starting to mush together in my brain, so I really cannot tell you much about them.

If you need a break after the Pantheon, there are a plethora of outdoor cafes lining the square that will entertain your need for a libation or a snack.  Did we mention that the food in Rome is scrumptious?  We enjoyed thin-crust margherita pizzas, spaghetti carbonara, insalata caprese, cheap and flavorful chianti, and a variety of superb pastas al dente.  It was good we did so much walking because we always cleaned the plate wherever we ate.

Speaking of amazing restaurants, Matt and Kim heard of a hole-in-the-wall named Sora Margherita that offers two main entrees on their daily menu that are consistently out of this world. And the food was that good. The line queues up early and wraps around the building. Warning! - aggressive patrons try to cut in line (now we know why) and once inside, the pace is brisk and the staff is no nonsense. The décor and the service won't win awards, but the food and the prices will.

The neighborhood also stages an open-air market under the solemn eye of the statue of Giordano Bruno in the Piazza Campo de Fiori. The square and the neighborhood have a loose, hippie feel to them and the shops sell funky items - retro kitsch, voodoo objects, candles, incense and hemp clothes. The bars and cafes are filled with angst-ridden youth and ersatz intelligentsia and it's a ton of fun to overhear conversations and watch the antics.

Also in this area is the Jewish neighborhood, called the Ghetto. We were looking for silver goblets, but everything was too expensive or too religious. So Jake bought a silver button for his favorite shorts instead. The restaurants in this area are excellent - they rely on cheeses and nuts more than tomatoes and seafood.

And if you decide to leave the neighborhood in the direction of Trastevere, be sure to cross the Ponte Cestio and walk through Tiber Island, a tiny sliver of land that is linked by this tiny bridge to the two neighborhoods.

This area mainly houses the municipal government, local institutions and other government-related functions.  When you've found the statue of Marcus Aurelius on Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio, you've landed in the middle of the neighborhood.  The area was a bit dry for our tastes, but it does house the Capitoline Museums and the massive Victor Emmanuel Monument at the end of Via Venezia, which has been compared to a gargantuan typewriter (it's not very popular with the locals).  Also of note in the area is the Tarpeian Rock and the Palazzo Venezia, where Mussolini used to address crowds from the balcony.

My fondest memory of the neighborhood is the McDonalds across from the typewriter where I relieved myself several times and picked up a handy map of the city.  The city is riddled with the fast-food chain and although the food sucks, it is your best bet for a relatively clean public restroom and a free map of the city.  I have one from every Italian city we've visited!

We easily spent a day in this area of town checking out Trajan's Markets and the Forum with its amazing House of the Vestal Virgins and Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius ("Stand in front of that big arch, Jake!").  The Forum tends to get overrun with people as the tour buses keep rolling in, so don't be fooled by our crowd-less pictures.  Our editing skills improved immensely after our second trip!

The Coliseum is even more impressive, especially since it was constructed for sport and entertainment.  It was empty during our visit, which made it more eerie.  On our second visit it was packed and street vendors and musicians overtook the area outside of the Coliseum.  Matt and Kim didn't want to stand in line and anyway, the feral cats and guys in tights were pretty damn entertaining.

Palatine

If you've hiked all the way to the Forum and the Coliseum, be sure to visit the Farnese Gardens and the Palatine on the hill above the Forum.

The Farnese Gardens are like an oasis beyond the crowds of the Forum.  Steps originating at the House of the Vestal Virgins rise up through the terraces to the Palatine's Germalus peak.  The fountains burble, the gardens calm. What more could you ask for after tromping around all day?

The Palatine gives you a good sense of how things were around the 1st century AD.  The House of Livia, the Domus Flavia, the towering ruins of the Palace of Septimius Severus and the view of the Stadium are well worth the extra time.

Remus and Romulus were supposedly suckled somewhere on the hill in a hut, but we couldn't find the damn spot even after canvassing the ruins a couple of times.

When you walk up Via Condotti, the most chic shopping street in Rome, you are sure to run into the memorable Spanish Steps and the whimsical Fontana della Barcaccia at the base of the steps in the Piazza de Spagna.  The piazza is constantly buzzing with activity and it is a great place to wander around. In the wintertime street vendors will sell you toasty chestnuts and cafes will serve up hot coffee or cold beer on Via Condotti and the surrounding streets.

Via Condotti is a great place to shop, although everything was surprisingly expensive and I didn't feel comfortable dropping $400 for a pair of shoes at Dolce & Gabbana or $700 for a dress at Versace or $4,000 for a reversible fur coat at Bruno Magli.  We went home gift-less, but that's okay.

Romans love fireworks…I guess that's why they call them Roman candles.  Anyway, we saw lots of them on New Year's Eve on the Spanish Steps and in the Piazza del Popolo, and a lot of them were ignited by carefree drunkards, who were often extremely close to a comrade that was not paying attention.

The take away: watch out, stick to the side of the crowd to avoid getting hurt (bottles are also an issue, both empty and full) and don't rent an apartment with a thatched roof anywhere near the Spanish Steps.

Via Veneto

Via Veneto is a curved, tree-lined street with expensive, larger hotels, expensive, over-priced boutiques, and expensive, overdone restaurants.  It is a pleasant street to walk, just like in La Dolce Vita, but it is not full of character like other areas of the city. Not too many people are on the street because the people that stay here are the wealthy out-of-sights.  The Fontana del Tritone anchors the bottom of the street.

Also in the neighborhood is the street Via del Quirinale and when it intersects with Via delle Quattro Fontane, each corner is adorned with an active fountain.  Each fountain has a statue of a reclining deity - the Tiber, the Arno, Juno and Diana.  It's worth a look if you are near the intersection.  We saw it as we encouraged Kim in her high-heeled boots, "Just a couple more blocks to the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria." (Déjà vu: I recall uttering those same words to Jake in Seattle quite a few years back as we went from Pioneer Square to Belltown.)

The church is worth the walk. It is intimately Baroque, twinkle-y in the candlelight, and it contains Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa.  The folds of the robe fashioned out of marble are exceptional.

Pinciano & Parioli

In Pinciano there is a tiny convent that I believe is on Via Salaria across from the park and the Villa Borghese. We visited the catacombs there (Catacombe di Priscilla) and took a tour with the only English-speaking Benedictine nun in the place. It took them several minutes to find her, but she was a trooper and gave us a rousing tour hunched over her cane.

While underground, we supposedly saw the earliest work of religious art depicting a benevolent Jesus, The Good Shepherd with Two Sheep. The level of detail in the catacombs was fascinating, but mostly we were impressed that we started the tour on one side of the road and ended up on the other side of the main thoroughfare below the park. Since she only turned on lights in the section we were in and promptly turned them off after her explanations, we were forced to rely on a flashlight the rest of the time. I'll admit it was creepy. We felt like we were in a human maze. The experience was a huge highlight of the trip since it was so un-commercial…a real old-world gem within the city.

For Jake's birthday in 1998, we had dinner at Relais Le Jardin (two Michelin stars, according to Fodor's) in the Lord Byron Hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Parioli. The restaurant is immaculate and so is the service, but the atmosphere was a little stuffy and we felt like we were eating in a morgue. We were also shocked to find the bartender offering us Corn Nuts alongside wafer crisps with caviar. Fodor's failed to mention that the restaurant is a part of the hotel, and since we prefer not to eat in hotels, we were a wee disappointed with the lack of information. So we high-tailed it back into town after dinner for a night cap at a more lively joint.

Quirinal

The Trevi Fountain is simply amazing. This is definitely a work of art that cannot be fully described with words nor with photos. The fountain's sculpture literally emanates from the side of the building and takes on a life of its own. Be sure to give yourself enough time to enjoy this handsome marble extravaganza.

Esquiline

This part of Rome is more run down than others, so we saw the church of Santa Maria Maggiore on our way through to another neighborhood. The church has a heavy baroque rear façade that is worth seeing.

Caracalla

Well, we felt really adventurous one day and walked all the way to the Circo Massimo from Piazza Navona. While in the area, we also checked out the ancient Baths of Caracalla, the Porta San Sebastiano and the Aurelian Wall.

Aventine

During our long walk we also crossed the Ponte Palatino and next to it the Ponte Rotto, or the "broken bridge." Just across the street is the tiny Temple of Hercules and its neighbor, the Temple of Portunus, which form the Temples of the Forum Boarium. I know it's a mouthful…just remember that one is an old circle of columns and another is a straight row of columns that are the best preserved of Rome's Republican temples. We also snapped a photo in front of the marble-faced Pyramid of Caius Cestius.

Aventine is mostly residential, so we walked by lots of folks engaged in quotidian activities - grocery shopping, mopeding with a new date, waiting for the bus, going to school.

Trastevere

Well, we saw the obvious biggy in this neighborhood, the church of Santa Maria in Trastavere. It is famous for its exterior mosaics of Mary feeding the baby Jesus and interior mosaics by Pietro Cavallini depicting the Life of the Virgin. Just outside, the fountain in the piazza in front of the church is a popular meeting spot for locals.

Trastavere is a little rough around the edges, but it is less tourist prone than other neighborhoods and the streets, restaurants and bars feel more real than other parts of the city.

Janiculum

The neighborhood of Janiculum is perched atop a hell of a hill - we were panting about a third of the way up and really started to wonder if it was worth the hike. But we kept at it and were rewarded with Bramante's round chapel, the Tempietto. It is tiny and celestial and exquisite in its mastery of proportion. It's also propped up on slats. The temple is believed to be the place where St. Peter was crucified.

Now, the temple is home to some wild cats. We especially liked the tenacious one-eyed prowler that kept swatting at pigeons.

Afterwards, we walked on, spotting glimpses of the Botanical Gardens and finally wound down towards the Porta Settimiana. The gate was built in 1498 and marks the beginning of the Via della Lungara, a street built in the early 16th century. I kept trying to catch Matt and Kim in a Kodak moment, but the trash trucks kept getting in the way and Matt was impatient. So I missed the shot, but we all remember the moment well.

Vatican

Vatican City offered plenty of treats and it was especially festive in December 2000 because of the Jubilee. St. Peter's Cathedral was humming in all its opulence, and confessions could be made in any major language. And boy, were there a lot of people lined up to gab about their sins. It didn't make sense, because we all entered the cathedral through the Porta Sancta and when you pass through the door, apparently all your sins are forgiven. Jake's response: "Phew! I'm glad we did that…we'll have to wait another hundred years before we're sin-free again!"

Once inside, the splendor of the Baldacchino with its gilded bronze canopy and spiraling columns reminds you of the sheer wealth the church has commanded throughout the ages. Also worth a peek along one of the aisles is a darkened bronze statue with a shiny, well-worn toe. Apparently, well-wishers kiss or touch the toe for good luck, hence the lustrous digit. We admitted that the toe-kissing was nasty and couldn't believe that anyone would enjoy better luck from licking the thing. Plus the whole statue was tarnished except for that awful toe. Downstairs, a tour of the sub-level offers the chance to shuffle past retired popes' bodies.

Don't miss the dome of St. Peter's with views of the city and the Vatican gardens (check out the nuns' gift shop on the roof), the Sistine Chapel (you will learn to tune out the constant "sshhhh"-ing), the endless Vatican Art Gallery with its amazing spiral ramp (the modern section is oft forgotten, but incredibly interesting) and those funny-looking guards, .

Right next to Vatican City, we toured the gem-like fortress, Castel Sant' Angelo. We couldn't believe our luck when we found the watering hole on the patio level that afforded fantastic views of St. Peter's through the crenellations. We took a zillion pictures because we were so impressed with the idea of a bar within an historical .

From atop the fortress, we enjoyed more views of the city, the river and the Breezy Maniacs that line the bridge between the two parts of the city. I think it was the same day we saw a huge rat (more like a Rodent of Unusual Size) emerge from the river, sun itself on the bank and then descend into the brown sludge again.

And a Long Walk . . .

Outside of the city, we visited the more commercial catacombs of San Callisto and San Sebastiano and weren't as impressed with the cemetery niches because they are not as pronounced, nor are the rooms uses as obvious. Plus the lights were permanently affixed and the entrance was cordoned off for major crowd control. We envisioned throngs of sweaty people swarming in line in the summertime heat. Fortunately, we basked in winter sunlight and brisk air and literally whizzed through the roped area. We felt giddy, like we lucked out at Disneyland. We strolled through the Via Appia Antica on the way back to the city and couldn't have felt more alive even though it was a funerary route.

Rome…the eternal city.