March 20 - Angels on the Bridge, Pope’s Pad, Second Tallest in Rome, and Return to Trastevere

Feelings of the Day: Sometimes monotony is required when traveling. We seek out the familiar to take a break from all of the newness because you cannot go full out on every vacation. It's ok to relax and take it slow.

Full Day’s Events: Starting the day with laundry is sometimes a must. It helped that we walked a lot yesterday so taking a break was good. We caught up on emails, FB, taking notes, and reading. Friendly advice to folks traveling to Europe is to bring some clothes pins, in particular the ones with a plastic strand that you can loop into a clothes hanger. They really came in handy.

    The topic of lunch came up so we went with the nearby Ristorante Lagana! Natalie had her now famous prosciutto on fresh melon slices. It's famous because I scoffed at it 11 years ago and after trying it I was eating my words…and trying to eat the rest of her appetizer. The mix of sweet and salt is divine. It also helps make it great that the melons here are nothing like we get in Canada. For a main I had the squid paprika ragu, that was tasty and tentacled, while Natalie had the special of Gnocchi with tomatoes and basil. She said it was the best Gnocchi she ever had, which is saying something. We then shared the contorni (side dish of vegetables) made with yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini. Delicious food and some cappuccino was casually sipped at the end of the meal. Time to move around!

    Crossing the Sant Angelo bridge, we had an honour guard of angel statues to clear the way. What made them special was each was unique. Turning left at the Fortress of Sant Angelo, we proceeded up the Vatican promenade. For this jubilee year, the next one is 2033, they had volunteers with yellow vests and trailers set up here and there throughout the city to provide advice and help to pilgrims. Once we got to the end at St Peters we saw the Vatican post office and bought stamps for postcards, so we could bring them here tomorrow for mailing.

    Taking another left we made a meandering path up Janiculum Hill. Although the second tallest in Rome, it is not one of Rome’s seven hills because it is on the West side of the Tiber. We passed by a very large children’s hospital, several small parks, a lighthouse built from money given by Italians living in Argentina, the Finnish Institute of Rome in a 16th century villa, statues of the heroic dead, and spectacular views! We were here at the right time as the sun was behind us as we were gazing out at the city of Rome pointing out places we had been and places we still wish to go.

    Getting down to a lower level, in the streets of Trastevere, we went to the appointed starting spot and went on a Rick Steves audio tour of the district. This one was more historical than Chiara’s food based tour. During the walk we learned more about the district and went into the churches of Santa Cecilia and Santa Maria.

    For Cecilia, a church was built on the site of her home but was rebuilt in 822 with major renovations in the 1700’s. The remains of a Roman house and shipping business were found in the basement during excavations and parts can be seen today. Some Benedictine Nuns live in a convent next door and take care of the place.

For Maria, it is one of the oldest in Rome (the 340’s CE ish), with the entire structure being rebuilt in 1140-43.

    Although I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I find that churches serve several important purposes: a centre for the community to connect and assist one another, a display of art that can be soothing and inspirational to do better or just marvel at, and providing shade from the sun. As I am writing this, two weeks after this day occurred, popping into a cold stone building with few people can be very comforting in the heat of the day. Walking back home we had simple salad with red rice. 9.7km and 25 flights.

March 19b - Old Memories of Rome…Revisited Some More!

Our stomachs speaking to us and internal energy supplies waning, we walked back in the direction to the centre of Rome. Looking at my electronic map of researched places there were several options, but we dismissed them all once we looked at their menus. We decided the classics were best so went into the cool vibe F.lli Trecca - Circo Massimo. We ordered two white ( one thin potatoes, cheese and rosemary. The second cheese and pulverized broccoli) and two red pizzas (one tomato, eggplant, and garlic. The second sliced asparagus with anchovies). They cut each of them in half for us and they were incredibly good and inexpensive.

There was also an interesting interaction between an American or Canadian who was telling off a woman who sat beside him from outside, with her pizzas as he was in line. I kept my ear and eye open in case this was potential verbal going into physical abuse between a couple. The more I listened to what he was saying, then talking out loud while in line, and finally speaking with the dude behind the counter while pointing at her I realized what it could be: pickpocket or honeytrap. Apparently, she had sat down beside him when he had his first slice and chatted him up, then she moved to his table and he wasn’t interested so moved inside while we were getting our pizzas. Lastly, she moved inside with her remaining pizza slice and sat down beside where he put his jacket. I suspect a honeytrap because no pickpocket takes that long, they just move on. It could also mean she was genuinely interested in him and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The mystery will remain unsolved although there are clues.

Walking North we took some back streets and came upon the back entrance to the Palatine hill and Roman Forum. Because admission included a colosseum entrance, at a reserved time two hours from now, we discussed and said why not. We walked around a bit of the Forum first then proceeded to the hill and remarked how things looked different. New places to go, new way up through the calvary capable ramps, and new exhibits…which is where we hit a snag. Different from 14 years ago when we visited this site, and the colosseum, we now found out there was a tiered ticket system: the more you paid the more special places you could go into. Great Caesar's Ghost! Why they didn’t mention this scheme when we bought our tickets I didn’t know. It could have been there are only a certain number sold each day or the ticket seller just forgot. 11 years ago, you could go into all those places. Ah well. For those who go to this site buy the ticket that fits your interest.

Regardless of the restrictions it was great to see the place again and the new areas they had opened for visitor access. The Palatine hill in particular provided views we had not seen before. Wonderful.

Heading to the Colosseum, we passed the fount gate and if we came by that route, we wouldn’t have gone in. There must have been at least 150 people in line! They would be hard pressed to see the site for the first time within the three hours and a bit they had left. Then again, they might not have been the enthusiasts of history my wife and I were.

Once at the colosseum everything went smoothly. New to us was the route you could take as it was one way for most of the walk: go up to the first level and walk around then go up to the second level and walk around with little displays here and there. If you had the special ticket you could go to a platform at one end that would have been at the same level as the gladiators, animals, prisoners, and Christians. A bit extra and you could walk under where the arena level would have been where the performers would have been preparing for or recovering/dying from the events. A little bit extra more and you can take an elevator to level four onto a platform and look out on the masses like an emperor! We just had the normal ticket and we were happy with that as it was still the Colosseum! I do remember more gladiator focused displays 14 years ago, but they have to change it up as more information is discovered.

Burning some more calories, we slowly walked back past the forums of Augustus and Trajan, including the latter’s column of the awesome things he did and barbarians he quelled, and saw that a new subway station was being added here. They also found new ruins and artifacts, many of which will remain in situ and the subway structure built around it. Hooray for being careful with history! 

Continuing our walk back, we stopped at a well-reviewed place, Ostia Hedera. The breaded and fried zucchini flowers were tasty and smooth on the inside. The pasta with parmesan, pepper and olive oil was alright but the chicken with black olives was delicious. We got a special Prosecco too that was nice with a more complex flavour which, if you were making a mimosa, would spit the orange juice back at you if you tried combining the two. We walked 15.8 kms today and climbed 16 levels of stairs! Our longest yet on this trip.