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.
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