Feeling of Today: Empathy for others is a foundation of any society. When you ignore the harm and suffering people are feeling then you risk erosion of that society. Walling off certain “types” of people because you do not want to associate with them, or see them, means your society is less whole and less robust. Fear of the other should not win over love and respect.
Full Day’s Events: Our first excursion was walking South, through the long oval shaped Piazza Navona which was where a horse racing track was in Roman times (and another Egyptian Obelisk), and Natalie tried the water from one of Rome’s many public drinking fountains. Our goal was Campo di’Fiori, where a daily market is. We were on the search for vegetables, fruits, and interesting items.
What we got, except for a few actual market stalls, was stall after stall of sameness. It was like someone came up with a starter pack multi-level marketing scheme for Italian markets and had people buy in without them knowing that nine other people went in on the same package in the same location. Imagine stalls with limoncello in odd shaped bottles (including body parts), cheap pesto, trinkets, balsamic vinegar that I wouldn’t give to an enemy, olive oil that I would only use to run a car with a diesel engine in an emergency, multicoloured pasta packs that look like the dye was banned decades ago, and soup/pasta sauce spice packages that looked new when the pharaohs ruled Egypt. We had passed various shops selling the exact same thing around town, too. They were also trying to hard sell by sticking trial items in frount of us and demanding that we try a sample. To top it off the folk in charge of the stalls were not Italian and mostly from India. It was an extremely weird experience.
Fortunately, there were three stalls that were run by Italian nonnas (grandmothers) that had actual market items. From them we purchased the fruits, veggies, and home-made tomato sauce we would be using over the next several days. We brought our haul home and went to the Jewish quarter.
The community of those of Jewish descent in Rome are part of the oldest continuous community of Jews living outside of the Middle East, dating to at least 161 BCE. Unfortunately, in 1442, Papal law required Jews to live separately from Christians. In 1555 the pope ordered Jews to live in a cramped and walled off area of Rome called a ghetto, based on the original Venetian one. The pope also made a series of super harsh and awful orders, including one that Jewish men had to run naked through Rome’s streets on a particular day of the year and allow things to be thrown at them. There were also churches built just outside the ghetto to force them to attend sermons each Sunday in order to bully the Jews to convert. Ghetto use was suspended when Napoleon invaded Italy but resumed when the Papal states took over again until 1870 when the Papal states were dissolved under the Italian Kingdom. Imagine living in a segregated area with harsh laws for multiple generations lasting 315 years. I find it hard to do so with the freedoms to be as you are in Canada today, long may it be so.
We ate at a Kosher restaurant, Renato Al Ghetto, and had Jewish style deep fried artichokes, braised chicory with red pepper flakes, lamb stuffed ravioli in tomato sauce, and pasta with anchovies and tomato sauce. There was also a white Jewish wine consumed. Everything was tasty and filling.
We went into the Jewish Museum and synagogue, paid for by the Jewish community and gentiles (who wanted to make up for past wrongs) in 1904. It is the only square domed place of worship in Rome. In this area there are Jewish schools, daycare, a great many Kosher restaurants, a few bakeries (we tried two cookies at one that had a long line up), and bronze cobblestones with the names of Jews who were taken by the Nazis during WW2. The experience was very affecting on my heart and psyche.
Beside the Jewish quarter was the Theatre of Marcellus, nephew of Augustus Caesar, that was converted into a fortress in the upper levels during the Middle Ages by the Faffo/Fabi family then a small palace by the Orsini family. Today the top levels are apartments and the lower Roman theatre is used for various art presentations.
Then we had to go to the hospital…the hospital island! Named Tiber Island it is situated in the middle of the Tiber (duh), has always had bridges connecting it to both sides, and has always been associated with the healing arts. For a time, it housed plague victims but now it has the best maternity hospital in Rome. There is also a Catholic church on the island because, well, it's Rome. It was fun to walk around the island and visit the riverbank and take some art photographs using the debris washed up on the bank by the fast and full Tiber. We also got to walk over the oldest complete bridge in Rome, Pointe Fabrico, from 62 BCE. At the South end of the island, you can see the remaining arch of the oldest incomplete bridge, the Pons Aemilius from the 2nd century BCE.
Time to call it a day so we headed home, after I had some European drinking chocolate from Grezzo, and made a simple supper. 9.4 km and 12 flights of stairs walked.
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