Rome days

What a few days we have had in Rome. Firstly 12 people for dinner in the cellar of the wine bar and restaurant Roscioli, on Via Giubbonari, just off the Campo Di Fiori. The night was great fun and an abundance of food and wine. The food and half of the wine were sourced from the region. The quality of the food and wine was excellent and the waiters made it a truly memorable night. Everyone had descended on Rome from afar for a few days together and an opportunity to celebrate and tell travel stories. Shared experiences in beautiful locations will remain a highlight of this trip. And the broad range of ages and experiences allowed for many engaging conversations. After dinner we found a small bar on the other side of Campo for further revelry. Over the next few days everyone dispersed onto further adventures in Russia, Venezia, Amalfi and Croatia. We met a friend from Umbria, ate at the Alla Rampa and spent a few hours in the Pincio overlooking Rome and enjoying the cool breezes and shade from the trees.

You could say it has been a festival of the p’s-pasta, pizza, pastries, pietas, piazzas, palazzos, penises and painters. But then you would have to add coffee, sculptors, architects, poets, romantics, wine, vespas and designers. In the street we are in-Via Cappallari-there are graphic designers, jewellery makers, potters, door makers, woodworkers, fashion designers, restaurants, small bars, and bookstores. Apparently our street was the street of the hat makers. This is a very small medieval street. The ground floors are kept for business and there are apartments above.  We have found a wonderful café, bar and pizza restaurant all within a 2 minute walk from our apartment. We have found it takes a little while to find your way around and to start finding the local and more contemporary places. The café-Barnham-would not be out of place in Melbourne and plays great music. Great coffee and a seat in the alcove at the front of the shop for 1 euro. The area between Piazza Navona and Campo De Fiori is a haven of the fashionable and full of small boutiques. They are all frequented mainly by Italians-this is the best way to find if places are any good. It takes time to get used to the Italian volume of eating. It is impossible to maintain indefinitely. Anti pasta, primi, secondi, dolce, wine, coffee. Luckily it is not considered impolite to order one course at a restaurant any more.

Last night we went on a night tour of our own making through the streets of Rome. Through Piazza Farnese and a look into the beautiful gardens of Palazzo Farnese. This oasis in such a densely populated area is quite something. Lush green lawns, deciduous trees, palms and enormous walls covered in Virginia Creeper. Then over the SIsta bridge into Trastevere and a look at the Villa Farnesina. We have been fortunate to have seen churches in action-a wedding in Santa Maria del Popolo and an evening mass in Santa Maria de Trastevere complete with choir and incense. To see these buildings-so often considered museums of painting and sculpture-used for human events was very moving. The Santa Maria Del Popolo is extraordinarily rich with artwork-Bernini, Caravagio, Pintuchio and Bramante are some of the artists who have work residing here. The church in Trastevere is ancient and beautiful. It dates back to the 3^rd century and may have been the first to celebrate mass. The magnificent Byzantine mosaics date to the 12^th Century. Trastevere was a working class area and has become more bohemian. It is packed with bars, restaurants and boutiques. Rome has an abundance of small clothes shops-indeed it would be easy to spend your travel budget on the beautiful fashion on offer. Small shops abound offering exquisite and stylish clothes. After Trastevere we walked along the Tiber eating our gelati. Rome at night- out of the major sites-is empty of tourists and quite magical. Friends who left us at 3am on Thursday after Roscioli found Piazza Navona and the Spanish steps silent and magnificent. 

We walked over Rome’s oldest standing bridge to Isola Tiberina, the island that can be easy to miss. At the northern end of the island is a remnant of a bridge dating to 170 BC. The water of the Tiber rushes past here as the river splits around the island. The church of Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro, incorporates original 3^rd Century pagan buildings, 4^th Century eastern motif and an 7^th Century Basilica to produce a breathtaking blending of structures. In front of the church is the Roman Arch of Janus-the only triumphal arch preserved in Rome. This use and reuse of materials makes Rome so special and seeing it at night and on your own is really the only way to do it. This area behind the Palatine is also the home to some spectacular apartment buildings-they are beautifully proportioned and have the added bonus of looking over the imperial forum. We walked through the Capitoline and onto the Jewish quarter that was alive with restaurants. At the Teatro Marcello-an ancient Roman site-there was a concerto being performed under three of the oldest standing roman columns and surrounded by broken roman buildings. We watched in awe as the musicians performing Mozart, Schubert and Brahms filled this space with sound. I think, for those of us not accustomed to walking around a built environment so old it always takes your breath away. As we meandered our way back to our apartment we found a hidden bar-Baladin Open-tucked in a tiny lane. Inside it was contemporary and filled with young Romans, eating and drinking. And unusually it was a home to hundreds of beers, both on tap and in bottles from all over the world.