Ciao! Rome, Italy Day 1
We were in Rome around Thanksgiving last year. We arrived there in the mid-afternoon and didn't do much except having a light dinner (pasta and pizza) at a cafe as well as gelato. It was the most delicious gelato that I had during the trip. I could safely say one of the best in my life so far. Anyway, the next day was our official "Day 1" of the trip. On Day 1, we started looking for a place for breakfast as usual. J found a small cafe near Fontana di Trevi, or the Trevi Fountain. I don't remember the name of the place but according to the cup and the napkin holder in the photo I took, it must be Bar Trevi. That would make sense.
My Cornetto al Pistacchio (a croissant filled with pistachio cream) immediately made me fall in love with Rome. So delicious! I think J had something savory (ham sandwich?) at that time.
Fontana di Trevi, a 18th century Baroque fountain that was built against the back of the Palazzo Poli building was spectacular. It is said that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will come back to Rome one day. It was a very busy place. We tried to be careful not to bump into other visitors or pocket pickers. We didn't have a chance to do the tradition but took some photos to remember the famous fountain.
There were the high alter, four chapels and three tombs. One of the tombs was Raffaello Sanzio's, master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. It is said that he was inspired by the perfect proportions of the Pantheon and had requested to be buried there. We saw some of his famous paintings in the Vatican Museum during this trip. It was surprising that he had done those enormous works and became so popular that his request could be granted by his early death at age 37.
"Oculus," the hole in the top of the giant dome lets in light and rain. It was lightly raining at that time but the floor didn't look wet. Gentle sunshine passing through the hole was calming the inside of the massive cold stone building.
There was Piazza della Rotonda, a city square with a 16th century fountain and an ancient Egyptian obelisk, Rotonda Obelisk (1400 BC! Very old!) in front of the Pantheon. The fountain was supposed to be so much younger comparing with the Pantheon as well as the obelisk, but somehow all looked like matching.
We took a walk to another piazza with a fountain and an obelisk. Actually the Piazza Navona has three fountains, but only the largest one in the middle has an obelisk. The fountain is called La Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or the Fountain of the Four Rivers, built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the greatest sculptor and architect of the 17th century Baroque movement. The four statues of the fountain represent the Donau, Ganges, Nile and Rio de la Plata. The fountain was placed just in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, built to a design by Francesco Borromini who was the other great master Baroque architect. The rivalry between Bernini and Borromini became legendary. A legend that the statue of the Rio della Plata holds his arm up to protect himself from the possible collapse of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone has been told for centuries although the legend is also known as an anachronism. I simply would like to believe there was some kind of respect between two and their conflict inspired each other and resulted in their masterpieces.
Luckily the weather was getting better!
I had thought that the obelisk with hieroglyphs on the fountain was also brought from Egypt but later I learned it wasn't. The obelisk was built during the reign of Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) who was apparently interested in incorporating Egyptian art and culture into Roman culture. The mix still looks trendy today. By the way, there are 13 ancient obelisks made from a single stone in Rome and it is said that the city has the most obelisks in the world. Both Rotonda Obelisk in front of the Pantheon and this are two of them. Let's see how many we saw during the trip!
We quickly checked out a small Christmas market near Church of St. Louis of the French. It was the only Christmas market we saw during the trip. Christmas markets in Italy usually start in December. This one must have been held by who can't wait for Santa!
On our way to Spanish Steps, we walked through Piazza Venezia, a square with a massive white marble structure, Altare della Patria, or the Altar of the Fatherland. It's a monument for the first King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. I guess every visitor to Rome sees it at least once during his/her stay because it's the size (you can easily find the Alter from top of hills or buildings in the city.) and the location (Piazza Venezia is located where four major roads meet. We almost always ended up with the place no matter where we headed.)
We kept walking, looking up quaint buildings in the city...
and passing by sophisticated cakes... We just watched them because we weren't hungry at that moment and didn't have a chance to come back there during the trip. What a shame!
We ran into Piazza Colonna by chance. We stopped by there and studied the focal point of the square, 'Colonna di Marco Aurelio' for a while. It's a monumental column in honor of the victorious Emperor Marcus Aurelius, featuring a spiral relief that shows scenes from the Germanic and Sarmatian wars of the 2nd century. The square was fenced off and we couldn't get close to the column, but thanks to technology! Our zoom-in photos presented us the details.
We arrived at the Spanish steps! The early 18th century Rococo style steps, or Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti were built to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy as well as the Trinità dei Monti church (located above) to the Holy See and Spanish Square (below). There were so many people on and around the steps, by the way.
While I was taking photos there, I smelled something nice... Roasted chestnuts! When I was distracted with the toasty smell, J was somewhere in the crowds.
Ok, I found him. It was time to climb up on the 138 steps!
I was distracted again by the orange trees around the steps but managed to follow J.
We visited the Trinità dei Monti church by taking more steps to the entrance. The rewards were a brief rest in the small church and a city view from the top of the extra steps. There was an obelisk in front of the church. This is one of 13, made in Rome around 300 AD. So far, we saw three of all.
We escaped from the crowds for a while by visiting Villa Borghese, a public garden located on the Pincian Hill. We only explored a small part of the huge park but it was a lovely walk among trees.
We walked down from the park to Piazza del Popolo, another famous square in Rome. There was a tall Egyptian obelisk! Flaminian Obelisk is made for Pharaoh Rameses II for his Temple of the Sun, Heliopolis around 1400 BC. It was our fourth obelisk to see.
There were also Fontana del Nettuno, or Fountain of Neptune on the west side of the square. I found some nautical themed statues near the fountain interesting.
We had no problem to get a table without reservation. There was no other guests.
Three kinds of amuse-bouche and bread with olive oil. Our waiter added a kind of special salt in the olive oil, which I don't remember what it was. The amuse-bouche were something salty, puffy and creamy.
I had a pumpkin soup for starter. I wanted to like it but it was pretty much salty!
J's starter.., what was it?
For main, we ordered two kinds of pasta dishes to share. One was my choice: Tagliatelle baccalà bottarga e limone (tagliatelle with cod, bottarga (salted cured fish roe sac) and lemon). I liked it but again unfortunately it was so salty. I believe J didn't like it. It was too fishy for him. Sorry! The other was pasta filled with... what was it? pork, I think? I remember it tasted ok. Overall, the dishes tasted heavy and salty for me.
We tried to find a gelato shop in the area but we failed. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the sun in Piazza Cavour Roma, Corte Suprema di Cassazione, the highest court of appeal or court of last resort in Italy stood just adjacent to the beautiful square with palm trees.
When we checked where we were at Piazza Cavour Rome, we realized that we were very close to Castel Sant'Angelo. The towering cylindrical building was built around 123 AD as a sepulcher for the Emperor Hadrian and his family and then changed its purpose several times, such as a fortress, a prison, the Papal residence and now a museum.
The structure of the building was unique. We took a long dark spiral corridor to go up, passing by the burial chamber. The upper floors were Courtyard of the Angel (3rd floor), Pope's apartments (4th) and the top viewing terrace (5th).
The papal apartments were interesting to see. The 16th century frescos on the ceilings of the Room of Apollo and the Library were weird but fascinating. It is said that such grotesque-style frescos were fashionable back then. The Paolina Hall (Sala Paolina), the entertaining room commissioned by Paul III was lavishly decorated with numerous frescoes, including large (possibly life-size) figures such as Emperor Hadrian, Alexander the Great, and Saint Michael the Archangel as if they were also the guests to the Pope's party.
We climbed up to the highest accessible point of the Castel, Terrazzo dell’Angelo, or the Angel Terrace. The 18th century bronze statue of St Michael the Archangel was just above us. According to a legend, the Archangel Michael emerged over the castle in 590 AD when Pope Saint Gregory was leading a procession to pray for the end of a plague that decimated the city, signifying that the pandemic would be over. It would have been seen just like that.
The views from the terrace were very nice. We could find some landmarks that we passed by so far and get more ideas what Rome looked like.
We crossed Ponte Sant'Angelo, an ancient Roman bridge towards Piazza Navona. The ancient name of the bridge was Pons Aelius because the Emperor Aelius Hadrian built it in 136 AD to connect the city with the entrance to his mausoleum at that time, now the Castel Sant'Angelo. There were so many people on the bridge who came to see and take photos of the familiar sight of the Castle from the bridge.
J found a cute cafe called Caffè Novecento near Piazza Navona and we decided to have a tea break there. Various cakes and cookies were placed on the counter. I wish I could try all but we had a dinner appointment with my friend later. We sampled a couple of cookies. They were lovely!
We met my friend at Piazza Nanona and walked together to Pizzeria Da Baffetto, a Roman style pizzeria that she kindly suggested us. She is Italian and lives in Rome. She knows where they serve authentic Roman foods we should not miss! The pizzeria seemed so popular. There was a long waiting line, but we managed it easily. I have't seen my friend for 20 years. We had so much to talk! Luckily we were able to be seated inside, not at the outside narrow terrace. She ordered Crostino Mozzarella e Alici, thinly sliced Italian bread topped with broiled mozzarella and anchovy as starters to share. Simple but tasty!
Roman style pizza has super thin and crispy crust from the center to the edge. I had Pizza alle Melanzane (tomato, mozzarella, eggplant) and J had Pizza con Prosciutto (tomato, mozzarella, ham). Pizza Capricciosa (tomato, mozzarella, mushroom, sausage, artichoke, egg) was my friend's choice and she kindly shared it with us. Capricciosa means capricious - an unpredictable pizza to be made without rules. My pizza and hers were so tasty! The pizza looked huge but actually it was pretty light because of the paper-thin crust. I had no problem to finish it up. She treated our dinner. It was so generous and kind of her!
After the wonderful pizza feast, she took us a short walk tour around the area, including Palazzo Farnese, a square with a beautiful 16th century palace that houses the embassy of France today and Campo de'Fiori, a daily market square with a statue of Giordano Bruno, who was a philosopher, astronomer and mathematician in the 16th century and was burned alive at the exact spot due to the freedom of thought. Campo de'Fiori is the only square without a church in Rome, which I didn't realize. Then my friend drove us back to our Airbnb. Thanks millions! What a joyful evening!
To be continued...
