Ciao! Rome, Italy Day 3
My first question of Day 3 was what my breakfast should be. We went to Forno Roscioli Pietro, a bakery near the Vittorio Emanuele metro station. I had a Maritozzo the day before. Bomboloni, Italian donuts filled with custard cream looked nice... I ended up with a Cornetto al Pistacchio again.
The Cornetto al Pistacchio was amazing! Better than that on Day 1. This had so much pistachio cream filling in an airy croissant. I wished I could wake up with it every morning...
The wall shelf was packed with Panettone for the up-coming holiday season at that time. They looked nice, too! Oh, what was J's breakfast? I think he had a plain croissant. Plain croissants in Rome often were lightly dusted with power sugar. Sorry J, it was hard to find a place to offer hot and savory breakfast in the city in the early morning.
We walked through Parco del Colle Oppio like the day before, but on the different path.
Unlike the day before we didn't pass by the Colosseum. We explored it! We still had some time until our booked entrance time. We did a self-tour to see the exterior for a while.
We were the first visitor of the day. Nobody at the arena level yet! The giant amphitheater was commissioned by the Emperor Vespasian and inaugurated in 80 AD under the Emperor Titus, Vespasian's son. Besides a series of gladiatorial contests, it hosted events such as mock sea fights, animal hunts, public executions, re-enactments of familiar fights, and dramas based upon Classical folklore. As the Roman Empire fell, the Colosseum deteriorated. However, the enormous structure didn't vanish even when a series of earthquakes hit it. Later it was used for housing, a fortress, a Christian shrine, etc. The ancient ruin has a very long story to tell.
Nice views from the upper level!
The upper level also gave us very nice views of the Arch of Constantine as well as the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.
Our next destination was the Basilica of Saint Clement. The basilica that we can see today was built in the 12th century. The apse (a semi- circular dome) mosaic above the alter was beautiful, while what we were really interested in about the church was its underground. I know underground seemed like one of our themes in Rome. The basilica stands on a 4th century church. You can go and see the lower church that featured with medieval frescos from the 8th to the 11th century. Unfortunately no photography was allowed. There was also a 1st century chamber with a Mithraic temple at the lower level of the lower church. Mithraism is the worship of Mithra, the ancient Persian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war, which was honored in the Roman empire before the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine in the early 4th century.
Time for lunch! We tried Il Corallo, another restaurant that my friend recommended. It was also located near Piazza Navona. We were often around Piazza Novona during the trip.
Aperol spritz for J!
We shared two kinds of starters. One was chilled octopus salad and hot croquettes. Tasty!
For main, we had Polpette alla Romana, or Roman style meatballs and finally Spaghetti Carbonara to share! I must have been too excited to take a clear photo of Carbonara. Both dishes were very good! Again thank you my friend!
After dinner, a gelato time came as usual. We stopped by at Gelateria Frigidarium, a small but popular gelato shop on a busy street behind Piazza Navona.
Time to walk and digest! We wandered into the Ghetto, the Jewish community area and look for the Fontana delle Tartarughe, or the Turtle Fountain that I wanted to see. We found it! It was a charming 16th century fountain situated in a quiet little square.
We also found a raw chocolate shop at the same square. I know we just had lunch and gelato, but we were just there. Let's check it out!
Their raw chocolate products are gluten-free, lactose-free, refined sugar-free, yeast-free, and egg-free, made with organic, wholemeal, nutritious, raw natural and vegetable ingredients and processed at low temperatures (below 42° degrees). 42 is the maximum temperature to allow life forms on the earth to be present, according to Grezzo. So, they first choose ingredients that they don't need to cook and when they need to cook ingredients, they do below 42° degrees to keep their organoleptic and nutritional properties intact.
It sounds healthy and sustainable. But do they taste good? We sampled a piece of truffle. It definitely was different from a chocolate bonbon we are used to in terms of taste and texture. The little piece made me realize how seriously my taste buds are addicted to vivid sweetness of refined sugar.
While we kept walking in the Ghetto, a large ruin caught our eyes. It was the remains of the propylon gate to Porticus of Octavia, a temple complex in the Circus Flaminius area, one of the famous circuses of ancient Rome. Circuses are large open-air venues used for public events in the ancient Roman Empire, by the way. Porticus of Octavia was built by Augustus between 27 and 23 BC and dedicated to his sister Ottavia and housed the temples to Juno Regina (Juno the Queen) and Jupiter Stator (Jupiter the Stayer, which means “preserver and supporter”). I couldn't see any parts of those temples, though.
On the right of the gate, there was a walk path to more ancient ruins...
There were the remains of the temple of Apollo Sosiano, constructed between 433 and 431 BC and renovated in 32 BC by a consul called Gaio Sosio, as well as the temple of Bellona, built in 296 BC.
On the opposite side of those temples, a semicircular ancient Roman theater called Teatro di Marcello or Theater of Marcellus stood. The construction of a huge theater was Julius Caesar's idea to symbolize his power. He, however, died even before the project really began. Augustus took over and completed it in 13 BC, dedicating the theater to his nephew Marcus who was the rightful successor of Augustus but passed away a few years before its inagulation. While it became a model of the Colosseum that was completed about 100 years later, it is said that Theater of Marcellus was used for theatrical representations such as comedy, tragedy, and poetry shows, not for gladiators.
Where to the next? We crossed Ponte Fabricio, the oldest bridge in Rome (originally built in 68 BC) and passed through Isola Tiberina on the river Tiber, one of the world's smallest inhabited islands. Then we walked along the river a little bit and crossed the next bridge, Ponte Palatino. Our destination was Giardino degli Aranci, one of the places that my friend suggested us to visit.
Well, she didn't tell us that Giardino degli Aranci was on the top of a hill. It was a good exercise!
Giardino degli Aranci, or the Orange Garden is a park on Aventine Hill, overlooking the river Tiber. As the name implies, there were many orange trees. Plus, my favorite umbrella pines! The garden also provided a nice view of the city. If the weather was nicer, the view could be prettier.
We walked down the hill and stopped by at one of the most popular attractions in Rome - Bocca della Verità , or Mouth of Truth. Actually we passed by there the day before but there was a very long waiting line to play with the stone face. We didn't want to join the crowds and gave up taking a photo of it. On the contrary there were only a couple of people waiting for their turn to take a photo with the huge mask this time. We waited for our turn and here was the result!
It was time to go back to Airbnb. We strolled on a street behind the Roman Forum. There was a great spot to see it for free!
In Rome, you can see so many archaeological sites that are simply exposed at roadsides or between buildings. It was interesting to see co-existence of a mass of ancient ruins and the capital of the country.
Our last stop of the day was Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore. Built in 432, it is one of the seven pilgrimage churches and one of the four papal basilicas of Rome. The basilica stands on the spot where the Virgin Mary appeared to Pope Liberius in a dream and suddenly there was a layer of snow on the hill on the 5th of August. The interior decor was so rich, heavy and shiny. Many of the mosaics are original and the large marble columns probably came from ancient Roman buildings. In Rome, I lost sense of time.
To be continued...
