Rome, October, 2013

On October 5 we said goodbye to Campo Santo, and took the vaporetto water taxi to the Venice railroad station where we caught a Ferrari-red Treno Italo, a relatively new privately-owned and moderately-priced high speed train to Rome. 

The treno Italo we took from Venice to Rome-Ferrari Red!

We thought it would be fun to see some more Italian countryside, which we did, but there were many tunnels between Bologna and Florence.  Reading about it afterwards, we learned we went through the Apennine Tunnel, one of the longest in the world.  In all there were 73.8 km of tunnels, which substantially shortened the trip, but not so much view!  Our e-readers got us through the vista blackout.

We detrained at the Tiburtina station which was very close to our lodgings, another Intervac house exchange.  Lorenzo Spaziani, our host, met us at the station, and took us to the apartment nearby.  (Lorenzo and his wife had stayed with us last year, so this was what is called a non-simultaneous exchange.)  They live in the country outside Rome but their small pied-a-terre in the city is in a residential neighborhood, 10 minute walk or bus ride from the Tiburtina transportation hub.    Naturally we bought 7-day passses and got to know the bus and subway system well.

A view of our comfortable apartment in Rome

Our neighborhood was one of apartment blocks, most of which had shops or restaurants at street level, so most anything we could want was at our finger tips and at prices that were much more reasonable than in the tourist districts.  Lorenzo gave us his tips on where the grocery stores were as well as showing us around the spacious apartment (with washing machine!) We should have known, and henceforth when do house exchanges in Europe, we will pack ice cube trays.  We keep forgetting that Americans have this fixation about ice that is not shared with others.  This was about the only complaint we had about this apartment.  This was not a neighborhood for fancy restaurants, though did have many more causal places to eat.

Ristoart restaurant near our apartment in Rome

With the help of tripadvisor, we found a very nice nearby restaurant for our first night.  Ristorart, Via di Cloniacensi 9/11 [pic 10/5,0486], just off the busy Via Tiburtina, had nice décor, featuring different local artists on the walls, and a sophisticated menu that kept us happy. 

Dane's colorful pizza at Ristoart

We had ravioli pomodoro and pizza partenopea (like Neapolitan, with mozzarella, black olives and anchovies).  Their best beers were from Germany – we were starting to find out that even though some excellent artisanal beers are now being made in Rome, even the better restaurants only serve bland domestic or fancy imported beers – sort of like the U.S. in the 80s and 90s. 

The "Wedding Cake" monument to Victor Emmanuel II

The ancient Romans may have had a penchant for well-built, straight roads, but you would never guess it from what exists today in the ancient part of Rome.  The amount of ruins to see is staggering and a bit confusing, since there are so many layers – different eras to be explored.  The national monument to Victor Emmanuel II, also known as the Altar of the Motherland or Il Vittoriano or “the wedding cake” is a help.  It stands high, and the chariots of the winged victories can be seen on the horizon from many directions to give us bearings.   This monument was built to honor the first king of a unified Italy, so it is a Victorian fluffery designed in 1885 and fully completed in 1935.  It is just off the Piazza Venezia, which is a transportation hub, and around the corner from the Capitoline Museums.   The Capitoline Museums are certainly worth a visit, both the central courtyard area and the museum. 

We found a useful web tool to help us keep track of what was where: Wikimapia.org.  Of course you can zoom in and out like Google maps but the cursor will highlight and name an area and the closest zoom shows a picture of the building or site itself.

The area bounded by the Vitorino, the Coliseum and the Palatine Hill, includes the Roman Forum and is where the complete landscape is one of ruins.  Joan had to keep reminding Dane that there were more ruins in Rome than he could imagine; he was snapping pictures everywhere, and then we would find another spectacular ruin around the next corner!

The Roman Forum

With the Palatine Hill in the background it makes for great photography, and there are special maps posted throughout showing the before and after which help sort it all out.  We found the Forum area to be quite walkable; we enjoyed several walking tours with a Frommer’s guidebook from the library.

Courtyard of the Doria Pamphilji Gallery museum

A fabulous, undiscovered museum we visited was the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj.  The home and gallery of the Pamphilj family for centuries, we wandered through sumptous apartments and galleries of fine art, including masterpieces by Caravaggio, Claude Lorrain, Bernini and the Brueghels.  Just a couple blocks from the Roman Forum, it was a quiet respite from the crowds in the popular touristic sites and an experience we treasured.  

Monte Testaccio

Another time we took a walking tour of Testaccio, in the vicinity of the metro stop Pyramide. The main geographic feature is the Monte Testaccio, an artificial mound composed almost entirely of fragments of broken amphorae dating from the time of ancient Rome which represents the remains of over 50 million vessels that probably held 1.6 billion gallons of olive oil used in Rome! 

See, we are not the only ones that use a lot of oil and create big landfills.  Now is it worn down and verdant and forms the center of the very nice Testaccio residential district.  We ate at a great neighborhood restaurant, Il Canfinone Ristorante, Piazza Testaccio 31 where we enjoyed being surrounded by locals.  Joan had a very nice veal saltimbocca alla Romana 

Veal Saltimbocca, a traditional dish of Rome.

 but the hit, at least for Dane, was rigatoni with pajata (veal entrails with the milk still inside) in a tomato sauce.  You have to sort of suspend cerebral functions (Dane says he is good at this) and just taste –honest, it was good.

!

Also nearby, on via Benjamino Franklin was an old abattoir, or meat processing center, which has morphed into a museum of contemporary art called Macro Testaccio.  Behind the main entry was a construct made of bamboo in the shape of a pyramid which actually had stairs for climbing. 

Bamboo installation at Macro Testaccio

Just down the road was a city of alternate economy that had a very nice bio market (think green and wholesome) as well as a park that was sporting a theatrical show for kids.

Rome's pyramid under restoration taken from the Protestant Cemetery

The metro stop, which makes this whole area so easy to get to, is named for an actual pyramid that can be seen from the station. It was built about 18 – 12 BCE as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and religious leader, and was sited at the fork of two ancient roads.  It had been incorporated into Rome’s fortifications which helped it become one of the city’s best-preserved ancient buildings.   When we were there, the marble facing was being restored, so pardon us for including a picture with the scaffolding.
The photograph is taken from the nearby  Protestant cemetery, established in 1738, and among those buried here are Keats and Shelley. 

The English poet John Keats' grave in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome

Eataly in Rome

 Less than a mile away, from the Pyramide area is a shopping complex called Eataly in a vacant air terminal building connected to the Roma Ostiense railway station.  (Be careful in the Roman metro-Dane had his wallet stolen by gypsies as we were jammed into a subway car!  Thank heavens for Michael Liscano's telephone-we were able to cancel the credit cards with no lasting damage.)

We have visited the Eatalys in New York, and Chicago, so were were happy to visit the largest one in Italy.  (There are also several in Japan-we had no idea they were global.)

Map of the Eataly locations throughout the world

Eataly is very Slow Food oriented, and has great produce and pasta, coffee, gelato, bread, fish, meat, pork and poultry departments, all with restaurants.  You can purchase the best cuts or dine in a restaurant area themed to each area’s offering.  We ate in the fish area but were also able to choose from the nearby meat market.  Though it may be a big complex, the food was anything but factory-like.  We were with a group of friends and all had spectacular meals, reasonably priced.

Enjoying our lunch at Eataly with Michael, Martha and Michael.

Just to keep Dane happy, this Eataly even had a brew-pub and an excellent selection of local and foreign beer in bottles and on tap (alla spina).  We purchased a big bottle of local, bourbon-barrel-aged barley-wine for a dinner party we were going to that evening. 

Dane pondering the wide variety of Italian mircobrews at Eataly Rome.

We mention friends and a dinner party; we should explain.  Former Queen Victoria Inn guests, Michael and Martha Liscano, who live in Columbus, Ohio, have become very good friends.  Before we left for Italy we discovered that they would be in Italy at the same time as we, so we planned to get together.  Michael, an architect and artist, and Martha, who patiently puts up with Michael’s bon homme personality and humor, go to Italy quite a bit.  It turns out they have a group, who often travel with them, and we were invited to “crash” the party.  What a fun and engaging group they were.  The evening of our Eataly visit, we were going to an apartment they rented in the Trastevere area.  Hence Dane took the very fancy bottle of after-dinner beer.  Everybody chipped and helped produce a magnificent feast. 

The two Michaels pondering our fish order at Eataly, Rome

Enjoying a wonderful meal in the apartment in Trastevere with Michael and Martha's travelling friends from Ohio.

Next:  We are treated to a full-walking tour of their favorite places in Rome by Michael & Martha Liscano.