It's been a nearly perfect two months. Well not perfect by any means, but I certainly met my squad goals even by roundabout means, when I wasn't expecting to.
This calls for lists. I love lists.
What I wanted, was it found?
Dolce vita?oh yes, hit that spot on from day one. The culture of a shot or two of espresso and a cornetto or bomberini as breakfast...
...before wandering the streets, soaking in the smells, the smiles, the food and drink. Then a late afternoon nap before a late dinner and a bottle of good wine. This hit my sweet spot hard.
It's really impossible to not slow down and embrace the Dolca Vita culture. The food, the light splaying off the buildings, the art, the music, the wine, the warm sweet people. Time spent in Italy is better than time spent in therapy. One more way to justify the cost of traveling.
New friends?
and we've watched soccer matches and talked limoncello production and even had Fabio rip the Bar Gianicolo shirt off his back to gift it to us. This is one place I'll be very sad to leave behind and not have as part of my daily routine.
Massimo whipping up a Negroni or Aperol Spritz
https://becomingroman.blogspot.com/2019/11/small-victories.html
The most difficult part was the language. I'm conversant in Italian and can speak decently, enough to be understood. Well, er, meaning I am fearless and not worried about the inevitable mistakes in verb tense, gender, vocabulary holes, et al... and am comfortable in almost any situation. However comprehension of the spoken word by the rapid-fire talking Romani has proved difficult and a huge barrel to jump over for me. Then the other day, after nearly two months it finally clicked. I was at a small bistro in Monti and when I asked th owner who'd just placed a piatta of formaggio and miele down for us, where the honey came from, what region of Italy. Well, when he spoke, my brain did the flip thing where I was understanding purely in Italian and not internally translating, word for word and falling far behind (especially at the machine gun rate these Romani speak - it's like New York). He gave me a long detailed bit of info about honey regions and production in Italy and dang if I didn't understand it all in real time. I still have a long ways to go to reach even basic fluency, but I got a momentary peek at what that is going to feel like.
A Neighborhood that felt like home
Rome is a place of many small neighborhoods, each with a distinct feel and vibe. We lucked out in finding a reasonable long term rental straddling two very wonderful neighborhoods. Trastevere and Monte Verde.
Our house was at the foot of the Largo di Porta San Pancrazio. A memorial arch to the heroes of Rome who fought the French in the horrific battle of Gianicolo hill.
A five-minute walk further up Gianicolo hill brings you to the Terrazza and statue of Garibaldi, who led the Roman troops to battle.Spend any time, anywhere in Italy and you'll find Garibibaldi piazza and via Garibaldi. He is adored.
At his monument, there is a wide plaza where you can see all of Rome's skylike. This was our daily dog walk.
A five-minute walk the opposite direction was Monte Verde and shops, and restaurants and grocery stores. and one of the largest parks in Rome Real life, not tourist gee gaw shops. I particularly loved it on Christmas eve when the streets were full of Nonne buying Panettone, sweets, and pesche for dinner, and last minute gifts for the grandkids. This was real Rome. And as loyal as I became to Bar Gianicolo, I have to say, the panini were way better down at Bar Gastromnomica in Monte Verde.
And then to the East and down the hill and steep steps was the Trastevere. Possibly the coolest place on the planet. Open air markets,
The wonderful thing is, with all this so close, we could also walk to all the standard-issue Rome sights and other neighborhoods. The Pantheon, Campo Di Fiori, The Colosseo, the Forking Vatican, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps - all just a stroll away. Rome is huge and sprawling with suburbs reaching out for miles, but the inner city where all the charm, character and history and explosion of all things Roman is a small town really. Sure, a few times we walked for miles and hours and were too dang bushed to make it home so like any big city we got a cab and were back in our hood in minutes.
Pro tip: cobblestones adds twice the distance to your walk, so wear comfy urban hiking shoes or you'll be sorry.
But do walk, and walk as the bufala wanders, not as the Google map directs and you'll find hidden gems; tiny osterias, gelato shops in quiet squares, musical instrument repair shops, bakeries to just die for. I'm told real estate prices and the young moving on to more modern professions and not taking over their Nonni's shop is making the old way slowly die off in the neighborhoods, but there is still plenty left of the way things always were and hopefully always will be.
Art
Oy, Bambino Gesu, this is the Elysian fields of art. Beauty surrounds you constantly, unexpectedly and relentlessly, with a couple of thousand years of art and architecture everywhere you look. It's hard to call out one particular place, but must sees are the Farnesina Villa with paintings by Raphael and Leonardo's students, the Vatican museum, the Capitaline museums /forums and of course, you absolutely MUST sit in silence for a few minutes in the Pantheon and marvel at your place in life.
Graffiti is a thing you'll find ALL over Rome - I'm sure they have a special anti-graffiti tax which gets squirreled away in some politician's villa, but there is some very real street art to be found, particularly in th Trastevere.
Some of my favorites:
The feel and smell of the Tiber
I love rivers. and I fell hard for the Tiber. It's not so easy to find and tucked away from most tourist areas unless you're crossing on a bridge from the Centro Storica, Jewish neighborhood or Testaccio into the Trastevere. Once in a while a sudden view appears between bushes in Testaccio and surprises you, though. Worth taking a walk to see. We did it almost daily and like most rivers changes by the moment while being almost always the same, like a soft focus 19th-century painting. my fav angle is from Ponto Sisto or Ponto Garibaldi at sunset when the fading light hits st Peter's Basilica just so.
It's a deep-set river so the stone steps down to the wide promenade are a knee strainer, but again, worth every bit of pain you might get in your hamstrings. We loved our passeggiata at river level as did the dogs The ghosts of commerce barges bringing goods from the empire or soldiers back from the frontier is palpable. You can almost hear them when you stand by the massive anchorages.
History and ghosts
Best places to feel the ghosts of Rome still wandering? Largo de Argento - now a cat sanctuary, but you can look down and see the spot that Cesare got the chop by the 28 Senators. Nowadays, mostly just yawning in the sun kitties, but if you squint a bit you can still see Brutus approaching from behind and to th left with his dagger. I wonder if he hesitated, even for a brief second?
The roman forum and Palpatine hill. You can almost hear the merchants hawking their wares and the vox popoli gathering by the temple of Saturn to listen to a political speaker. Or up at the gardens and the rich swells strolling on a warm night.
But aside from specific locations, you don't need to look hard to see and feel the ghosts of Millenium gone by. Every turn of your neck will find sculpture, an ancient bit of wall, not torn down, but built around when a new apartment building went up. The Romans have a tremendous respect for their past and it's largely why there is no metro/underground like most large cities. You can't dig a hole without finding more ruins and bones and history. I absolutely love that about Rome.
What I missed (reason to return)
Too much to list. We saw so many things and so much - still far short of museum burnout, but I will NEVER forget the Sistine Chapel nor the Capitaline or Rennaissance musical instruments..
There is still so much to see to begin to absorb even a fraction of this culture.
Big misses, things that just didn't get seen. Via Appia Antica. We had plans to rent bikes and cycle a few klicks down the road, maybe see a few Spartacus crucifixion locations. But it didn't slip into our daily plans - or my aching back (see cobblestone hills, above).
We made friends, but the huge hope to build a friendship large enough to be invited to dinner at an Italian house didn't materialize. We'll make that happen next time,
Did I <Become Roman> as in the title of this blog? Well no, but I found my infatuation with Italy rolling towards love. The food, the people, the sheer slashing beauty of each day, the very real concept delivered of Dolce Vita will bring me back again.
But not going home just yet. Bologna beacons. Food and wine heaven. Tuscany, Emile-Romagna. The next month of our adventure is going to be amazing, starting with a day-long drive from Rome through Tuscany, up to the tiny village of Vado. This is totally by the plan. Big city to a tiny village. An unequal weighing of the scales. Purposely.
A Prersto!
There is still so much to see to begin to absorb even a fraction of this culture.
Big misses, things that just didn't get seen. Via Appia Antica. We had plans to rent bikes and cycle a few klicks down the road, maybe see a few Spartacus crucifixion locations. But it didn't slip into our daily plans - or my aching back (see cobblestone hills, above).
We made friends, but the huge hope to build a friendship large enough to be invited to dinner at an Italian house didn't materialize. We'll make that happen next time,
Did I <Become Roman> as in the title of this blog? Well no, but I found my infatuation with Italy rolling towards love. The food, the people, the sheer slashing beauty of each day, the very real concept delivered of Dolce Vita will bring me back again.
But not going home just yet. Bologna beacons. Food and wine heaven. Tuscany, Emile-Romagna. The next month of our adventure is going to be amazing, starting with a day-long drive from Rome through Tuscany, up to the tiny village of Vado. This is totally by the plan. Big city to a tiny village. An unequal weighing of the scales. Purposely.
A Prersto!
