From the Field of Mars to the Quirinal

[jere7my]

Sunday, June 28 - Rome

On our third day in Rome, we dragged ourselves way the hell around the city, on buses and trains and foot, from Trastevere in the southwest to the Ara Pacis and Castel Sant'Angelo in the northwest to the Trevi Fountain and Quirinal in the northeast to the Forum Holitorium in the southeast, then back to Trastevere and back up to the Quirinal for an ultimately disappointing dinner (many restaurants are closed Sundays, it turns out). We spent far too much time walking along the Via Nazionale and Via del Quirinale through the generic-big-city center of town. We were cranky and frustrated at times, betrayed by confusingly named Metro stops and buses that never came — in my notes, I wrote that this was the day we "hit the wall between being tired and doing everything we wanted." But this was also the day we had the amazing mozzarella lunch at Obikā, and saw the Crypt of the Capuchins, and stumbled across the sunken 5th-centry church of San Vitale, and saw the dome of St. Peter's silhouetted at sunset from the Ponte Palatino. Even when we were waiting interminably for the bus, with adfamiliares nearly falling asleep in a doorway, the wall beside us was graced by the angel pictured above. (I believe she's part of a WWI memorial.) It's hard to stay cranky in Rome.

Though the public transportation and all the walking were time-consuming and tiring, today in particular, I'm still pleased that we traveled all over three cities in Italy without driving or taking a cab once.

I'll talk about Sant'Angelo and the Ara Pacis in subsequent posts; for now, some photos of city wandering.

The Fascist history of Rome. Note the "MUSSOLINI DUX" in the inscription — this was part of the piazza Il Duce built around the Mausoleum of Augustus.


Colorful graffiti and satellite dishes along the Tiber.


It probably doesn't reflect well on my taste, but I really liked this Neo-Gothic church (Sacro Cuore). It's only about 90 years old, and made from concrete.


The quadriga atop the Italian Supreme Court.


The stag of Sant'Eustachio. Notable for marking the piazza where the best coffee in Rome can be found, though they were out of ice today, so adfamiliares did not get the shakerato she was craving.


Weathered wall (with a peephole) on the Via del Seminario.


One of the fabulously informative bus stop signs of Rome. Take a memo, MBTA.


The famous Trevi Fountain. Yes, we threw coins over our shoulders. (€3000 a day ends up in the Trevi Fountain. The money funds a low-income grocery store.)


This is the papal crest of Clement XII, above the fountain. There's a lot going on here — the angels seem to be missing the backs of their heads, one of them looks like a unicorn, and the stalks of grain being held by the woman in the lower left do not look like they could possibly have been carved from stone.


St. Peter's in silhouette, with birds.


Night life along the Tiber.

The whole set is here.