Olive trees, Rome Now where was I? Oh, right – Rome. Of course, we did the tourist-thing. You know, the Mouth of Truth,
the Forum,
and the Colliseum (Fabulous tour by Steve of Angel Tours)
But by far, the best part of visiting ancient Rome was having a picnic under the olive trees on the Palatine Hill.
Wanja packed “turtle rolls”
onto which we piled fresh mozarella, tomatoes and basil, henceforth known as a “Palatine Sandwich”.
On Sunday, we rented bikes at the train station and rode out along the Appian Way, (which is closed to traffice on Sundays) to the Catacombs. Highly recommended, and a new bike path within the city made it even easier. Then to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. Sorry, no photos, but here’s a little clip of the Trevi Fountain scene from La Dolce Vita…
As much as we loved touring Rome, my favorite times there were when we hung out with the locals in Trastevere. Like the hour or so we spent sitting at a bar at the Piazza San Cosimato, a favorite neighborhood gathering place.
The Piazza has long been home to a local vegetable market, but until recently was also Trastevere’s unoffical parking lot and home to drug dealers. That all changed when the Piazza was redesigned by Lorenzo Pignatti as a modern gathering place for the residents of Trastevere and their families.
Although the Piazza is a bit of an anachronism in this ancient part of Rome, it works. The market is thriving and children play safely in the playground while their parents sit and drink coffee or wine at the nearby bars. Which is exactly what we did.
Now if we had had this at our neighborhood playgound in NYC, my kids would have been there every evening. Heck, I’d be swinging on those swings myself..
The market in Piazza San Cosamo is a bit quiet these hot summer days, but that doesn’t mean the fruits and vegatables are not just as gorgeous as in the high season.
If, like us, you are in Rome in late July, you will be just in time for Festa de’Noantri. The festival starts with the procession of the statue of Vergen del Carmine, who is taken from her home in church of Sant’Agata and paraded through the streets of Trastevere to San Crisogono, where she will be on display for eight days while Trastevere parties.
Unfortunately, we will miss the rest of the Festival, because we are heading to the beach, with a stop in Villetri along the way.
Great photos as usual TBTAM. It was great that you spent so much time in that local area.
I agree withjmb. Thanks for sharing them.
Your pictorial and narrative tour of Italy has ALMOST convinced me to set aside my extreme fear of flying to visit Italy myself one day. Everybody that I have ever known to travel there has absolutely loved it and often return year after year.
Well wishes to your mother.
MMT
Love the pics! I’ll have to check out the rest of your posts about being in Italy.