One wet week in Rome
 

I just returned from my second trip to Rome. The first was solo, this time was with a group of four friends. Since we'd all been there before, I thought that this would be a more relaxing trip than the one most visitors take. We'd have a cappuccino in the piazza, visit one site in the morning, enjoy a nice lunch, wander a bit, head back to our apartment in Trastevere for a quick rest, open our evening with an aperitivo, and close out the night with a dinner in a family-run osterie. Basically, I'd do what I did on my first trip to Rome, and to every solo trip to Italy since ... only this time with friends!

It didn't quite work out that way.

I've put the highlights in bold, and starred the best of the best.

Tuesday. The gang had arrived the night before, I arrived late morning . It was a wet and grey morning, but we were all still game for a walk. Someone in the Piazza Navona handed us flyers for an interactive Mostra Leonardo da Vinci in the Palazzo della Cancellaria. Everything about this screamed 'tourist trap' to me ... but the gang was excited by the idea, and I didn't want to be too negative on my first day. But it was, indeed, a tourist trap. It wasn't educational, and it wasn't interactive. We ate a great lunch at Ditirambo, and fortified by pasta, wine, and grappa, we headed back out into the rain. The next stop was S. Luigi dei Francesi to view the Caravaggio pieces. We had bad timing; the church was full of tour groups, and it was hard to find a position to enjoy the paintings. As soon as anyone dropped in a euro coin to light up the side altars the groups would descend en masse. This surprised me; I didn't think that this was one of the popular spots. Maybe it was on account of the rain? In the afternoon we stopped by the Pantheon en route to the Campodoglio area. The views from here were magnificent, and the walk was a nice way to work through my jet lag.

We got back to Trastevere late, and headed right out for an aperitivo. I was surprised how crowded and popular the neighborhood was. I had bookmarked a couple places with good reputations, but the crowds at each of them were spilling out the doors. I don't remember this from my last trip here, about seven years ago. We finally found a seat at Meccanismo Bistrot. The drinks were creative and good, and the aperitivo plate was so filling that we skipped dinner.

Wednesday. More light rain. We took public transit to the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. It should have been an easy 45" trip, but it took us twice that. Rome's public transit system is great ...once you get the hang of it. The museum itself is worthwhile. I was surprised at how much Greek influence there was on the Etruscan pieces. I had hoped to visit S. Maria del Popolo afterwards, but we were all hungry. After a good if not inspired lunch we visited the Spanish Steps, the strange crypt at S. Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, Piazza Barberini, and the Fontana di Trevi. I was starting to feel a bit frazzled by this point. This area is crowded with tourists even in the off-season, though most seemed to be Italian school groups.

Dinner was at Da Enzo al 29. We had to wait an hour for a table, but filled the time drinking prosecco near by. It was the kind of restaurant I love. Small, intimate, and family-run. This was also the last night where we actually got a table at one of the restaurants on my list. Did I mention that Trastevere is really popular these days? The small places were always booked, and we weren't organized enough to make reservations ahead of time.

Thursday. We started at *** Vatican Scavi. This was an old Roman necropolis that was at the foot of the Vatican hill. Constantine had the top half of the hill removed, and buried the necropolis to create a flat surface for the new basilica. Today archaeologists lead small groups 30 meters beneath the surface to visit the ruins. It's fantastic. Afterwards we explored the Basilica di San Pietro, which was as crowded as I remember. We enjoyed the climb to the Cupola. In the afternoon we went to the Palazzo Altemps. The Palazzo is known for it's Roman statues, most of which had undergone 18th and 19th century "repairs." It was interesting to see the huge difference in skill levels between the ancients and the moderns, and how much the repairs detracted from the overall artistry of the originals. I thought this museum was underwhelming. Dinner was at the pizzeria Ai Marmi in Trastevere. This is a big, bustling place full of locals. I liked it, though two of the guys barely touched theirs. They were starting to do that strange, American thing where they get picky about eating too many carbs. This is something that I will never understand.

Friday. We started the day with a visit to the *** Terme di Caracalla. It was an easy tram-ride from Trastevere. Easy, that is, now that we were starting to understand how the transport system worked! The baths had both audio guides and "virtual reality" guides. The latter looked like the old view masters from our childhoods, but contained animated 3-D renderings of the different rooms from when they were active. This really elevated the experience, and I'd highly recommend it. Without the v-r the ruins were interesting enough, and they are set in a large, park-like area that was a peaceful respite from the crowds of the center. Afterwards we split up. One guy was very task-oriented and hit three more museums (!), two started drinking (!!), and I took a relatively short walk over to San Giovanni in Laterano. The Basilica was nice, but not quite the destination you'd expect from the "mother church of the world." I was hoping to visit the Basilica di S. Clemente as well,but it's closed mid-day. I debated heading to the Scuderie del Quirinale for the Picasso exhibit, but didn't feel like rushing around all afternoon. In retrospect, I would have headed to the exhibit rather than San Giovanni.

We all re-grouped in the late afternoon for drinks on the Gay Street di Roma. The guys were all expecting crowds at the bars, as this was the traditional American happy-hour time. They never did quite accept that gay bars in Italy don't get crowded until after midnight. Dinner was at one of the crowded places in Trastevere with a guy out front hustling to get people in. I usually avoid places like this.

Saturday. Our first stop was the *** Dungeon and Belvederetour at the Flavian Amphitheater. The underground tour was interesting, but the visit to the closed third and fifth rings was utterly fantastic. It was wonderful to be away from the crowds, and our guide was educated and interesting. Tickets for these go fast! They generally do on sale around the 15th of the preceding month. We had an excellent lunch at Volare, a Sardinian restaurant in the area. Next up was *** Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden House. It's only open on the weekends, The guides are archaeologists working on the restorations. In the middle of the visit you don oculus rift headsets for ... no spoilers. Just know that it's amazing.

Some of the guys were tired of Italian food by now (how is this even possible?), so we decided to stop at a Greek restaurant in Testaccio on the way back. The google reviews were all great (it's just like being in Greece! they all said), but the food wasn't very good.

Sunday. It was supposed to rain all day, but it turned out to be pleasant day. I had a couple options in mind: spend the day on the Via Appia Antica, or maybe take a day trip to Ostia Antica. In the end, we opted to stay in the neighborhood and explore Trastevere. This was a great choice ... a lazy Sunday is always nicer than a busy Sunday. First stop was the 5th Century S. Cecilia in Trastevere, which was a pleasant surprise. The church is nice, there's a beautiful marble effigy of S. Cecelia by Stefano Maderno, and there are some significant excavations beneath the church of two old Roman houses, along with a crypt . Next door, from 11:15 to 12:15, you can ring the bell and ask the nuns for permission to visit Pietro Cavallini's Last Judgment, a major fresco that marks the transition from the older Byzantine-style of art to a newer uniquely Italian style. Then we wandered down to the Villa Farnesini. This Renaissance home has walls painted by Raphael and his students. It wasn't even on my radar, but I ended up really enjoying the artwork here. It helps that I love Raphael.

We had thought about going to the new sound-and-light show at the Ara Pacis, but learned too late that it only occurs Friday and Saturday nights.

Lunch was at Ivo a Trastevere. I was ready to try some of the more unique Roman dishes on the menu, like cerveletti ( fritters of "little brains") - but they were sold out. Maybe next time. Oddly enough, even though the restaurant was packed with Italians and no one spoke much English (lucky we speak enough Italian to get by), some of the reviews called this a 'tourist' restaurant. It wasn't. Dinner was the opposite, though! The 'authentic' Italian restaurant we went to, Pimm's Good, was almost completely full of Americans. The food was good, but what made the night was the local band playing American jazz standards. I was dubious at first, but the band - Roberta Vaudo & The Blue Whistles - was really good and it made for a great final evening.

And somehow, suddenly, the week was over. And there was still so much left to see and do and eat ...

Well written and well enjoyed ~ thank you for posting!

Sighing for Rome. Thanks for the TR, michael_cain_77398.

>>> Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden House.<<<

It's been about 15 years since I visited Domus Aurea. I wonder if the restoration has added enough to it for a return visit. We certainly didn't have any headsets. It's been closed off and on over the years.

Thnaks for that trip report !

We made reseravtion for an appartement in trastevere in july. Your report give me second thoughts about it, If it's that much crowdy noe it will be a real zoo in july !

I can't say how it was 15 years ago, but it is going to be phenomenal in another 15. There's a major project to remove a lot of the top soil above the domus, to reduce the pressure on the ruins, and then to lay pipes and netting under the soil to eliminate moisture seeping in. After this they can control the climate in the domus, and really start restoring the frescoes in earnest. We saw examples of laser cleaning and chemical cleaning. It's definitely an active site these days; we were given hard hats before entering.

Maybe not. It was crowded with young Italians coming to the neighborhood in the evening, and with a smaller number of American students - there weren't the package tourists and day trippers. It might not fluctuate that much winter to summer, and it was still far less crowded than the center.

Thanks for the report, bookmarking for a possible fall visit.

Thanks for the TR, glad you found and enjoyed St Cecilia's - it was the first church we came across and therefore visited in Rome on our first visit with our kids 15 or so years ago so it holds a special place in my heart. We almost stayed in Trastevere but the apartment we had booked was cancelled on us so we ended up in Monti - I wonder if that has become similarly crowded? Subsequently I have stayed in a hotel round the back of St Peter's, which was not a crowded neighbourhood, at least not in February, and near Via dei Coronari, which again was not too bad, though it was February again.