Three days in Rome – part II

by Iuli

Our second day in Rome was dedicated to a journey on foot towards the Vatican and its surroundings. We have had the real pleasure to enjoy the Pentecost service in Piazza San Pietro and, in spite of a merciless sun, there was so much solemnity and welcoming in the air that we didn’t feel like leaving anymore.

In the end we chose to leave the Vatican museum visit for our next day and headed ourselves toward Castel Sant'Angelo (less known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian), the medieval refuge fortress of the popes. The castle is circular in shape and offers an inner spiral climb towards the upper part, where the visitor is met by an enchanting display of rooms and terraces with a great panorama towards the center of Rome. If getting there at lunch time, it would not be a bad idea to try and serve a meal on the terrace at the top of the castle, with an incredible view over the Vatican and fare prices (about 10e for one tasty lasagna offered together with a coke).

Descending from the Sant’Angelo we followed the river Tevere (Tiber) downstream toward the picturesque Trastevere district where a more laic and humble Rome, with narrow streets and small houses greeted us. If you’re a bohemian going to Rome, Trastevere is definitely a must see for its authentic atmosphere and also its many pubs and restaurants.

From Trastevere you can return towards the city centre by crossing the Tiber on the bridges across the Island, a path leading directly to the interesting and quite well conserved ruins of Teatro di Marcello and then turn on Via del Teatro Marcello, along the Capitoline Hill and upwards to Piazza Venezia.

A rewarding choice for ending our second day was a twilight walk through the Navona district, with a short stop at Piazza della Rotonda and the Pantheon and ended in Quirinale, at the crowded but fascinating Fontana di Trevi. It was there that we dropped all the change in our pockets hoping for a return with more staying days and that we have enjoyed a well deserved couple of hours of peace and rest, in spite of the cosmopolitan crowd swarming around us.

The journey back to hour hotel has led us up on the Esquiline towards the largest church in Rome, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore whose location it is said to have been chosen by the very Blessed Virgin Mary.

We have kept our last day in Rome for a thorough visit at the Vatican and it was well we decided to do so, as the entrance queue was surrounding the city on its north-eastern side and we have spent about three hours waiting to get in (you can avoid this by paying a tour guide but as we were already on low budget and had no idea what was laying ahead of us…).

Once you get inside, after passing the multiple security scanners, the remaining thing to do is go with the flow… your feet already in great pain from the three hour queue stand. It is not necessary to list the items displayed in the museum nor the glamour of the Apostolic palace… but the sacred atmosphere imprinted in the walls highly contrasting with the more human opulence and beautifully blended with breath taking works of art are all things not easy to forget about. The journey through the overwhelming maze of the Vatican is crowned by the famous Sistine Chapel with its frescoes painted by great Renaissance artists, Michelangelo included and which is hosting the Papal conclaves.

Later the same day, tired by our visit to the heart of the Catholic Church, we have taken another walk in the Navona surrounding with stops in Piazza Navona – a wonderful display of Baroque works of art – and a visit inside the Pantheon, the enormous ancient temple of all gods where the tomb of Raphael is to be found.

After treating ourselves with a 5 euro ice-cream in Piazza della Rotonda we have taken a one last walk towards the Fountain of Trevi just to find it less crowded than in the previous evening and headed then to our hotel passing again through Piazza Venezia and then along the Trajan’s Forum towards the Coliseum and the Esquiline Hill wherefrom we have enjoyed one final view of the ancient city.

Three days could obviously never be enough to explore all that Rome has to offer but if you don’t care that much about your feet and can bear the tiredness of walking around its major sites and their surroundings you will definitely enjoy enough cultural and historical atmosphere to compensate for the lack of time and get a very good picture of its never setting glory, magnificence and power.

Three days in Rome – part I

by Iuli

It is many times said that Romanian is the second spoken language at Microsoft...this could or could not be true... but I think Romanian is for sure the second spoken language in Rome. It’s not the officials, nor the guys begging at the street corners (though those could count for it as well) but it’s always the hotel assistant or the girl at the ice cream shop (the lovely and yummy and costy ‚Gelateria’) or even the Indian guys at the supermarket selling Romanian ‚seminte’ (sun flower seeds) and other products that have ‚for sale also in Romania’ written all over them...

Rome was never my primary visiting objective... I am honest enough to say I was never enchanted at the idea of visiting Italy, partly because it’s kind of easy to reach by us, Romanians and you can always postpone it in favor of other, more exotic, destinations but also because I feared that, even if I was going there as a tourist, I would have been treated as an ,invader’ (who has been invading who? by the way...) by people whom I would have had to speak about my origins... I was wrong and now I am happy I can speak about the wonderful mother city of all proudly called ‚Latin’ civilizations.

Taking advantage of the Romanian official holiday that is given 50 days after Easter – called ‚Rusalii’ (Pentecost or the ‚the Descend of the Holy Spirit’) – a Christian celebration with some Roman origins, dedicated to the cult of the dead, we have decided to try a short visit to an Europe city with some Mediterranean air and Latin atmosphere. As Barcelona had been seen the previous years, Rome became the second best choice so we started to dig up for some fairly priced air tickets. When searching for cheap tickets within Europe I always favor the low cost companies and the ones regularly operating in Romania are, of course, Blue Air and Wizz Air… Both companies have good prices and good flight times from Bucharest to Rome but one should never forget that with them all is well as long as all is going on well… God help it for some flight delays or other bad situations, as calling the company costs you about as much as it costs to dial an erotic line and even so, you would hardly get any help… and it would always come too late, anyway.

We have used venere.com to find suitable accommodation and chose Art in Accommodation hotel as our host for our three nights in Rome. The hotel was ok from the cleanness and silence point of you but with a shared bathroom  which is not a big deal for a three nights stay, especially considering it’s awesome location (in the center of the city, 10-15 minutes walk from the Termini station). The hotel staff (the owner and a Romanian - !!! – lady) were very nice and welcoming and kind enough to offer us a map of the city which I recommend to be asking for at your chosen hotels or tourist info’s… although I think you can find it even at newspaper or ticket selling places – a map of the city centre and all its attractions, very clear and easy to use.

We didn’t use public transportation in Rome so I cannot be giving much information about it… although we have dug up some info related to the subway, we only got on it once and weren’t very happy about it… as the written indications were quite unclear and misleading (…if you have ever been to London or Vienna you would get my point). Our precious map has led us everywhere on foot and I am happy we did so because in Rome you can stumble upon a piece of art and / or history at almost every street corner.

On our first day in the city we have decided, as expected, to firstly go and see the Coliseum… partly because it is the very landmark of Rome but also because it seemed the closest to our hotel location and the sun was already at noon. To our enchantment we only had to walk about ten minutes from the hotel, cross Parco di Traiano on the Esquiline Hill (where emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea is located) and there it was! The place where our ancestors, the Thracians had won their glory as feared gladiators and that has become the icon of the Roman Empire.

The amphitheatre is an amazing thing to see from the outside, but for a bite of real history you need to pay the entrance and queue for more than an hour at its gates. And yes, if you have ever wanted to visit Babylonia, you can for sure find it there – meaning that while waiting I could hear almost any language spoken on this planet.

Located right next to the Coliseum there is the Palatine Hill (or Mons Palatinus, as the Romans called it), the very centre of ancient Rome and, as the legend says, the place where Remus and Romulus had been found by the she-wolf that raised them. Coming down from the Palatine, on Via dei Fori Imperiali, the central street of Rome that runs from the Coliseum to Piazza Venezia, located between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline, there is the Roman Forum – the heart of the public life in ancient Rome, surrounded by ruins of government buildings, where triumphal processions, public gatherings and even trials were held in the antiquity.

The walk down to Piazza Venezia is rewarded by the view of the magnificent Vittoriano, the monument built by King Victor Emmanuel II in the honor of the unified Italy. In Piazza Venezia there are also located the Palazzo Venezia, the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto and the Trajan’s Column built by the emperor to commemorate his victory in the Dacian wars and depicting on its spiral bas relief the epic of the Roman fight and victory.

(to be continued)