Monday, September 10, 2012

Two Days of Rome

Its been a packed couple of days here in the Eternal City. Yesterday (Sunday), we were all too exhausted to drag our butts out of bed early enough to catch Mass so we did the next best thing: went to St. Peter's Square and were blessed by Pope Benedict at the noon angelus. That's sort of a hard act to follow so we headed to Castel Sant'Angelo to check out Hadrian's Tomb/fortified castle of the popes. Its a pretty neat place! And a welcome respite from the heat. Soon we walked across the Ponte Sant'Angelo, which is lined with beautiful marble statues of angels and third world street hawkers, and sat ourselves to eat at Il Fico. They serve real bufala cheese which I'm totally in love with. After lunch we hit the Piazza Navona to see Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers which is AMAZING. Its crowded, and there's gypsies working the crowd so be on the lookout. It was a beautiful late afternoon so we kept going, eventually getting to the Pantheon where we sat outside, drank wine and people watched. Walking the gauntlet of trattorias finally got us to the Trevi Fountain just as our camera batteries were dying and the sky was deepening to a gorgeous sapphire blue above the fountain. There's indonesians working their racket with faux pics of you for cash and people everywhere. It was a fight to throw a coin in and dip in a hand. Later on I had the nerve to ask the handsome Italian army guy posted near our hotel where we could find a good restaurant. After some searching we found it: da Enrico. We were the only Americans in the place! And it was damn good too.
Today we were on a mission. Our last day on the Roma Pass and we had to make it count. First stop, Trevi Fountain for day time pictures. However, on our exit from Barberini station, we noticed cops EVERYWHERE. A helo circled overhead at a mild hover. We figured it was the spat the Italians were having with the Germans and the ECB over banking. All the banks, monuments and the parliament building we very heavily guarded by local police, the army and the Carabieneri.
We went about our business, saw the beautiful interior of the Pantheon, almost got into a fight with a rose hawker on the Spanish Steps, and got over to St. Peter's just in time for our tour of the Scavi Necropolis. Down we went into the excavation under the basilica. Down to the Roman burials, then to the Constantine era burials and finally to see the burial place of St. Peter. Absolutely at a loss for words, it was so interesting. Very strict dress code too. Afterword we walked right into St. Peter's with no line. How do you describe the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? It glowed. It was peaceful. Its size literary floored me. Michelangelo's "Pieta" was so moving in its simple marble. Pope John Paul's burial site is now a mini-chapel. Michelangelo's bronze altar covering in the center of the apse loomed dark and imposing over everything. And as if that wasn't enough, beams of the late afternoon sun shone down into the church. E and I decided to stay for the Mass while Boy Wonder wandered around. The grand scale of this church is unmatched in anything I've ever seen. The only thing I've seen that even comes close is Westminster Abbey in London and its just not the same.
After getting some gifts at the store we got cleaned up and headed for dinner at Da Enrico again.
The power was out on that block but it was still open. Our waiter Alvio totally spoiled us since the fridges weren't working and they had to get rid of the cold stuff. We finished a bottle of wine while we ate the best tastiest cacio e pepe ever. Afterward he brought us fruit with champagne on it and the limoncello.  Suffice to say I was a bit tipsy on the walk back!.
Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and we have to tie up some loose tourist ends.














4 comments:

  1. I love that no power means more goodies for you!

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    1. First he brought us mushrooms in champagne. Then he brought us sauteed veggies. Then boccancino. And it was all FREE! We were eating halfway in the dark but we didn't care...lol..

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  2. Third world? Really?? C'mon sis you are better than to use that expression! Lol

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    1. Hey when our other sister and I went to Greece it was the same! And the Greeks called them that too...lol

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