We found the markets starting under old roman arches. The markets were packed with people and similar to markets everywhere. The same clothes and bits in every stall. It was nice to walk around and look at everything. It rained on and off, but the clouds were cooling so I didn't mind.
We walked across the bridge and saw the aftermath of the night time crowds. We wound our way around small streets. They were covered in vines and restaurants. We found the Palazza Nuovo and with its three fountains. Each of them was different but charming. More crazy fish people and violence. The church on the side was impressive. The square was full of painters selling their wares. Most were talented. Others not so much.
We looked for food, very hungry by this time. Down one of the streets we found a take away pizza and panini place. I had some tasty mushroom pizza. We walked east and North, checking the map with each step. It is very easy to get lost in this city. We edged to the Pantheon. Having seen the Parthenon in Greece I was interested to compare. I have, of course, already seen it with my folks 7 years ago. I remembered a small round dome on a quaint church. For some reason. In reality it was large and majestic.
The Corinthian columns were gorgeous. We took turns reading from the book and acting as tour guide. Inside was a graceful cathedral with all the trimmings. Raphael and his fiance are buried there, with royalty. People were basically respectful and didn't talk to too much there. It is still an active church,after all.
The trevi packed, as I had expected. But exquisite. There are these rocks like pieces and perfeect statues on top. The water was bright blue. Now police guard the fountain to stop divers stealing all the coins people throw in.
We found a spot near the fountain and got photos before we got pushed away by other photo takers. I was careful all the time with my bag. I heard how bad the crime was there. Despite the throngs on people we got a chance to sit for a while and just soak in the vibe. Theres a certain tranquility to the water there, moving steadily among the statues.
Kate came up to us startled. A local pigeon had left a present on her shoulder, leg and hair. Luckily we were right next to the clean trevi water, so she used the fountain to wash herself off.
We jumped to the spanish steps. They are just big steps, really. But with a good vibe. Also very busy by the time we got there.
There had been drops felt through out the day,but nothing major. Not this time. The clouds burst and Rome was hit by a steady barage of large cold bullets. Every ran almost as a single entity, until the steps were all but empty. Most left for near by streets. We stood under one of the steps´ few overhangs with some others. It wasn´t that effective.
I thought, the air is still warm and I´m not wearing white. Why am I running from the rain. This is a great opportunity. So using my glasses case as a impromptu cover, I took my camera out to capture the experience. My camera stayed dry the entire time. I got photos of empty steps. It was great. I love standig in the rain on a hot day. Its so revitalising.
The rain held out for maybe 10 minutes. As it slowed to a stop the crowds started to return. We went down to the lower steps and hung around a little more.
We passed some back streets a s block from the steps. We sat outside a café once we found a place that got all our approval. Kate had beer, while Josh and I had cold expressos in water glasses. We did order cold coffees. It was nice and really perked me up after a long day of walking and touring. We discussed the next few days touring plans and then which towns to go after that. Kate was planning on Sienna. Josh and I had originally thought Verona, but had heard from a couple of people that it wasn´t really that great. I listen to people now. Had we talked to people earlier we wouldn't have ended up in Naples. We thought straight onto Turin then.
In the evening we walked around the block to a street with some restaurants that had looked good. We found a place that did pasta as a main (most have tiny first courses of pasta). I got this amazing lasagna. After all the tiny a bit of pasta and meat sauce was a dream come true.
Then tiramisu!!
We bused to trastavere again. We walked down the hip young things´ bar area. In was a street sunk into the ground. They had real charm. The few places in the book turned out to be a bust. But instead we found a funky place with people spilling out into the street. It was almost impossible to find a free ledge to sit, even outside. But we did. We drank mojitos in the hot Rome night.
We started a conversation with a 30 year old Roman guy an his silent friend. He spoke very good English and told us about what the young people thought of the current government and Vatican interference. He was interesting to listen to. He invited us to a roof top party the next night. We considered for a moment, but it was out in the burbs and unreachable by public transport.
We caught the bus in time tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment