Day 5

It was so nice to be able to sleep in having no prior engagements or stress to worry about. I took a trip down the street to our nearest food market and bought us some food for breakfast. I could already tell it was going to be a gorgeous day. The sun was out and shining brightly, a slight breeze was blowing, and the sky was clear. Finding things in the market was a little difficult because I didn’t realize there were two floors at first. Also, I still don’t know the name of most food items in Italian, so I didn’t really know how to ask for them. I keep forgetting that for individual fruit or vegetable items, you have to print off your own price sticker. Next time, I will know better. Almost everything I bought came from Italy, which made me very happy. Most things were local and fresh, even at an indoor market. Still, I can’t wait to visit an outdoor farmer’s market.

For breakfast, I made us some scrambled eggs with tomatoes, red pepper, and spinach. On the side, we had some fresh bread and fantastic cheese. The cheese and olive selection at the market was impressive. It was so difficult to choose what to buy, but I was comforted by the knowledge that I will have plenty of time over the course of the coming semester to try them all.

We ate out breakfast out on our little balcony with the sun shining brightly down on us. It really was the perfect first morning in Rome. Afterwards, we got ready and headed off towards the coliseum. We knew we wanted to see it today, but we also wanted to stumble upon as many wonderful things as we could along the way.

First, we visited the church which lies across the street from our apartment. It was the Chiesa il Gesu, or Church of Jesus. It makes sense since we are living in the square of Jesus. It was a beautiful church with a plethora of magnificent paintings all over the walls and ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we wanted to visit the Campidoglio, but on our way down the street, this strange urge came over us to stop for a midday espresso. Maybe it's the Rome atmosphere; maybe we just wanted to fit in with the Italians, but we stopped in a little café, ordered a line of espresso shots, drank them standing up, paid, and left. It was great. I was really starting to feel like an Italian.

At the end of the street, we came upon a line of sites. First was the Campidoglio. We had hoped to enter the museum, but it was closed because it was a Monday, so we are planning to return tomorrow. Behind the Campidoglio is a wonderful distant view of the Coliseum and the Imperial forum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next to the Campidoglio is a famous church, said to be one of the oldest standing structures in Rome. It’s called the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Its history goes back to the 6^th century.

 



The stairs to the church

 

View from the top
 

 

 

 

 

Chandiliers

 

Ceiling
 

 

 

The next building over is a huge white marble structure that demands attention. However, many citizens hate it, calling it a “huge white monstrosity.” I have to admit that upon seeing it for the first time, I was awe-struck. I thought it was beautiful, and I still do, but I can see how growing up with it there might wear on me a bit. It is the Victor Emmanuel Monument of Vittorio, and I learned that many historic buildings were destroyed for its creation. What a disappointment! It is very impressive, though.

Elevator to the top (expensive)

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Vittorio, we finally made our way to the Coliseum. It truly is spectacular, and I was so happy that we had good weather to see it for the first time, but all the peddlers trying to sell us “selfie” cameras, scarves and other trinkets were extremely aggravating. There are so many of them, and some of them are so persistent that they will follow you around or block your way. I’ve found that the easiest way to get rid of them is first, never to make eye-contact, and second, to have a really badass expression on your face that says “don’t mess with me.” Sometimes, I really hate being a tourist, but the Coliseum is definitely worth it. We actually didn’t go inside today. We just explored the exterior for a while before heading down the street for some lunch. At the restaurant we chose, business was booming. It definitely seemed like the place to be. Everyone was very friendly, and we were able to sit outside to enjoy our food.

After lunch, we stopped into a few more churches and ended up in another piazza down the street. This one terminated with a gorgeous cathedral. I’m still not sure what the name of it was, but right outside it in the square was a large obelisk decorated in beautiful characters.

 

On our way back we wandered through a beautiful garden right across from the Colosseum. By the time we were ready to leave the garden, the sun was just beginning to recede so that the subdued orange light it cast was perfect for picture-taking. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries right before-hand, but Nicole and Kristen got some fantastic shots of the Colosseum in the dimming light.

We walked back to the apartment for a brief rest before going out again for dinner. Since we had eaten a large lunch, we decided to try something smaller for dinner. An appertivo sounded perfect. We founded a nice little hole-in-the-wall restaurant just a ten minute walk from our apartment near Piazza Nivona and decided to try it out. What really drew us to it was the fact that the reviews specifically said it was not a tourist spot. We wanted something authentic Italian, and we got it. When we walked in, there was only one other woman in the entire restaurant. The streets were very quiet, and the ambiance was peaceful and calming. Appertivo basically seems to be the Italian version of Spanish tapas, a series of small plates eaten slowly in succession with good wine. I had a delicious Chianti to start. For the meal we had bruschetta, then a roasted eggplant roll, then another bruschetta with pesto and what tasted like Fontina cheese, and finally a frittata with eggplant, zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms. It was delicious, and just enough to fill us up. It seemed as though the waitress wasn’t a huge fan of our being Americans because she was slow to serve us, but I think I will definitely go back. Even if I don’t eat there, it would be a great place to just have a glass of wine and do some homework.

We couldn’t resist the temptation to try another gelato shop, so we made our way first to the beautiful Piazza Nivona, then back towards the Parthenon. There are three really great gelato shops right on the corner. We had tried one the first night, and we tried another one tonight. This one had a series of fantastic looking chocolate flavors. I ordered Mayan chocolate and Pistachio. It was heavenly, but extremely rich. We returned to our spot in front of the Pantheon where the same cellist as before was performing again. Good music, delicious gelato, and the beautiful Pantheon for a view—I couldn’t really think of much better. We only wandered around a bit tonight before heading back to the apartment. It had been a long day, and I’m not going to lie—relaxing on our luxuriously comfortable fold-out bed with a mug of tea had been too blissful yesterday to ignore.

We did it again before falling asleep early.