Arrivederci Roma

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18 May 2009

If the bells of Roma are distinctive, the sirens of Rome may be said to be more representative of what one’s memory will be after visiting today. Between police and ambulances Rome sings a cacophonous lullaby far into the night—sometimes all night.

A sound machine is the best money a long-term traveler can spend!

Since last I wrote I’ve had a chance to walk the Appian Way—for a short distance. There are new ruts and old ruts in roads around the world, then there are truly ancient ruts, like those you find on the flat stones of Appia Antica (as it is called on the street signs). These stones have been there for about 2300 years—give or take—and they have been in use the whole time.

As you wander down a stretch that is not covered by the smaller cobblestones used by the city of Roma today, you still have to dodge cars, motorscooters, bicycles and horses. The dodging is easy because you can hear all but the bicycles coming.

The bicyclists, not being dummies, use the banks of the road, rather than the uncobbled stretches.

The only vehicle we saw going fast on the road was a carbineri (police) car. We suspected the driver was just showing off, but the way the car jounced around it was easy to see why we kept finding little bits of automobiles scattered among the rocks, along with pieces of motorcycles, horseshoes, Model-T badges, a section of spoke that may have come from a chariot wheel, a couple of teeth and a bronze breastplate buckle.

Just kidding about the pre-20th century stuff—otherwise there were plenty of mechanical parts, most especially tail light fragments.


I’ve decided to ease up on Rome a little bit. You can find good food, even less expensive food if you keep looking. You can find cafes that make the coffee just right and offer a tasty selection of pastries. There is one at the junction of Via Appia Antica and Via Cecilia Metella. It also rents bicycles.

There is also a very nice little restaurant called A Tempio di Minerva, on Viale Manzoni. To find it you go out the south side of Termini station and turn left, walking down Via G. Giolitti. When you see a huge old ruin of a Roman temple, barely identified as the temple of Minerva, you are close to Via Manzoni onto which you turn right. Minerva’s prices are OK, but higher than shown on the menu posted in English on the sidewalk. Try the sausage, it’s very good.

It is surprising how many ruins have no real identification. You turn a corner and you are faced with an ancient ruin. It’s just there—all over Rome. Sometimes you’ll see a newer façade built over some work that was originally early Roman—a temple converted to a church, as is the Pantheon, which is well worth a visit (if you do, be sure and get a gelato at Cremeria Monteforte on the south side of the old building. You won’t regret it.).

Other times you’ll just see old Roman bricks and ruins incorporated into newer buildings. Every inch of the city is layered with the remains of the past, some ignored and some hidden. Just try to identify buildings built during the Fascist era, for instance—you’ll get little or no help from historical markers on that period.

As you travel down Via Cavour, which leads towards the Coliseum, you find a variety of ethnic food sellers, but little beyond what all the other places are offering. However, a couple of blocks south of Termini Station is the Santa Maria Maggiore church. You can’t miss it because it has an Egyptian Obelisk on the western side facing Cavour. The neighborhood behind that church has a mix of fine dining and lodging and the seediest parts of Rome, which means that all the newcomers—the Indians, the Chinese, the Africans, and their many sub-divisions—live, shop and eat there. You get tired of pasta and pizza, this is an interesting place to wander. You might not want to go by yourself, however.

That’s it for me. Arrivederci Roma, Ciao Milano.

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Photos

The most powerful place in the world--circa 79 BC
The Roman Forum from Palatine Hill

Appian ruts
And some plastic shards, lug nuts and other debris

Connie having a bite
Near the the fountain of the four rivers.

A biter having Connie
The famous Bocca de Vertitas featured in "Roman Holiday"

Just a little bite
Pastry at the corner of the Appian Way and Cecilia Mettela