Whew! You’d think based on the title of this post that we sped through all the monuments! But seriously, from the Piazzo dei Popolo (the north-most site) to Santa Maria in Cosmodin (the south-most site), it’s a ½ walk! Most monuments are just a turn around the corner from the previous one. We started off at the Spanish Steps (Piazza de Spagna), where Audrey Hepburn sits to eat a gelato… that she purchased at the Trevi Fountain… which in reality, would melt by the time she got to the Spanish Steps. The foremost reason why we decided to vacation in Rome is Angel’s love for the movie Roman Holiday (I’m more into seeing the historical sites and the food!). They must’ve cordoned off the area for the film, as it was packed full of tourists today. There are no gelato shops near the Steps, except a gelato stand on the top of the Steps (many tourists bought from there). It is very pretty but greatly romanticized in the film and definitely looks better in black and white.
We took a wrong turn and ended up at the Palazzo dei Popolo (opposite direction of our intended destination, Villa Medici). The Palazzo was under construction, so we just headed back the way we came.
Villa Medici was once owned by the great Medici family, but came into the hands of the French later in time. The villa was ransacked during the French Revolution (although how the Revolutionaries came to Italy to loot a French property is still beyond me), and was transformed into a pensionnaire (kinda like a vocational school) for music. Debussy and other French notable composers trained at this school.
Gregory Peck’s apartment in Roman Holiday is at the address of Via Margutta 51. We found the quaint but famous street, as the street has been home to artists’ studios since the medieval ages. The numbering on Via Margutta is a little confusing, until you realize that the left-hand street increases in numbers and the right-side decreases… it looks as if the Romans decided to number in a clockwise fashion. The apartment was unfortunately under construction, but the street is lovely, with overhanging flowers and vines. Via Margutta 53’s main door was open, so we were able to gaze into a small courtyard with a lovely fountain and pretty flowers, but the security guard chased us out (private property- oops!).
Going on a friend’s review, we went to Piazza Navona for lunch. The Piazza is famous for just how pretty it is, very expansive with three different fountains in the middle. During Italy’s Renaissance Age, palaces were constructed in an oval shape all around the Piazza, many of which still remain today. Artists congregate in the middle of the Piazza, waiting for tourist customers. Bistros line the sides of the Piazza, but the famous pizzeria Baffetto is located just in back of the Piazza. Although when we finally found it, an unassuming hole-in-the-wall, we discovered it only opens for dinner! Another pizzeria that my friend recommended, Da Francesco, was open, so we ate there instead. We ordered:
a cured beef, cheese, and arugula thin-crust pizza,
a funghi & prosciutto pizza,
and a fettuccine with creamy gorgonzola sauce. OK, I take back what I said yesterday. There are actual decent eateries in Rome! They were delicious!
Angel and Mom loved the cured beef, the arugula was fresh and subtly sweet, Dad and I loved the funghi pizza, and at the end, Dad asked what the sauce of the fettuccine was. Angel and I looked at each other, laughingly, because Dad hates blue cheese but he enjoyed this pasta.
We walked by Della Parma gelateria, known for its 100 flavors of gelato. But the line (more like crowd, with no definite line… people just cutting in front of each other, waving frantically to get the scooper’s attention) was HUGE and the portions looked small, so we moved on. Besides, the place is known for its many flavors… but nobody actually said it tasted good.
The Pantheon is just around the corner from Della Parma, which is just around the corner from Piazza Navona. It is also under construction but free to go inside. The original Pantheon was built in 27 BC, as a temple of worship to the ancient Gods of Rome. It was destroyed in a fire in 80 AD, and the building as we know it as today was built on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. In 609 AD, Emperor Phocas converted to Christianity and gave the building to the Pope, which is primarily why the building still exists today. The Pantheon has been serving as a church and resting place of the famous since the Renaissance.
Raphael is buried here (the above picture is of his tomb), as well as 2 of Italy’s kings. I remember from school that the Pantheon was a raised building, with many steps leading up to the building, so that people could look up from way down below and be awed and intimidated by the building. Now, however, there are no steps leading up to the Pantheon. Flat level. Why? Because the Romans tend to build on top of destroyed sites, so with each battle, earthquake, or fire that destroys a building, they just build on top of the site. This literally means that current Rome is sitting on more than 2000 years of history.
We stumbled on Saint Iganzio de Loyola church on our way to the monument of Vittorio Emmanuele, united Italy’s 1st king. The church is charming from the outside, but absolutely stunning from the inside.
You would never have known! I have not heard of many tourist books recommending this place, but I would say that this church is definitely one of the highlights of Rome. There are beautiful ceiling paintings and sculptures. This is the first place where I saw people really respecting the silence policy (Pantheon has it too, but it was so loud in there you can’t think!).
Vittorio Emmanuele was the first king of united Italy (previously, Italy was comprised of separate states that had their own distinct culture, language, and cuisine… like China!). This humongous monument/building was constructed after his death to memorialize him. The architect demolished most of what was originally there in order to build the monument. The gigantic monument is free entrance, and is now a museum in honor of the Italian army.
Our next stop is Santa Maria in Cosmodin, a church a ways downhill from the Vittorio
Emmanuele monument.
On the way down, we saw a bus stop and all these Italian beauty queens emerge in skimpy black swimsuits and 5-inch heels (some were Christian Louboutins!). The afternoon was already freakin’ cold and it was funny to see them prancing around in the swimsuits!
Their leader made all the pedestrians (ie. us, and all the other tourists) get off the sidewalk so that they could walk in an uninterrupted formation up a formidable set of stairs to some church.
What’s even more funny is that the leader made them walk up the wrong set of stairs and halfway up, someone realized their mistake and they all had to walk down again (the correct set of stairs was 5 feet away)! They’re not exactly known for their brains….
Santa Maria in Cosmodin is where Gregory Peck impromptu-ed and sticks his hand in the mouth and pulls his arm back out, minus his hand. As it was not scripted, Audrey Hepburn was genuinely shocked, which the film director Wyler captured so well. There is a line of people waiting to take their pictures with the mouth, but costs 0.5 euros for each person. We paid 1.9 euros for the 4 of us (I didn’t have 10 cents) but the guy who helped take my picture used ‘flash’ so my pictures came out dark ;(. I ran to grab the camera from him, and took pictures for Angel and our parents.
Dinner was down the street from our apartment at Pepe Café on Via Tritone. The prices looked reasonable and it was lightly raining outside, so we didn’t want to stray too far. The food was delicious! We ordered:
a prosciutto tortellini, along with
a thin-crust prosciutto & mushroom pizza,
and lasagna. They had a pretty good coffee break deal~ 5.5 euros for cappuccino and cake of your choice.
Dad had the cappuccino (which was also delicious!) and we had a rum ganache layered chocolate cake with whipped cream.
The cake was very dark chocolate, so Mom really liked it. The rum really packs a punch, so I liked that part. And we all agreed that they had the best whipped cream we’ve ever had! I usually don’t like whipped cream, but the flavor was just of incredibly fresh heavy cream. Angel loves whipped cream and she said this was the best as well. The deal was so good that we decided to go with another one! Dad ordered cappuccino again, and we ordered a hazelnut chocolate cake,
which Angel loved. It is crumbly and a little spongy, but paired with the whipped cream, it becomes pretty smooth. By the time we got out of the restaurant, it was pouring! There was flooding everywhere and Dad and my shoes were soaked by the time we got to the apartment. Suddenly I feel like the apartment is a lot cozier! Since we needed dry shoes in order to walk tomorrow, Angel and Mom spent the night using the shitty hairdryer (loses power every 5 seconds, so you have to unplug then plug it again) and using the gas burner to heat up the shoes… which, Mom accidentally burnt off Dad’s shoelace!
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