Lazy Sunday in Rome & the Vatican

For our last full day in Rome before heading down south to Puglia, we started with some more off-the-beaten path sights, including a morning visit to the Quartiere Coppedè on the north side of the city. We took a bus to this small but enchanting neighborhood, built in the 1920s by a Florentine architect. It's basically just one block in each direction, with whimsical ornate structures and a fountain of frogs in the middle. It might not be on the top of the tourist list, but it's worth a visit if you have a long stay in Rome or you're interested in unique architecture. The surrounding neighborhoods are leafy and pleasant. 

From there we took a bus to the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia. This is a large museum in a former pope's villa, focusing on Etruscan history from the first millennium BC. It's an excellent museum, with a TON of pottery, some interesting funerary and temple sculptures, and even a whole relocated tomb. It's a bit out of the way and less visited than other museums in Rome, but provides an interesting perspective on an often overlooked period of Italy's history. The villa itself is from the 1550s and there are still some interesting mosaics and murals remaining.

Pleasant neighborhood around Piazza Buenos Aires.

The church of Santa Maria Addolorata on Piazza Buenos Aires.

The Quartiere Coppedè and fountain of the frogs.

Neat architecture.

Whimsical building complete with seahorses.

Villa Giulia, home of the Etruscan museum.

An intact Etruscan tomb.

The museum's most famous piece, the sarcophagus of the spouses.

Detail on a statue from a temple in Veii. Pretty impressive for the 6th century BC!

David in the courtyard.

From here we took a long meandering walk, enjoying the mostly sunny day. Heading south, our first stop was the Piazza del Popolo. This area was pretty lively, with people taking in the atmosphere of this touristy area. We ducked in to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, checked out the fountain in the square, and continued on to a nice lunch at PizzaRe. Continuing south after eating, we passed the Augustus Mausoleum, and visited the Ara Pacis museum. For some reason entry was free on this day. It's a small museum but houses an impressive altar in a cool modern space. From here we began walking toward the Vatican, crossing the Tiber River and passing by the Italian Supreme Court.

Porta del Popolo, a gate built in 1475 leading into the city of Rome at the time.

The basilica is more plain than some in Rome, but still impressive.

One of 13 ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome.

Yum!

Outside of the Augustus Mausoleum.

The Ara Pacis Museum.

Italian Supreme Court.

We weren't totally sure what to expect at the Vatican. The last time we went (in the summer several years ago) it was packed - the square was overflowing with people and the queue for the museum was blocks long. This time, were just a few random groups and people wandering around the square and the queue to enter St Peter's itself was less than 10 minutes long. Our primary objective this visit was to climb to the top of the dome, which has 550 steps and amazing views. Afterwards, we spent a little time wandering around the Cathedral itself, which was not at all busy.

Sunny afternoon at St. Peter's.

Bernini's statues line the square.

View down into St. Peter's basilica.

David climbing in one of the narrow windy staircases to reach the top of the dome.

The 360-degree view at the top is amazing!

Sunset views across the city.

The view down to St. Peter's Square overlooking Rome.

This is the core of the old city - can you spot the pantheon?

One of the side domes on the roof.

David inside St. Peter's. You can see it's not very busy today.

Every inch of the inside is decorated.

An amazing Bernini sculpture with marble draped over a bronze figure of the angel of death.

After wandering around St. Peter's for a bit, the sun was setting so we went back towards the AirBnB near the Pantheon. Along the way we stopped by the Turtle Fountain and got some gelato at Frigidarium (which was very yummy). For dinner that evening we opted for some quick take-away since we were packing up and getting ready for our train ride to Bari the next morning. We found a kebab place near the Jewish Quarter called Oriental Fonzie. The food was great and we'd recommend it if you're in the neighborhood and want a break from pasta or pizza.

Mmmm. Shawarma. 

Next up - our travels to the south of Italy!

Rollercoaster & FC Roma Game!

For our Saturday in Rome, we focused on fun activities instead of just sights or museums; specifically roller coasters and a soccer match! We took a bus in the morning to the EUR neighborhood on the southside of Rome. EUR is a weird fascist-era neighborhood that largely consists of government buildings, office buildings, and large open spaces. We took a quick look at some of the architecture, and then walked to Luneur Park, a surprisingly cute family amusement park. Usually on trips we take in winter, roller coasters are off the table. Luckily Luneur Park was open on the weekends for a Christmas event. Paul got a spin on each of the roller coasters.

Paul at Luneur Park.

Even the ferris wheel has the cute little owl logo.

They had some holiday decorations, including a polar bear.

The spinning roller coaster is creatively named "Spinner."

Hi Paul!

Of course they had a Wacky Worm.

From here we took a taxi even further south, to Cinecitta World, a large "Universal Studios" style theme park in the suburbs. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and a bit difficult to get to. Supposedly there's a shuttle bus you can take from EUR, but we weren't sure if it was running during the Christmas event or only during the summer. There's no train or public bus, so taxi was our only option. It would have been a relatively quick trip from EUR straight down the highway, but we got stuck for a bit in a traffic jam caused by a stalled truck with a portly grandpa standing behind it waving traffic around him.

Cinecitta World is a well-themed park with several great rides. It was also open just for a Christmas event, complete with a Christmas market and Santa Claus. The park is unique because while it is themed after movies, it doesn't actually have the rights to any of the intellectual property. So you won't see a Jurassic Park or Spiderman ride, rather they have rides like "Indiana" (a nod to Indiana Jones) and "Jurassic War" that barely skirt copyright infringements. More interestingly, they have a few rides that are well themed to Italian culture and myths. Inferno is an indoor roller coaster themed after Dante's Inferno, including a projection of a demon eating a baby. Volarium is a ride where you fly through the air with Leonardo da Vinci, swooping over Tuscany and 15th century Florence. We wrapped up our time at the park with a spinach pastry from the Christmas Market, took a picture for a family posing with Santa, and caught an expensive taxi (that we had to wait 20 minutes for) all the way back to Largo di Argentina in the center of Rome. Since Paul previously visited Magicland, he's now been to all of the big parks in the Rome area - although there are several little kiddie roller coasters spread around the city that still need to be visited. 

Paul at the entrance of Cinecitta World.

Christmas market on main street.

Altair, the park's big roller coaster.

There's Paul in the second row! Good job David on getting this picture!

Entering the Rome-themed section of the park.

By now it was mid-afternoon, and we grabbed a sandwich to go from Panepiu on the south side of Largo di Argentina. This is a great, tiny, cheap, conveniently located panini place with high quality ingredients. We picked up some drinks and chips at the little store across from our AirBnB, and ate and relaxed before our next adventure - an AS Roma game! We were a bit hesitant to go to a large sporting event in light of the pandemic, but there were strict vaccine rules and the stadium is open air. We tried to go to a soccer game on our previous trip to Rome, but the date of the game was moved with less than a week warning, so we missed it. We caught a bus up to the stadium (our unlimited bus passes were extremely handy!), which hosted the summer Olympics in 1960. It was cold and drizzly, but luckily the stands are covered by an overhanging roof. The atmosphere at the game was fun, with opposing Roma and Inter Milan fan sections chanting and lighting smoke bombs. We were close to the Inter Milan section, but they were separated behind a plexiglass wall - soccer rivalries are serious business in Europe! Unfortunately for the home team, AS Roma was badly outclassed, with a score of 0-3 before the half. We left a bit after the 70th minute to beat the crowd and catch a bus back to our AirBnB, which worked out well.

Our AirBnB balcony was wet from the rain, but we can still take pictures of beer on it. :)

Olympic Stadium.

Paul with his new Roma scarf and mask!

Lots of flags in the Roma supporters section.

Inter Milan fans celebrating a goal. Note all the security in yellow vests!

Arriving back in our neighborhood, we decided to stick relatively close to the AirBnB for dinner due to the continued threat of rain and the chilly temps. We had some decent dinner and great cocktails at Santa Maria Bistro, then wandered around the nearby Jewish quarter, stopping for some gelato.

The vibe in Santa Maria.

A carbonara pizza!

Yay, gelato! Pretty tasty from Cremeria Romana.

A menorah in the Jewish quarter, for Hanukkah.

The Portico d'Ottavia ruins. You can't walk five feet in the center of Rome without seeing some ruins!