Benvenuti a Roma!

A few years ago we started throwing around the idea of a family vacation to Italy. David's Dad's family has roots in Italy, so we thought it would be a great "return to the fatherland" vacation. When we saw a great deal on British Airways ($400 round trip from Atlanta!) we bought tickets and started planning our trip in late September/early October 2017.

We booked an AirBnB apartment for nine days in Rome for 11 of us (both from David's and Paul's families), with plans for six of us to stick around for another week and travel elsewhere in Italy. Rome is a city with a huge amount of history, so it will take several blog posts to cover all of the amazing museums, churches, and other attractions we saw. This post covers our first couple of days.

Following a red-eye flight with a connection in London, we arrived early on a Saturday evening. After arriving at our AirBnB in Trastevere, our first goal was to find food. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant called Cacio e Pepe, which was a delicious introduction to Roman cuisine. Cacio e pepe (literally "cheese and pepper") is a traditional simple pasta dish made with Pecorino Romano and black pepper. After eating, we walked around a bit, crossing the Tiber on the Ponte Sisto and returning to Trastevere. While everyone else went back to the apartment to relax and sleep, we had a quick beer at Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fa, a beer bar just a few blocks away. The streets were full of jovial people on a Saturday night. Trastevere is a lively neighborhood popular with both locals and tourists. It doesn't have big hotels like the center of Rome, so at night (especially on weekends) the narrow streets are mostly full of Italians hanging out eating and drinking. We really enjoyed staying in Trastevere, and it was just a short walk from many of the attractions across the Tiber River.

Night view of Ponte Sisto and St. Peter's basilica.

A small but lively square near our apartment in Trastevere.

Our first meal in Rome!

Beer list! We drank on the street with the locals.

On Sunday we woke up early and the two of us did a walking tour of some of the sights of central Rome. We crossed the river on Pons Fabricius, the oldest remaining bridge in Rome (from 62 BCE). We happened upon the Portico Di Ottavia - walking around Rome it's not uncommon to randomly see buildings from two millennia ago. We had a quick pastry in the "Jewish Ghetto" area, and passed the Turtle Fountain, continuing on to Largo di Torre Argentina. This area of ruins was uncovered in the early 1900s and is now full of cats that are cared for by an animal shelter on the site. It was also where Julius Caesar was killed by Brutus, and the original site of Pompey's theater. It's amazing that in a matter of a few blocks we saw a gate from 27 BCE, a neighborhood from the 1500s, a Renaissance-era fountain, and the remains of 3rd century BCE temples, all incorporated into the modern city. After walking through Piazza Della Minerva (home of an elephant statue by Bernini), our next stop was one of our favorite sites in Italy - the Pantheon.

The Pantheon is a Roman temple completed by the Emperor Hadrian in the year 126. It's one of the best preserved ancient Roman buildings partially because it was converted to a Christian church.  The dome was the largest in the world for 13 centuries, until the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (which we would see later in the trip) was completed in 1436. Even though there were no lights inside the building, the oculus at top brightly lit the space. It's amazing the engineering the ancient Romans were able to devise to solve practical problems pre-electricity.

The oldest standing bridge in Rome - and you can still walk across it.

The ruins of Largo di Argentina. So many cats in there!

Some of the cats. They're well cared for.

The amazing dome of the Pantheon.

Front of the Pantheon. Quiet in the morning.

After leaving the Pantheon, we briefly stopped by the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, the national church of France in Rome. There are a LOT of churches in Rome, and we visited quite a few of them, but this was our very first one on the trip (other than the Pantheon, which is a converted church). San Luigi stood out for its paintings by Carvaggio and frescoes by Domenichino. Our next stop, just a few blocks away, was Piazza Navona. This is pretty much the main square of Rome, and has the Fountain of four rives (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) as its centerpiece.

A sculpture on the outside of San Luigi.

Inside the church of San Luigi.

The lighting was great in the morning.

Piazza Navona. On the former site of a Roman race track (circus).

After taking an Uber to pick up Paul's Mom (who arrived a day later than the rest of us, and got a little lost coming from the airport due to a shady taxi driver), we chaperoned the group back along a similar walking route. By now it was lunch time, and everything was incredibly crowded! Rome is a tourist clusterf*ck. We can't imagine visiting this city in the highest tourist times of the year. There was a line across the piazza to visit the Pantheon (earlier we just strolled right in). It's definitely best to start early in Rome and take a siesta in the afternoons. After the Pantheon, instead of continuing on to Piazza Navona again, we walked east to the Trevi Fountain, which was swarming with people.

On the way to the Trevi Fountain.

A carefully framed picture of the top of the Trevi Fountain, to cut out the hordes of tourists.

Paul's ready to take on the shark!

Afterward, the group split up, and we went with Rick and Terri towards the Spanish steps along Via Margutta. Normally this is a bustling shopping street for art and antiques, but most of the shops were closed because it was a Sunday. It was still atmospheric. The area around the Spanish steps had a lot of high end shopping and chain retail stores. We strolled through the huge Piazza del Popolo before crossing the river along Via Cola di Rienzo to find a bar. The bar ended up being right next to where we had picked up Paul's mom earlier in the day. The waiter was very confused by Paul's Atlanta United shirt, because there's an Italian soccer team named Atalanta. After some wine and snacks we visited Castroni and Franchi Gastronomia for cheese, meats, wine and Italian dried goods to bring back to the house.

The Spanish Steps

Street scene on Via Margutta.

Obelisk in Piazza Popolo ... one of Rome's great piazzas.

There is so much art on the streets in Rome it's amazing!

Later that evening, a small group of us went to Mama Pasta for dinner. It was right next to our airbnb and the guy running the place was super nice. Sticking with the theme, we had some more cacio e pepe. Afterwards, we got limoncello (a staple beverage of this trip) shots at a nearby bar before turning in for the evening. What a jam-packed first full day in Rome!

Paul and Maggie enjoying a taster of limoncello.

For our second full day in Rome, we kept busy and visited another half dozen sights. We started with a morning visit to basilica Santa Maria in Trastevere, just a couple of block from our apartment. Next we walked to another church nearby, Santa Cecilia. We didn't go inside because it wasn't open yet, but we admired the facade before crossing the Tiber on Ponte Sublicio to the Pyramid of Cestius. Most people wouldn't expect a pyramid in Rome, but Romans were obsessed with Egyptian culture around the turn of the millennium. You'll see plenty of Obelisks around town - some moved from Egypt and some constructed in Rome. There were probably other pyramids as well, but only one remains. It was protected because it was incorporated into Rome's city wall. This one was built as a tomb for a wealthy magistrate in 12 BCE, and unfortunately now stands in a traffic-choked area.

From there we walked up the Aventine Hill, one of the fabled seven hills of Rome, to take in the vista and look at St Peters through the keyhole of the headquarters of the Knights of Malta. Lots of people were waiting for a turn to look through the keyhole, which frames the dome of St Peters beautifully. We also ducked into the Basilica di Santa Sabina. On the way back to the apartment, we passed by the Foro Boario, one of ancient Rome's many forums.

Morning view of the courtyard from our AirBnB apartment.

First stop, the church right around the corner from us.

It had some beautiful mosaics.

The bell tower. Unfortunately the rest of the facade was under scaffolding for restoration.

Lots of cute street scenes in Trastevere.

We also saw quite a few pet dogs around the neighborhood.

Church of Saint Cecilia, from the 5th century.

The pyramid of Cestius. You can see how it's built into the old Roman wall.

David staring through the keyhole.

The keyhole perfectly frames St. Peter's in the Vatican City down a row of bushes.

The views from the Aventine Hill are splendid!

Santa Sabina, the oldest basilica in Rome that retains its original form. It was completed in 432.

Hehe.

Ruins of the Foro Boario.

Ruins of the oldest bridge over the Tiber.

After coming down the Aventine Hill, we met up with our parents and got lunch at Tonnarello by Santa Maria. After lunch we all took an uber to the Via Appia (Appian Way), hoping to stroll along this old historic road. Unfortunately, the part of the Appian Way closest to the center of Rome is narrow and full of cars, and not pleasant for walking or biking. So we visited the nearby catacombs of San Callisto instead.

The catacombs date back to 3rd century. At its peak, the catacombs stretched for multiple kilometers and held the corpses of 16 Popes and 50 martyrs. Despite urban legend, Christians did not hide here fleeing persecution and the Romans did not desecrate their graves. The catacombs fell into disrepair by the 9th century, after it became unsafe to travel outside the city walls of Rome. The Pope had all the important tombs exhumed and relocated into central Rome (many eventually ended up in St.Peter's basilica). Grave robbers over the next few centuries took care of the rest, so now very little remains in the catacombs. No pictures are allowed in the catacombs - so you'll have to use your imagination!

Bruschetta mista at lunch.

Pesto pasta!

Not pasta!

David's parents never travel, great to see them smiling!

Christina and David E. in the piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Paul and his mom enjoying a beautiful day in Rome

The area above the catacombs has been protected from development.

We wanted to take an Appian Way bike tour...but didn't have the time to go far enough out of town where it's more bike friendly.

Later that evening, the two of us walked up the Janiculum Hill to the Taraza del Gianicolo, another viewpoint overlooking all of Rome in Trastevere. The view here is amazing and we highly recommend a visit if you're in Rome. As the sun set, we came back down through the Piazza di San Cosimato (lively and full of local children playing) and then went out to dinner in Trastevere at Bir and Fud with the entire gang. Finally, we took a nighttime stroll through central Rome with David's parents to view the lit-up monuments and piazzas. Rome is such a lively and wonderful city at night!

Rome from the Taraza del Gianicolo.

St Peter's from the Taraza del Gianicolo.

Fontana dell'Acqua Paola, near the top of the hill.

Bir and Fud...probably the only place in Italy that doesn't serve wine!

Great pizza though!

In Piazza Navona at night.

Not the first, nor the last gelato of this trip!

Pantheon at night

Whew, thanks for sticking with us through the marathon of our first two days in Rome. We spent a lot more time in Rome on this vacation, so stay tuned for a few more posts before we move along to Naples and the Amalfi Coast.