Fa Caldo! Sono Stanco! Sono Puzzolente!

After leaving the Vatican, I had two major short-term goals. First, find a nice place to have lunch. Second, have that nice place also be one of the places I planned to visit on my trip. After looking at a map, I decided that Piazza di Spagna, known for the Spanish Steps, fit the bill nicely. On my way there, I finally started walking past some actual things, in particular, a fairly nice church near the Mausoleum of Augustus.

But it wasn’t long before I arrived at the Spanish Steps, and the sight of them instantly improved my day. This was the kind of thing I came to Rome to see! The steps were built in the 1700s and climb the steep slope from Piazza di Spagna to Trinità dei Monti church at the top.

After refilling my water bottle in the “Fountain of the Ugly Boat”, designed by the father of the famous artist/architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, I climbed part way up the steps and found a sliver of shade to sit in while I ate my lunch and took a much needed breather.

From Piazza di Spagna, I set off towards my next destination, which according to my careful planning was…what again? Due perhaps to the heat and all the walking I’d already done, I wasn’t really feeling my best and kind of abandoned any previous plans I’d had to traverse the city in my normal calculatingly efficient manner. Instead, I sort of just walked in the general direction of the nearest interesting thing I could see, resulting in passing some stuff along the way.

At this point, I was getting nearer to the center of the city, where I saw another cool column much like the Marcus Aurelius one from earlier, but this one was surrounded by other columns and a couple churches.

I also finally had a good view of the huge thing I had been walking towards for a while, the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, also known as the Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherhood). This massive, columned, white marble monument was built in the early 20th century in honor of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy.

The monument also contains Italy’s tomb of the unknown soldier along with an eternal flame.

Apparently the monument is a bit controversial due to its size and location. It required the destruction of parts of a historical area of the city, and many consider it to be a bit of an eyesore and overly grandiose. It has a few pejorative nicknames based on its shape, like “the typewriter,” “the wedding cake,” and “la zuppa inglese” (a type of dessert). Nonetheless, I kind of liked it.

Sort of attached to the monument was Santa Maria in Aracoeli, a medieval church with an extremely pretty interior. It is part of the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill) part of Rome that was partially destroyed to build the monument.

 

Back on the monument, there were some great views out towards the city in every direction, including my first good view of the Colosseum.

Meanwhile, the monument actually houses what was one of my favorite things on the trip, the Museum of the Risorgimento, the Italian fight for independence. The museum had lots of interesting artifacts from the 19th and 20th centuries, highlighting Italy’s wars with Austria and the unification of the country under one government.

I’ve always enjoyed learning about history, and it was fun to learn about the country I’d spent the last year living in. The museum was designed as a long hallway, chronologically describing the events that had taken place and the important people. The people were particularly interesting, as in many places in Italy, and particularly in Milan, places that take their names from the Risorgimento (like Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Stazione Porta Garibaldi, Stazione Cadorna, Piazza Cinque Giornate) are everywhere.

From the monument, I walked down Via dei Fori Imperiali, which passes through the archaeological part of the city, next to the forum, and right up to the Colosseum.

This also helped raise my spirits, because this is the kind of stuff I was imagining when I was planning to come to Rome. Though there is something strange about having a major roadway right in the middle of everything. As a resident of the city, it must never get old driving right up to and then around the Colosseum.

It was also cool seeing the Arch of Constantine, having studied it in an art history class at Tufts. Bummer about the scaffolding, though.

At this point, I felt really drained and needed a longer break, so I decided to make my way to my hostel to rest for a while. On the way I passed some more churches, of course.

Once back at the hostel, I was able to get an easier-to-read map of the city, and I spent some time figuring out what I’d seen and what I still needed to see. As I mentioned earlier, I’d basically traversed the city in a completely inefficient manner, covering a huge distance without actually seeing everything thoroughly. At some points, I had been right next to important locations and somehow passed right by without seeing them (The Trevi Fountain was a glaring error in this vein.).

But now I was rested, and I had a game plan. And the first part of that plan was dinner.

Based on a recommendation, my goal was to eat in the Roman Ghetto, the Jewish part of the city. To get there, I walked past some of the things I had passed earlier in the day, but took a more direct route, cutting behind the Altare della Patria and through the Piazza del Campidoglio.

It was quite a walk, but anytime I receive advice from an Italian friend about something to do in Italy I consider it worth following, so I was determined to make it to my destination. Also, by this point I felt better and it had cooled down quite a bit.

Once I reached the Tiber, I kept a lookout for Isola Tiberina, a small island that sits in the middle of this bend in the river. While I didn’t take the time to check out what was actually on the island, I climbed down to the banks of the river to get a nice view looking up at the bridge to the island.

After that, I quickly found my way to the Jewish ghetto. The synagogue there wasn’t as impressive as the one in Florence, but it was as least more distinguishable than the one in Venice.

I found the restaurant recommended to me and ordered two typical Roman dishes, carciofi alla giudìa (Jewish artichokes) and pasta cacio e pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper). They were delicious, of course!

Since I was feeling good, I decided to try to see a few things before heading back to the hostel. I had heard that some of the piazzas were particularly pretty at night, so I figured it was worth checking out.

First, I found the Pantheon. It was closed to entry at night, but I could still walk around and look at the columns.

Next, I went to Piazza Navona, which was built during the first century AD and housed the city market during the 15th century. There were lots of people doing hand readings, a very talented guitarist, and a fountain that was lit beautifully.

From there, I made the trek back to the hostel, passing again by Piazza Venezia and the Vittorio Emanuele II monument.

Back at the hostel, I once again checked my map and prepared for day two. While I hadn’t been efficient, I had succeeded in seeing a great deal of the places I intended. If ever there was a day to want cibo, doccia, and letto (but maybe not pelliccia), this was it!