Friday: Out and About in Rome
Friday October 12th
After
yesterday’s marathon, today had to be taken at a slower pace. Michael and Shaun
went off to Pompeii
for the day, courtesy of the new high-speed train (200Kmh) between Rome and
Naples. Allan and I didn’t get out of the apartment until noon.
We
strolled along the Via del Corso with its myriad shops. As you can imagine,
with Allan the inveterate shopper, this turned into a crawl rather than a
stroll. One stored featured jewelry that had him transfixed for nearly ten
minutes (photos AND video available upon request). (Allan) Truly… the triad of emerald rings was exquisite and the one
ring with what must have been a 2 carat triangular aquamarine or blue topaz… I
did probably linger there for photos and video for about 10 minutes.
We
stopped in at the galleria across from the Piazza Colonna, sat and enjoyed coffee and sandwiches. (As you might be able to tell, this part of the
trip has been devoid of breakfasts – except for coffee, we eat almost every day
after 12:30). We continued strolling South, toward the Vittorio
Emanuel Monument (the big white structure locals nicknamed “The Wedding
Cake”). We had climbed it during our
2004 visit and saw no need to do it again.
This
time we continued around to the west and saw the Teatro
di Marcello, an amphitheater dating from Imperial Roman times, as well as
the Portico
of Octavia (or what’s left of it). Because of this area’s proximity to the
Tiber River (in Italian, Tevere), there developed a large fish market. In the
middle ages they would display the fish on pieces of marble that were pulled
down (or fell) from the nearby ancient structures.
Eventually
we made our way to the Bocca
della Verità, or Mouth of Truth. Anyone who has seen the movie “Roman
Holiday” will remember the scene where Gregory Peck takes Audrey Hepburn here,
sticks his hand in the mouth of the sculpture, and lets out a yell as he pulls
out his arm with his hand hidden in the sleeve. She screams. It’s fun. We took
pictures.
We
walked behind the church that houses the Bocca and came upon the Circus
Maximus. At least, what’s left of a giant stadium which could seat two hundred
thousand people to watch the chariot races. One could almost imagine Ben Hur
careening down the paths. It was very large (twenty one hundred
feet long!), very open, and surprisingly very peaceful.
We
walked along the north side of the Palatine
Hill, admiring the ruins of what used to be the House
of Augustus (apparently, 150,000 square feet of living space). We got to
see the Imperial
Forum from a different angle, and finally made our way back to the area
around the Vittorio Emanuel Monument.
From
there, we walked briskly through the main shopping area, past the Trevi
Fountain, to the Via Veneto, where we were scheduled to meet a local friend of
Clair’s, Gianni. Gianni was a delight,
and we spent several hours over coffee discussing photography (his avocation: he’s famous for his “big bear” shots, which are quite beautiful). During our
time inside, it started pouring outside.
As we
left the café the rain had let up, and Allan got some great sunlit cloud shots
from the Via Veneto. We stopped at the little grocery store by the apartment to
replenish supplies, and relaxed for a while. We headed out about an hour later
and were heading toward a restaurant to meet up with Shaun and Michael who were
on their way home from Naples.
Allan
and I stopped at a small men’s clothing store along the way, and he eventually
wound up with a lovely new jacket and a scarf, both Italian-made, and both
lovely.
We got
to the restaurant, but discovered they were booked up for the rest of the
evening (a very small place). We re-reserved for Saturday night, and went to a
nearby restaurant (Cotto), which did the trick to fill our hungry tummies. I’d
give the restaurant a B- for food (some dishes were too salty), and a C for
service (at one point we were handed dessert menus before receiving our main
courses). Again, it did the trick, but a repeat visit won’t be in the offing.
On the
way home we stopped at White in the Piazza Barberini for some gelato. Not as
good as lateG, but decent.
Now
ready to head to bed.
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