Christmas in Rome

Merry Christmas! It was gorgeous today. I suspect that the temperature was about 60 degrees, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I left my jacket back in the room, and Jeremy and I embarked on a wonderful walking tour of Rome.

Our first stop was the Piazza Barberini. In the center of the square is the Triton Fountain, designed by Barberini. The fountain depicts a triton blowing a jet of water out of a conch shell. In the corner of the square is another fountain, also designed by Bernini. This fountain shows an open scallop shell with three giant bees crawling to drink from the basin.

Next up was the Trevi fountain. Even on Christmas morning, this area was crawling with tourists. And it was crowded for a good reason. This fountain is huge and beautiful. The fountain was started in 1762 by Nicholas Salvi, who had to tear down a number of surrounding houses just to make room for the fountain. The statue is of Neptune riding in his chariot. The horses pulling him along appear to be surging out of the water.

The Piazza Navona is coming up, but on the way there, we also saw the Temple of Adriana in Piazza di Pietra, the Piazza di Monte Citorio, the Colonna di Marco Aurelio in the Piazza Colonna, the Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio. About the only true thing that our tour guide told us on the first day here, was the in Rome, you don’t need to go to a museum to see art. All you have to do is enter a church. I cannot begin to tell you how right he was. This church doesn’t appear to be anything special from the outside. But, from the inside, it is almost as gorgeous as the Sistine Chapel. What makes this church particularly interesting is the way that the painter, Fra Andrea Pozzo, used the architecture to trick the eye into believing that the ceiling is higher than it truly is. He also painted a fake dome into the ceiling that looks incredibly real.

The Piazza Navona is a famous square in Rome. During Christmas, it turns into more of a spectacle than a simple square. The sides of the square are lined with vendors selling crèche sets and random holiday trinkets. At one end, a finger puppeteer was doing in thing, and a street performer entertained the crowd on his unicycle and with his random antics.

After the Piazza, we walked by the Camp di Fiori and the Palazzo Farnese, but our major goal was to hike through the Trastevere and to cross the river. The Trastevere was not always part of Rome, and it retains a quaintness that has only now begun to be eroded by tourists who seek out the area because of its quaintness. However, the guidebook was correct when it stated that you can still find sections of the area where locals hang their clothes out to dry on lines in the back alleys. We spent some time walking along the top of a ridgeline/hill and were rewarded with some spectacular view of the cityscape before descending to walk through some of the best back alleys in Rome.

After finally having a decent conversation with mom and dad, we made our way back to the apartment to relax a bit before dinner. We did have the chance to walk by the Circus Maximus, though there really isn’t much left to walk about. You can see the oval track, but all of the marble and stones that made up the sight have long been removed.

We had dinner at a touristy restaurant called “La Cocina Nazionale.” It was only the second time that we have deviated from pizza, and in hindsight, it was a mistake to do so here. The portions were very small and the cost was more than at prior places. Anyhow, we went to see Sherlock Holmes after dinner and finally made it back to the apartment for some much needed sleep.

In summary, this was an awesome Christmas. The day was relaxing and we were able to see Rome in a way that most people, who may only have one or two days, just couldn’t do. Just walking through the streets and alleyways is the ideal thing to do in this wonderful city, and I would highly suggest that anyone coming to this spot do just that. (Even if it means eschewing some of the major museums).