Wandering Trastevere

March 25, 2017 8 Comments Italy, Travel

*Piazza Santa Maria Trastevere where strolling crowds are entertained by musicians and street performers.*

Pedestrian alleyways lined with trattorias, osterias, ristorantes, enotecas (wine bars), gelaterias and shops of all kinds intersect at odd angles, punctuated by piazzas offering a few tables and chairs in front of a small bar, great for people watching. This is Trastevere, across the Tiber and south of Vatican City, considered one of the oldest and most-colorful neighborhoods in Rome.

Tiber at night — *Crossing the Tiber River at night (St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance) from Centro Historico to Trastevere, the oldest settlement on the west bank and accessed by 7 bridges over the Tiber.*

In the evening, Romans, used to standing for coffee, (it’s cheaper than if you sit down), gather in front of establishments with drinks in hand. There seem to be no laws against drinking in public. The conversation and friendships among groups of men are markedly more affectionate and animated than I’ve witnessed elsewhere.

The mealtime and drink rituals here go something like this: morning coffee and a croissant, mid-morning coffee, lunch followed by coffee, mid-afternoon coffee, aperitivo (happy hour after work that can be a good deal, including a buffet of tapas and a drink for 8-10€), followed by dinner (3 to 4 courses), wine and a coffee.

Coffee means a shot of espresso, with cappuccino acceptable for the first cup of the day but considered déclassé after 10 a.m. as the belief is that coffee aids in digestion and milk obstructs digestion. As a tourist, your request for an afternoon latté will be tolerated, albeit with a rolling of the eyes or a snicker.

*Some Trastevere restaurants display food to entice diners*.

*Fun servers at Trastevere sidewalk cafe.*

Like all wonderful places that get “discovered” and popularized, many locals lament the gentrification, hip nightclubs, high-end restaurants and hoards of ambling tourists that have supplanted the daily life of this once more-earthy and working-class neighborhood. Of course, not knowing it in the past, I find its Medieval cobblestone streets and piazzas lined with sidewalk cafes and filled with friendly crowds and polished performers to be charming. And, for a step back in time you can always duck in to one of the many churches, the most famous being Santa Maria in Trastevere, the first official Christian place of worship, founded in the third century, and devoted to the worship of the Virgin Mary. There is much that could be said – and no doubt has been – about the roles and perception of women by the Roman Catholic Church, but I’ll leave that for another time and instead share some photos from my strolls in Trastevere.

Tabaccheria Trastevere — *Tabaccheria, or tobacco shop, is the place to buy transportation tickets, candies, office supplies, postcards and, of course, tobacco… even selling American Spirit.*

*Local Deli Trastevere. Cheeses, meats, pastas, olives and wine… what else do you need?*

Cafe Fantini, Rome — Cafe Fantini is just across the river from Trastevere in the Campo de Fiori area and serves up an excellent and typical “happy hour” or aperitivo buffet plus a glass of wine (several choices) for 8€. Popular with the afterwork professional crowd, its inside and street side tables are full but if you can find a spare stool you’re welcome to join others at their tables. Great, friendly, yummy, inexpensive community experience.

street in Trastevere, chalk art — *Our street in Trastevere with fabulous chalk art on a stairway leading to a small park.*

First Days in Rome

March 23, 2017 2 Comments Italy, Travel

Piazza Venezia, Rome — *Piazza Venezia in the heart of Rome*

From our apartment on Viale di Trastevere, the Number 8 tram (across the street) takes us to its end at Piazza Venezia in just 10 minutes, and we are in the heart of the Centro Historico.

The tram and bus systems are easy, especially with Google Maps (you can download an offline version to use if you don’t get a local Sim Card or use roaming). SEE BELOW FOR PHONE AND TRANSPORT CARD INFO.

While any guide book (like Rick Steves’ Rome and Lonely Planet Rome) gives detailed information, history and significance of each site, I am after the feeling, and am frequently overwhelmed.

A short walk and we come upon Chiesa di Gesú, the first Jesuit church to be built in Rome. The outside is plain but the inside a Baroque spectacle. Besides all the gold adornments, statuary, and paintings of heaven, hell, saints and such, the soaring ceiling is a complex masterpiece of trompe l’oeil… 3-D at its best, (and earliest… remember, perspective had only recently been discovered in the early Renaissance with the use of mirrors) convincing the viewer (er, faithful adherent) that you’re looking deeply into a vibrantly real scenes.

*Chiesa del Gesú – panel of America. Each of the continents are depicted. Note the indigenous regal woman killing what looks to be a bear.*

part of ceiling of Gesú Church in mirror — *part of ceiling of Gesú Church as seen in a long mirror.*

Then came the Pantheon, considered the most influential building in art history. From the back, it’s a big, round rough-brick exterior, but from the front, with its Greek-style portico, it is magnificent.

*The Pantheon from Piazza della Rotonda, continuously a gathering place for 2,000 years.*

As I walked beneath the portico (dating from Emperor Hadian, 120 A.D.) to enter the main temple, I was stopped… not by the crowds or surprisingly few security guards, but by a sense of its magnificence. A visceral “wow!” I stood at the doorway for a minute or more, unable to move, just sensing the age, perfect symmetry and extraordinary connection through time and space to the countless millions of famous and “regular” lives that had also stood in this awesome place.

Piazza Navona, Bernini, Baroque style. — Piazza Navona was once the site of a vast stadium and racetrack, now surrounded by Baroque buildings. The fountain (Fontana del Moro) was remodeled in 1653 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, credited with creating the Baroque style.

Amid the crowds of tourists, busy Romans, the vast cadre of unemployed youth (I’m told there is a 40% unemployment rate) hanging out in the piazzas, especially in the evenings, I can still find for myself a sense of connection to the past that is both extraordinarily familiar and wildly unexpected. Ahh, Rome!

More soon, and please leave your comments and share this blog. Thanks!

Notes on Telephone and Transport

I went to the Vodaphone office and bought a Sim card and 4 months of service for 40€. I can’t say exactly how many calls and data it includes but I was assured it would be sufficient. WhatsApp (text messaging and audio calls) remains my Mexico cell phone number (essentially an ID) and is the way most popular means of communication all over Europe, as it is free. So, if you are traveling in Europe and have a smart phone, you should setup (and understand) WhatsApp beforehand. If you have a carrier contract, you can likely add on an international roaming package but be sure you understand the costs.

I bought a monthly pass (38€), based on the calendar month, at a Tobacco shop. It includes trams, buses and metro. However, due to the lack of government – I mean, really, Italians consider themselves without an official government at the moment – no one is enforcing using a ticket or pass on the trams or buses. I’m told you need one for the Metro, but individual tickets can be purchased for 1€ on site. With trams being so easy and fast, I’ve not yet figured out the buses or Metro, but Google map directions are invaluable in getting from point A to B.

The Worst Part of Travel

March 19, 2017 11 Comments Italy, Travel

… and why going to Rome is worth it even if Cancun Airport sucks

“The worst part about travel is the travel part.” So said my dear friend and travel writer, Judith Fein, as I blithely assumed that my extensive preparations for this trip from Mexico to Rome would be seamless. I insist my travels always are.

Spanish Steps, Rome — *Spanish Steps on a rare, gloriously warm and sunny day in mid-March. See more Rome photos below.*

I can report that I left San Miguel de Allende by BajioGoshuttle.com on time and arrived two days later precisely on time at Fiumicino (Leonardo Da Vinci) Airport to be met my Santa Fe pal, Richard Seager, whose dream it was to rent an apartment in Rome for a month and had invited me to accompany him. But, in between San Miguel and Rome, I was not spared aggravation.

Cancun. Can you say, “tourist trap?”

Cancun is this traveler’s nightmare. It is tourism run amok, exuding an arrogance that often accompanies success. While international tourists flock to high-rise all-inclusive resorts – which I consider “gulags,” safe from interaction with Mexicans and their deep cultural heritage; albeit sometimes accompanied with real poverty – those using the airport for any other purpose are left with no seating, no wi-fi and absurdly expensive taxis for transportation through a hideous commercial district to get to and from what is absurdly called an “airport hotel.”

A few miles and $15 later, I was deposited at the (Dis)Comfort Inn, the closest and cheapest hotel to the airport ($89 USD including tax) that I’d booked months before, thinking I’d spend my next day, before the overnight flight to Frankfurt and on to Rome, doing client work and relaxing in the sun.

The restaurant was closed at 9:30 p.m. as I stood in line to check-in with the single agent. Half an hour later I was in my room. Nice and clean like the chain hotel it is, but no wi-fi in the rooms, no pool, and no services. Stranded between a gas station and truck repair facility, the only food option was a Subway sandwich or Burger King, but at least a mini mart sold wine and I drank half a bottle and slept well.

The next day, having to check out of my room by 1:00 p.m., I was directed to an airless glassed-in cubicle where I could access wi-fi and do some work. I had until 8 p.m. before check-in for the Condor flight to Germany. The weather, windy and gray, at least did not taunt me with my fantasy of poolside tanning.

The Cancun Airport challenge: Could I ignore the crass tourism, the airport hawkers, the posh shopping mall through which travelers were force-herded before finding their boarding gates? Could I curb my judgments of the overly-tattooed and shabbily dressed sporting gaudy mariachi sombreros, the loud and obnoxious, the expensive nutrition-less slop called food, and my embarrassment of being part of this species? Could I remember I was on my way, my first visit, to the Eternal City?

Finally seated in the last row of a packed plane, grateful for an empty seat between myself and a dour fellow who ignored my greeting, I settled in to pass the 10 hours dosing and watching “From Rome With Love,” which I’d downloaded on my laptop, a new super-light MacBook that the brilliant Pinterest queen, Louise Cottrell, helped me set up before leaving Mexico.

Frankfurt Airport was a breeze – fast pass through EU immigration, good food and free wi-fi – and soon I arrived in Rome, was greeted by my friend, picked up my bag, walked through customs, met our driver and arrived at our apartment in Trastevere that was even better than the Airbnb description and photos.

The worst part of travel was over and, as is often said about childbirth, women forget the pain. I put mine behind me. It was another seamless joourney and the experience of Rome could begin.

Here are a few photos from our first marvelous day. Stay tuned for how I was frozen at the entrance to the Pantheon, the incredible 3-D trompe l’oile in Chiesa del Gesú, hanging out with Couchsurfers on a Friday night in Trastevere, my local vendors, new friends, Sunday at Porto Potense market and much more.

Have you been to Rome? Do you have recommendations or stories? Please share in the comments below.