On my second-to-last day of freedom before classes start, I wanted to explore the nearby area a little more than I got to last night. I vaguely knew where I was walking (downhill, generally), but was still amazed when this gorgeous view of the city of Rome opened up before me as I turned a corner. The mighty Fontana dell’Acqua Paola sits firmly behind me, offering 360° of incredible things to look at. Built in the early 1600s, the fountain displayed the end of a new aqueduct and was constructed with reused materials: the marble columns came from the nearby ruins of a Temple of Minerva. But the view from the fountain’s edge is supposed to be one of the best– we’ll see if I find anything else to challenge it this semester, but it seems like the clear winner right now.
Then down to Trastevere, where I spent a long time in the Basilica di Santa Maria, one of the oldest churches in Rome. It dates to the third century, though most of the visible building was constructed in the 1100s and the gilded mosaics were added by artist Pietro Cavallini in the late thirteenth century. No square inch of wall, floor, or ceiling is left undecorated here.
Then it was lunchtime and I wandered through the labyrinthine streets around the Piazza di Santa Maria and settled at a fun restaurant called Ombre Rosse, grateful for cool water and outdoor seating and the sport of people-watching. Their bucatini all’Amatriciana was delicious, though I’m still getting acquainted with the richness of Italian bacon!
I thought, since I was so close, I should actually see the river that has been so important to Roman history & art, and that this neighborhood is named after (Trastevere = trans + Tevere = across the Tiber). So I made my way out of the winding cobblestone alleys and out to the Ponte Sisto, a pedestrian-only stone bridge that arcs proudly across the muddy waters. From there, I could see the Ponte Garibaldi, the Isola Tiberina, and dozens of sycamores drooping over the banks. On my walk back uphill, I took a detour to visit the Basilica di Santa Cecilia, where Saint Cecilia’s remains are kept. Cecilia was martyred in the second century AD and this church was built in the early third century, supposedly on the site where Cecilia lived in Rome. The gates were locked when I went by and I was too hot to wait for siesta hour to end, but I’ll be back to see the inside!
Wright Now 