Sunday, September 5, 2010

Weekend Walking Adventures in the Eternal City

Saturday, day numero quattro, began with an errand to the electronics store for a straightener.  The same errand ended with a visit to St. Peter's Bascillica.  So began another ordinary day in Rome.
That afternoon we decided to explore our new city.  We strolled through Campo de Fiori, where there happened to be a Communist party rally (don't be alarmed-- the polizia were on duty).  Campo is a piazza very close to Piazza Navona.  It means, "field of flowers" because it was originally a flower field in the middle ages; it later became the location for capital punishments.  In the center of the Piazza is a statue of Giordana Bruno, who was burnt at the state because of his scientific work that dealt with heliocentricism.  Ettore Ferrari dedicated this monument to him in 1887 on the spot of his death: he stands facing the Vatican in defiance.
Next we stopped at Piazza Navona.  It was originally a site of Rome games.  Here's a picture of us in front of Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers.  The church is Sant'Agnese.  The Statues represent the four major rivers of the time: the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges, and the Plate.  Of course we couldn't do all this walking without eating some gelato so we stopped at Giolotti's; definitely awesome!  One thing to remember: Amarena, though it looks red, is not raspberry, but bubblegum.  Lesson learned.
The Piazza Colonna was our next stop; it's named for the marble column of Marcus Aurelius which has stood there since 193 CE.  The figure of St. Paul was stuck on the top by an order of the pope in the 1600s.  


Next we hit up the Spanish Steps.  They are a lot taller than they look but the view from the top is definitely worth the climb.
Our walking expedition did not end here but instead continued to the Fabulous Villa Borghese, a giant park that's so quiet and peaceful.  It's filled with shady glens, sunny meadows, lakes and temples.  In "Eat, Pray, Love", the author talks about her favorite statue of a family sort of juggling their child.  
    
During our walking adventures, we stopped by the Monument of Vittorio Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy.  


Probably one of the coolest places we stopped was the Trevi Fountains.  The Fountain is at the meeting of three roads (Tre Vie) marking the terminal of the Acqua Vergine, a revived aqueduct that brought water to Rome.  This fountain celebrates the revival of the Aqueduct, which broke in the middle ages.  Tritan, Abundance, Oceanus, and Salubrity are the main figures in the fountain.  The fountain is also famous as the site of the scene where Anita Ekberg dances in the fountain in "La Dolce Vita".      


Legend says that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you'll come back to Rome.  If you throw two coins, you'll have a new romance and if you throw in three, you'll be married or divorced.  It's estimated that 3000 euros are thrown in the fountain each day!