Rome is our Favorite

We just got back from our "spring break" trip to Rome with Nils and Alejandro. We loved it, for so many reasons:  the sunshine (even though it was pretty chilly - 30's at night and 50's during the day ( I know, I know "cry me a river" say all you living in the Northeast!), the blue, blue sky, the vibrant colors of the buildings, the laundry hanging out the windows, the jam-packed roof gardens, the winding and narrow streets, the FOOD, the people, the ART, the ARCHITECTURE from so many eras, the ruins, the orange trees (sigh, my favorite), and the cats. 

After walking the city for 6 days we really felt like we got to know it. A great time to visit because there were relatively very few tourists. Even the lines at the Vatican weren't so bad. 

Rome: The Color!

the first thing I was struck by was the vibrant colors of the city. The buildings are all shades of gold, ochre, yellow, peach, russet red, orange, etc. and the sky was soo blue. It was a really striking combination of colors. Such a nice and welcomed change from the grays of Luxembourg this time of year. 

The view from our apt:

We had been forewarned about the grafitti in Rome. If we hadn't it might have been really jarring. It's kind of incredible to see it scrawled across such old, and precious buildings. But it's just paint. 

This grafitti says something like "Mirella, I love you and you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen but I have forgotten you."

One example of laundry hanging - so much of it around the city and it was so pretty to me. Even when the city seemed really dirty there was still the clean laundry hanging. 

Rome: Orange Trees, etc.

Just as we were landing in Rome Dave asked me what i was most looking forward to. I said that I wanted to see orange trees. He said "Oh Jeez, I don't know how much luck we'll have with that, being Rome is a big city, etc." Lo and behold, there were many, many orange trees and all of them had beautiful ripe fruit on them. Most of them were hanging over the edges of enclosed gardens or courtyards but their presence was still very much felt. I dont know why but i'm kind of fascinated and in awe of citrus fruit trees. they are so different from anything I grew up with. We later went to a park in Aventino, a quiet section of the city, and Nils picked an orange from one of the many trees. As we opened it up the scent brought on these powerful memories of living in Spain in college, when I was so lucky to have fresh-squeezed orange juice every morning. I love oranges.

An orange tree peeking over the edge of a courtyard.

A lemon tree in a pot, on someone's roof deck.

Rome: Cats!

The last time I was in Rome, in 1989, I remember seeing many many more cats all throughout the city, especially in the ruins. This time there were very few of them, and we didn't see any cats at the Coloseum or Forum, where there used to be lots of them. I wonder what happened with them. This one was safe inside a jewelry store.

These two cats had a great spot in the sunshine, safe up on a rooftop.

This was a true "city cat". he was HUGE, but lean. very tough looking, with nicks out of his ears, probably from many sparrings with other cats. 

Nils tried to introduce himself to this fine Roman cat that was living near a small ruin in the center of town that was still being excavated. 

This is just moments after this cat crossed a really really busy street, in teh crosswalk, and all the cars and trucks STOPPED to let it cross. As human pedestrians, you were never sure if cars were going to stop for you. But this cat pretty much had the confidence (and experience) that the cars would stop for him. It was amazing. Again, he had nicks out of his ears, but he owned the streets. I was following him around to get a better photo of him, and about 30 seconds after this photo he stopped and peed on a motorcycle and walked on. He was king here.

Rome: Art, etc.

This boy was sitting with his parents and sister in the Capitolini museum. I loved how he was so serious in his consideration of the sculpture. He really looked at it thoughtfully, and he took his time and seemed to almost struggle to understand or grasp it. 

I liked seeing the dad and son experiencing the Pieta together. 

This is the long escalator up to the Vatican museum collections. I thought it was funny how it looked like we were all going to heaven. 

That really elaborate ceiling BEFORE the sistine chapel.

Dave admiring the Sistine Chapel. It was so crowded once we got into the room. I was touched by this probably college-aged girl crying at the site of it. She was so moved by it. Her reaction moved me.

This is one of the chunks of the giant statue/sculpture of Constantine. 

I noticed that most of the male sculptures were missing their penises. I had chuckle thinking that over the centuries they were stolen and how some really really rich art collector must now own the biggest ancient marble penis collection in the world. Where else did they go???

Dave trying to get a pull at one of the teats next to Remus and Romulus, the fabled founders of Rome, who had been abandoned and then adopted and raised by a wolf. 

Some art you can take home with you! I bought a mini Pantheon, which I love.

Some more chunks of Constantine.

This was my all-time favorite sculpture. I can't remember the guy's name - something like Maritius, a sea-god or something. I was so drawn to this one. I could just look at him forever. 

More take-home "art".

Rome: People and Stuff

It was carnival so we saw lots of little kids dressed up in costumes, throwing confetti, dancing, etc. very cute. 

Rome was built over a huge spring so even now there are many of these fountains that provide fresh, clean spring water. You can drink right from them or you can fill up your bottles and take them home. It was amazing to me. IN such a dirty looking city you would still have this constant flow of clean water. 

At the Vatican, bored teenagers. 

At the Vatican, hungry teenagers.

Some very sensible-looking shoes...

...surprise– for a nun!

Rome: the FOOD!

So the food was amazing, easy to find, cheap, and fun. This was not an example of any food that we ate but I liked the way it looked. 

The remainder of some fresh-squeezed blood orange juice and a capuccino.

Every little cafe or bar had a pile of oranges and a juicer so you could get some fresh-squeezed orange juice. This place also had fantastic sandwiches.  Even the crummiest places had decent-looking sandiches, with prosciutto, or steamed spinach and fresh mozarella, on nice breads. 

Rome is famous for it's artichokes. "roman artichokes" are served braised, and "jewish artichokes" are stripped on their outermost leaves and then they are deep fried. Both types were delicious.

The pizza was fantastic too, anywhere you got it.

Another tasty little number what the risotto rice ball in the back here. They were filled with various spices, cheeses, veggies and or meat and then deep fried. dee-lish.

And all hail GELATO!!!  This was my first one - blood orange.

EVERYBODY eats gelato. Even the locals. And they eat it almost every day.

This is some of the best pistachio gelato i have ever had.