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The Best of Rome Rome 05_572709 ch01.qxd 11/18/04 2:59 PM Page 4 1 The Best of Rome Rome is a city of vivid and unforgettable images: the view of the city’s silhou- ette from Janiculum Hill at dawn, the array of broken marble columns and ruins of temples of the Roman Forum, St. Peter’s dome against a pink-and-red sunset, capping a gloriously decorated basilica. Rome is also a city of sounds, beginning early in the morning with the peal of church bells calling the faithful to Mass. As the city awakens and comes to life, the sounds multiply and merge into a kind of urban symphony. The streets fill with cars, taxis, and motor scooters, all blaring their horns as they weave in and out of traffic; the sidewalks become overrun with bleary-eyed office work- ers rushing to their desks after stealing into crowded cafes for the first cappuc- cino of the day. The shops lining the streets open for business by raising their protective metal grilles as loudly as possible, seeming to delight in their contri- bution to the general din. Before long, fruit and vegetable stands are abuzz with activity as homemakers, maids, cooks, and others arrive to purchase their day’s supply of fresh produce, haggling over prices and clucking over quality. By 10am the tourists are on the streets, battling crowds and traffic as they wind their way from Renaissance palaces and baroque buildings to the famous ruins of antiquity. Indeed, Rome often appears to have two populations: one of Romans and one of visitors. During the summer months especially, the city plays host to a horde of countless sightseers who converge on it with guidebooks and cameras in hand. To all—Americans, Europeans, Japanese—Rome extends a warm and friendly welcome, wining, dining, and entertaining them in its inimitable fashion. (Of course, if you visit in August, you might see only tourists, not Romans, because the locals flee the summer heat of the city. Or, as one Roman woman once told us, “Even if we’re too poor to go on vacation, we close the shutters and pre- tend we’re away so neighbors won’t find out we couldn’t afford to leave the city.”) The traffic, unfortunately, is worse than ever. As the capital, Rome also remains at the center of the major political scandals and corruption known as Tangentopoli (bribe city), which sends hundreds of government bureaucrats to jail each year. Despite all this chaos, Romans still know how to live the good life. After you’ve doneCOPYRIGHTED your duty to culture by wandering throughMATERIAL the Colosseum and being awed by the Pantheon, after you’ve traipsed through St. Peter’s Basilica and thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain, you can pause to experience the charm of the Roman evening. Find a cafe at summer twilight and watch the shades of pink turn to gold and copper before night finally falls. That’s when another Rome comes alive; restaurants and cafes grow more animated, especially if you’ve found one on an ancient hidden piazza or along a narrow alley deep in Trastevere. After dinner, you can have a gelato (or an espresso in winter) or stroll by the fountains or through Piazza Navona, and the night is yours. 05_572709 ch01.qxd 11/18/04 2:59 PM Page 5 FROMMER’S FAVORITE ROME EXPERIENCES 5 In chapter 7, we’ll tell you all about whole. Here we’ve tried to capture the the ancient monuments and basilicas. special experiences that might well be But monuments are only a piece of the the highlights of your visit. 1 Frommer’s Favorite Rome Experiences • Walking Through Ancient sheets of water splatter on the col- Rome. A vast, almost unified orful marble floor. It enters archaeological park cuts through through the oculus on top, which the center of Rome. For those who provides the only light for the want specific guidance, we have a interior. See “The Pantheon & walking tour in chapter 8 that will Attractions Near Piazza Navona & lead you through these haunting Campo de’ Fiori” in chapter 7. ruins. But it’s fun to wander on • Taking a Sunday Bike Ride. your own and let yourself get lost Only a daredevil would try this on on the very streets where Julius city streets on a weekday, but on a Caesar and Lucrezia Borgia once clear Sunday morning, while trod. A slice of history unfolds at Romans are still asleep, you can every turn: an ancient fountain, a rent a bike and discover Rome long-forgotten statue, a ruined with your own two wheels. The temple dedicated to some long- Villa Borghese is the best place to faded cult. A narrow street sud- bike. Its 6.5km (4-mile) borders denly opens to a view of a contain a world unto itself, with triumphal arch. The Roman museums and galleries, a riding Forum and the Palatine Hill are school, an artificial lake, and a the highlights, but the glory of grassy amphitheater. Another Rome is hardly confined to these choice place for Sunday biking is dusty fields. If you wander long the Villa Doria Pamphilj, an enough, you’ll eventually emerge extensive park lying above the Jan- onto Piazza della Rotunda to stare iculum. Laid out in the mid- in awe at one of Rome’s most glo- 1600s, this is Rome’s largest park, rious sights, the Pantheon. with numerous fountains and • Hanging Out at the Pantheon. some summer houses. The world’s best-preserved ancient • Strolling at Sunset in the Pincio monument is now a hot spot— Gardens. Above the landmark especially at night. Find a cafe Piazza del Popolo, this terraced table out on the square and take in and lushly planted hillside is the the action, which all but awaits a most romantic place for a twilight young Fellini to record it. The walk. A dusty orange-rose glow Pantheon has become a symbol of often colors the sky, giving an oth- Rome itself, and we owe our erworldly aura to the park’s thanks to Hadrian for leaving it to umbrella pines and broad avenues. the world. When you tire of peo- The ancient Romans turned this ple-watching and cappuccino, you hill into gardens, but today’s look can go inside to inspect the tomb came from the design of Giuseppe of Raphael, who was buried here Valadier in the 1800s. Pause at the in 1520. (His mistress, “La Forna- main piazza, Napoleone I, for a rina,” wasn’t allowed to attend the spectacular view of the city stretch- services.) Nothing is more dra- ing from the Janiculum to Monte matic than being in the Pantheon Mario. The Egyptian-style obelisk during a rainstorm, watching the here was erected by Emperor 05_572709 ch01.qxd 11/18/04 2:59 PM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF ROME Hadrian on the tomb of his great tomato. See “The Pantheon & love, Antinous, a beautiful male Attractions Near Piazza Navona & slave who died prematurely. See Campo de’ Fiori” in chapter 7. “The Spanish Steps, the Trevi • Attending the Opera. The Fountain & Attractions Nearby” Milanese claim that Roman opera in chapter 7. pales in comparison with La Scala, • Enjoying Roma di Notte. At but Roman opera buffs, of course, night, ancient monuments such as beg to differ. At Rome’s Teatro the Forum are bathed in a theatri- dell’Opera, the season runs cal white light; it’s thrilling to see between December and June, and the glow of the Colosseum with programs concentrate on the clas- the moon rising behind its arches. sics: Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Begin your evening with a Roman and Rossini. No one seems to passeggiata (early evening stroll) touch the Romans’ operatic soul along Via del Corso or Piazza more than Giuseppe Verdi Navona. There’s plenty of action (1813–1901), who became a going on inside the clubs, too, national icon in his support for from Via Veneto to Piazza Navona. Italian unification. See “The Per- Club kids flock to the colorful nar- forming Arts” in chapter 10. row streets of Trastevere, the area • Climbing Janiculum Hill. On around the Pantheon, and the the Trastevere side of the river, even more remote Testaccio. The where Garibaldi held off the jazz scene is especially good, and attacking French troops in 1849, big names often pop in. An Eng- the Janiculum Hill was always lish-language publication available strategic in Rome’s defense. Today at newsstands for .75€ (85¢), a walk in this park at the top of Wanted in Rome, will keep you the hill can provide an escape abreast of what’s happening. from the hot, congested streets of • Exploring Campo de’ Fiori at Trastevere. Filled with monu- Midmorning. In an incomparable ments to Garibaldi and his brave setting of medieval houses, this is men, the hill is no longer pep- the liveliest fruit and vegetable pered with monasteries, as it was market in Rome, where peddlers in the Middle Ages. A stroll will offer their wares as they’ve done for reveal monuments and fountains, centuries. The market is best vis- plus panoramic views over Rome. ited after 9am any day but Sunday. The best vista is from Villa Lante, By 1pm the stalls begin to close. a Renaissance summer residence. Once the major site for the The most serene section is the medieval inns of Rome (many of 1883 Botanical Gardens, with which were owned by Vanozza palm trees, orchids, bromeliads, Catanei, the 15th-century courte- and sequoias—more than 7,000 san and lover of Pope Alexander plant species from all over the VI Borgia), this square maintains world.
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