I remember a mad dash around Rome in the mid 80s, on a bus tour that galloped through seventeen capital cities in as many days. Rome flashed by in a blurr of terribly kitsch accordion music, third rate hotels and a mad swirl of traffic. I got my backside pinched, joined horrendous queues for famous sites and vaguely remember a peaceful interlude in the Tivoli Gardens.
I returned in the 90s, parked a tent on Lago Bracchiano and caught a train into the city. Having sat down, somewhat naively, at a coffee shop on the Via della Conciliazione, with a wonderful view of St Peters Basilica, I was charged $20 for the privilege (our daily allowance) and stayed glued to my seat for the day, determined to get my money’s worth, while the artistic Catholic boyfriend wandered off to explore the Vatican City.
This time I have travelled to Rome with my son, and we have had three days to explore this ancient city, basing ourselves in a beautiful old monastery only a stone’s throw from the Colosseum.
Rome is a feast for the senses. With a myriad restaurants, ruins and Renaissance churches, it provides food for the stomach, the soul and the imagination, the latter fuelled by memories of Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons”.
Beset by jetlagged, bleary eyes, reading maps was beyond us that first day, as we wandered aimlessly though Ancient Rome: down narrow cobbled lanes strung like bunting with brightly colored fiats, hondas and minis; up pedestrian staircases lined with tubs of hydrangeas; past wrought iron balconies decorated with pots of geraniums, and coming upon the Forum, Capitol Hill and the Colosseum from unexpected angles.
Rome is definitely full of the unexpected. Glancing down a side street, flotillas of motorbikes lining the walls, we discovered the Pantheon winking back at us. Poking a nose through a broad, arched gateway we were greeted by a glorious courtyard decorated with impressive marble statuary – doubtless some Super Star Renaissance sculptor. Skipping round a corner in search of gelato we came face to face with the Fontana di Trevi. A little pavement cafe served us pizza and pasta and provided a first class view of the Colosseum looming above us at the end of the street. A large, black, wooden door in a grubby wall opens into a heavily gilded church, a series of trompe l’oeil frescoes of heaven cast across the vaulted ceiling, a feat of skill and scaffolding to defy any fear of heights. Here we sat, away from the madding crowd just beyond the doorway, discussing science and religion, pondering the end of the world and the birth of grown up ambitions…
Then back to our eerie on top of a hill, climbing endless staircases to reach our cell-like room under the eaves with its high ceiling and tall smoky blue shutters. A tiny terrace is secreted within the terracotta-tiled roof line, dotted with tubs of colourful flowers and an insurgent vine creeping off the wire, while glittery, green-striped geckos dash about our feet and deep pink bougainvillea frames an arched window. A shady, peaceful recess from the world, as we gather our energy for another day spent drifting round Rome, stopping for gelati , cappuccini or panini con proscuitto.
Hello! I read your comment on monasterystays.com about the guesthouse with the very long name that you refer to in this post. The building is beautiful and the price is right but they’ve no photos of the interior. How are the rooms and bathrooms? I think I would like to stay there. I will be traveling on my own, in Rome for just three days to practice yoga at a studio nearby while my husband stays in Umbria. Advice?
Hi Jane. The rooms aren’t huge, but adequate and clean with small ensuite and lovely high celings. – we had twin beds and large, shuttered windows with view into tree tops. Amazingly central and easy to reach by public transport. A little confuing for our taxi driver though, but he found it eventually. Enjoy!