ROME
I opened the window of our room. It was the 12th and it was Kerry’s birthday. In flooded sunlight and the structure containing the terminus known as “Terminii”. The photos below show the size of the station and the view from the courtyard of the building containing our B&B – the contrast between the front and the back is like a time ship – new and old.
Kerry had a birthday wish. She wished for a celebratory dinner and had chosen from the internet “La Terrazzade de Papi Roof Top Restaurant”. The restaurant is overlooking the roof tops of the city. That morning, we set out to find this place (booked online sight unseen) in preparation for the night. I hate using google maps to guide you to your chosen place – it always seems to play tricks on you like it’s a game. We ended up in a park Piazza Victorio, also known as Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and we had never encountered it before. Wikipedia tells us that the piazza was built by Gaetano Koch shortly after the unification of Italy. It is the largest piazza in Rome (316 x 174 metres). In the centre of the piazza is a garden with the remains of a fountain built by Alexander Severus (so called Trophy of Marius), and the Porta Alchemica (Alchemist’s Portal or also called Magic Gate or Porta Magica), the entrance to Villa Palombara, former residence of the alchemist Marquis Palombara. It also contains Giardino Nicola Calipari, named after an Italian secret agent, killed accidentally by US soldiers in Iraq on 4 March 2005, in the phases immediately following the liberation of the journalist of Il Manifesto Giuliana Sgrena. I captured some of these features and post the photos below.
Back tracking from the piazza, we found the hotel with the roof top restaurant and checked out the shortest route home. The scenery was a grand mixture. Starting with Kerry photo bombing my picture of the grand church at the end of the street to the hotel passed the Porta Esqualina Gate and the Arch of Gallineus (The Arch of Gallienus is a name given to the Porta Esquilina, an ancient Roman arch in the Servian Wall of Rome). It was here that the ancient Roman roads Via Labicana and Via Tiburtina started. We saw the statue of Santa Maria Maggiore standing on a pinnacle in front of a grand Basilica constructed in her honour through to an architectural museum and conference centre (see Turismo Roma) again unseen by these eyes – very interesting and made us think of George Hazell an architect and former next-door neighbour for almost 20 years. I expect he would have enjoyed visiting the unique oval building.
In Piazza Manfredo Fanti, surrounded by a small garden, is the monumental building, inspired by classical architecture, for the construction of a fish farming establishment with an aquarium the Acquario Romano which has been restored as Casa dell’Architettura. In the garden, there is one of the most interesting sections of the Servian Walls, built around the 4th century BC to defend Rome.
There was a small café in one of the outer rings of the building where we had coffee and lunch. We then made our way to our Dream Station B & B, and I had an afternoon nap a legacy of my chemotherapy then we dressed for dinner.
We retraced our steps back to La Terrazzade de Papi. To access the roof top we followed a roundabout path of stairs and corridors to the roof – 7 to 8 stories above ground. The interior of this level was on level 7 and the exterior on level 8. It was still daylight, so we were afforded views from most points of the compass before witnessing the rising of the moon and the clouds then encircling and covering up the moon. In front of us was the statue of Santa Maria Maggiore in a Piazza to her honour tall enough we felt we could nearly touch it. Behind it was the Basilica also named after the saint. I believe this is the Basilica chosen by the late Pope Francis who was very much alive at this time.
We had no idea what to expect for dinner and were surprised when we were presented with two platters. It was like an Italian tapas with our choice of drinks. We nibbled away at the food and took selfies for Facebook from every reachable corner of the roof. Just the dream come true for Kerry’s birthday. To finish the evening we went inside to the restaurant for Tiramisu and coffee. We were the only ones in the restaurant except for one other patron sucking away on one of the many “hookahs” offered by the establishment.
A slow stroll back to our B&B and early to bed for the trip to Cesi tomorrow and a visit to Roberto’s villa. Keep reading and follow “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – “ROME to CESI ” in Cesi.
glendon1954 