4 Days of Eternal Bliss: Day 4 - Authentic Day

So, you have done the core touristic duties. Today it is time to show you a more multicultural and more authentic part of Rome where the real Romans live, shop, eat, and pray. 

After breakfast walk down via Ruggero Bonghi. Halfway down this romantic curvy street full of oleander trees (which used to be my kids way to school) you will see a stair to your right that leads to the ruins of an Temple for the Egyptian goddess Isis. 

They say that Cleopatra used to stay there every time she was in Rome. And this is also the place where I fell in love with this neighbourhood during my search for a school for my kids.

At the end of the street you can have a second cappuccino at my friend Gian Luca’s place "Il Braciere" on the via Merulana. Gian Luca and his team are a perfect example of Roman friendliness and warmth. I had my morning cappuccino there for almost a year and they still greet my like a local everytime I come back. Try this in any other city!

For my female readers: If you fancy some shopping go across the street from the bar to one of my favorite shopping locations in tutta Roma: Merulana 1114.  The lovely lady there has a stunning collection of different labels and always surprises me. I find her shop more interesting than most shops around via Condotti. One of my must-stops.

Via Merulana is a very beautiful tree-lined street that connects the churches Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano. Since it is so close, you should take the chance and see this church that used to be the biggest church in Christianity until St. Peters was built. I like it very much. It is very elegant. Besides the church you can also visit a Baptisterium, a monastary, and the Scala Sancta. 

 The facade with the statues of the apostles is very impressive and you can see it from most view point in Rome.

 These lovely floor patterns are symbolizing life.

 The byzantine mosaics are simply wonderful.

 The monastary court yard is a real heaven of peace and calm.

 But my personal high-light is this giant door. It is an original Roman door from the Senate. Again Romans did some recyling of pretty old stuff here. They just added some stars, the family symbol of the pope at that time and Voilà! they had a very impressive door for their church.



 

On the left from the main entrance of the Basilica you will see a strange building. The Scala Santa - the holy stair case. How weird it that?! A holy stair case. Well, some smart guys in the middle ages had recycled an old stair case from the Lateran Palace and claimed that it was the original stair case from Pontius Pilates' Palace in Jerusalem imported by St. Helena. They claimed that Jesus had climed these stairs during his trail. Today pilgrims climb the stairs on their knees and get full forgiveness of their sins in return for their devotion. Such a great typically Roman story! It is full of drama, immagination, lies, money, passion, and confusion.



 

 After so much spiritual uplifting you must be hungry! Salvation is close. You have reserved a table at Trattoria Da Danilo, Via Petrarca, 13,+39 06 7720 0111. Go back to via Merulana until you come to via Galilei on your right and go straight until you reach via Petrarca. Danilo has one of the best Carbonara or Cacio e Pepe pasta in town. Unfortunately, the service is sometimes a bit unfriendly. Just ignore it. The Cacio e Pepe is served in a bowl of cheese! Spectacular!

After lunch just keep going straight until you reach Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. You will notice on you way to this beautiful, but a bit run down square, that you have now entered Rome's China town.
I personally do not feel like eating Chinese when I am in Rome, but I do appreciate the massage palors the Chinese have in this area. I went quite often to my friend Iwan in via Foscolo for his fantastic food massage. So since you have been running around for 3.5 days you might want to stop there. Iwan will give you a nice foot bath and then he will torture your feet with a wooden stick. Yes, it hurts and he will tell you about everything that is going on in your body.



But afterward you will float toward our next stop Santa Maria Maggiore.

Piazza Vittorio with your next church stop in the background: Santa Maria Maggiore

I really like this Piazza with its arcades and monumental buildings. I wish they would give it a nice make-over.

Santa Maria Maggiore is the biggest of the 40 churches dedicated to Mary in Rome. Therefore the name,  "maggiore". The church's other name is Santa Maria della Neve. This is because the legend says that the Madonna appeared to Pope Liberius in the night of August 5th 366 and asked  him to build her a church on the place where it would have snowed during that night. And, of course, the next morning the Equilline hill was white. One more very Roman story that is still celebrated today every 5th of August.
The big column in front of the church is another example of typical Roman recyling. It was taken away from the Maxentius Basilica on the Forum. 
There is also a noteworthy relic in this church. They have a piece of wood, that is supposed to be a part of the baby Jesus' crib! I find this stories about relics extremly fascinating and I hereby promise to write a blogpost about all these crazy stories of blind faith, greed, lies, and outragious inventions.

Well, I hope that you can manage to see three churches in one day on your 4th day in Rome. I know it is not everybody's cup of tea, but there is a very nice one right across the street:

St. Prassede. This is a lovely little church with beautiful byzantine mosaics, and a very special atmosphere. In one of the chapels you will again find a relic: a broken column that is supposed to be the column Jesus had been tied to during his flogging. Ok, I promise, no more weird relic stories from now on!

After St. Prassede you just walk back via Merulana verus via Mecenate. Take an espresso at Panella if you like. At the end of via Mecenate go straight down the beautiful stairs that will lead you to via Labicana.



There you can take the number 3 tram again, but this time in the opposite direction (Ostiense). Another lovely ride past the Colosseum and the Palatine to the Circus Maximus. Get off at the stop Aventino/ Circus Maximus. Walk across the street to admire the Circus Maximus, which basically is a big long hole in the ground. But you can still imagine quite well what it must have looked and felt like to Ben Hur style race your horse chariot down this stadium. If you have played enough Ben Hur in your mind, walk across the street to the other side of viale Aventino and walk past the FAO (UN Food and Agricaltural Organisation) until you find one of my favorite Gelaterias "Fantasia Gelato". Try strawberry lemon cake, black sesame and maybe even gorgonzola or green tea, if you feel crazy enough.
Keep walking down viale Aventino and find via di Santa Prisca to your right. Walk up this street on one of the seven  hills of Rome, the Aventino. At the end of this street you can turn right into the city's Rose Garden: il Roseto Communale. It is only open from end of April until mid-June and it is a magic place with beautiful roses and a view on the Palatine. The location had been dedicated to flowers since antiquity: Tacitus mentioned a temple of Flora in this area. Later it was the garden and the cemetery of the jewish community. Wander around, smell the roses, enjoy their colors.

After that go back to the entrance where you entered and walk down via Santa Sabina just when you reach the square of the church Santa Sabina you will find the entrance to the wonderful Gardino delle Arance. It is a parc with orange trees and a beautiful view. Very popular for wedding pictures.




  

If you leave the park you might want to take a quiet look inside Santa Sabina. I know I promised, no more churches today, but this one does have a very spiritual atmosphere and if you are there in the summer you might just want to enjoy the cool inside for a moment.
If not, just continue down the street until you hit a square: Piazza dei Cavalierei di Malta. There you will find the closed gate of a monastery that has a very famous key hole. You can peek through the key hole and you will see the cupola of St. Peters framed by the alley of trees of the monstary garden. If your timing is right you might be lucky and you will not need to stand in line like you see it in the photo.
Sigh, I still remember my first time there: in 1988 I had just done the Bocca della Verita without any waiting in line and then I came up here and there was virtually nobody. Blissful before easyjet times! 

 

Now you can stroll down the hill and it is aperitivo time again. Luckly, you just arrived in the neighbourhood Testaccio, that is famous for his nightlife. So just walk across via Marmorata and down via Galvani until you find Angelina at number 24 / a where you can have a drink on the roof terrasse.
Testaccio is (former) working class turned hip quarter that has become a hub for the Roman night life. There are two important things that mark this neighbourhood: the old ex-slaughterhouse that is now an event location and also an exhibition room for the MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma) and the "Monte Testaccio" or "Monte dei Cocci" the hill of broken fragments. It is in fact an artificial trash hill created by the Romans: the Roman harbor where the corn from all over the Roman empire arrived was here. The corn had been transported in clay amphoras. So in antiquity lots of empty amphoras ended up in the harbor and were carelessly thrown into the Tiber river. Until the water was no longer deep enough for the arriving ships. That is why the Romans fished all the broken clay amphoras out of the river again and piled them up to a huge pile of rubbish: the Monte Testaccio. 



For here you are really close to your dinner place: Felice a Testaccio, Via Mastro Giorgio, +39 06 574 6800. I recommend that you reserve a table before you even leave for Rome. It is a very popular place.
If you should have energy left after dinner and you feel like dancing, just walk back past Angelina and turn left at the end of the street and you will find one night club next to the other on the foot of the Monte Testaccio. If a bed is your desire, take the tram 3 back to via Labicana.

Buona Notte, Principessa!

Other great ideas to add and adjust:

So my 4 day flow of enternal bliss ends here. And I have to tell you that this is only the tip of the ice(cream)berg. It takes a lifetime to really discover Rome. So you will need to come back. 
To strike your fancy, I will now list some other awesome things to do and places to see:

St. Peter and the Vatican Museum
I am not a big fan of St. Peter, but, of course, it is part of our touristic duty to see it. And it is beautiful…but the endless lines to get in just drive me crazy. So if you want to go there make to sure you arrive early…at 7.30 to 8 in the morning….That is also a great time to climb up the cuppola and enjoy this amazing view.

The Vatican museum is also a must see, but definitely heavy duty. Always so crowded, you have to walk endlessly until you finally arrive at the Sistene Chapel…
Definitly book ahead in the internet to avoid lines. 

Domus Aurea
 Around the corner form your B&B in the Parco Traiano is the Domus Aurea, the palace of Nero. You remember the evil and crazy emperor ? Yes, that is him and he had this huge palace, the Domus Aurea. Since he had been so evil, the Romans condemmed him to be forgotten. They called this "damnatio memoria" and they did a pretty good job in their attempt to erase all memory of Nero's existence. They destroyed his massive palace and built a thermal bath on top of it. Today you can visit this underground tempel again and it is awesome. To get your guided tour, you need to book in advance: http://www.coopculture.it/en/heritage.cfm?id=51

Rent a bike and go on a tour to the Via Appia Antica
As you know I am a bike fan of biking in Rome. I recommed warmly to do it. My favorite bike rental place is just down from Mecenate Rooms on Via Labicana 49 http://www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/index.html# 
They also offer guided tours (also a very nice one on the Appia Antica) or they give you a map with ideas for itineries. They have very good bikes. I had bought my Roman bike from them because they have great shock absorbers that are a must on this 2,300 year-old cobblestone Roman road.
So go there in the morning and than just ride versus Terme di Caracalla. You can conveniently stop to visit this wonderful archeological site and than continue straight down via di Porta di S. Sebastiano. Keep going straight. Close to the church "Quo vadis" you will come to the S. Callisto Catacombs, that you should check out (Opening hors: 9.00 - 12.00 14.00 - 17.00).
Further down you can also visit some other Roman ruins: the Circus of Maxentius and the Tomb of Caecilia Metella. I have not been, yet. Try it, and let me know.



 

Terme di Caracalla

This archeological site is huge and gives you a good impression about how the Romans spent their leisure time. You could do everything there: excercise, get your legs waxed (yes, Roman men waxed!), read books, pick up girls, swim, go to the sauna, network for business and politics, see your favorite prostitute...
They open at 9 every day. On Mondays the last entrance is at 13h. In the winter you have to enter at least at 15.30 in the summer until 18.30.

Palazzo Massimo
One of my favorit Roman museums is Palazzo Massimo. It is right by the train station Termini and there are usually not many people. Which is very surprising considering that is houses one of the world's most important collections of classical art like this amazing boxer:





My favorite room in in this Palazzo is the dining room of Livia, the wive of Augustus. All four walls are frescoes of a garden. I had shivers down my spine when I entered this magic room for the first time.

 

 

Palazzo Massimo is closed on Mondays. the other days it is open form 9 to 19.45. Palazzo Massimo is also a real bargain because with the entrance ticket you can also go for free to the other state-owned museums in Rome:
Terme di Diocletiano, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi. All these museums are very nice, too. If you have more time, go for it.


Auditorium della Musica and MAXXI

After all this old stuff I do understand that you might be looking for somthing more modern.
You could see an exhibition of contemporary art at the MAXXI done by star architect Zaha Hadid.

Or, why not go to a concert at the Auditorium della Musica? This very modern and stylish event center designed by Renzo Piano is a very nice location and offers a wide variety of concerts.



You could even combine both sites since they are in the same part of town (Flaminia)

And finally, there are also free guided tours in Rome, that I have not tried, yet, but seem to be fun and interesting:

http://www.romefreetour.com/

http://www.newromefreetour.com/

For now I will stop myself...since I could go on forever.  As passionate Rome lover I am going back at least twice a year and I will keep you posted on restaurants, museums, sights, stories, and surprises from my city of the heart and soul.

Arrividerci, Principessa!