Trip Reports Home | My Trip Reports | Create Trip Report | Recent Reports | Search Trip Reports

Report 93: 36 hours in Rome - Robert and Scuba’s Dome Tour

By Robert Santa Monica from CA, Summer 2002

Trip Description: 36 hours in Rome

Destinations: Countries - Italy; Regions/Cities - Rome

Categories: Hotels/B&Bs; Art Trip; Sightseeing; Independent Travel; 2 People

Page 1 of 1: The trip report

Pantheon

I have always wanted to be in Rome, and during our two-week Tuscan idyll at La Foce, I decided to take my pal Scuba to Rome to see what we could see in a day and a half. This is by definition a silly undertaking, but with the support of some SlowTalk members and a burning desire to taste a little of Rome, we decided what the hell, let’s do it.

The train, an easy ride from Chiusi, dropped us in Rome at about 8:30. Oddly, I loved Rome from the second I set foot in the station. I don’t think I have ever had such strong and positive feelings for a city since I sailed into Hong Kong harbor as a callow 18 year old.

Scuba said something interesting when we were planning this trip: “I don’t want to spend my vacation standing in line with a lot of tourists.” And I am certainly not someone who has to see the has-to-sees, except when I have to see them, if you know what I mean. The Sistine Chapel will be there next year.

So I did a great deal of reading and planned a little itinerary that would, I hoped, give us a taste of Rome and show us a few prize works of art, but let us keep free of the cattle-boat tourist mentality and leave us refreshed, not exhausted. And not to brag, it worked almost perfectly.

First of all, we took a cab to Santa Maria della Vittoria, to see the Bernini chapel with the Ecstasy of St. Theresa. We took a cab just so I could get a grip on how large Rome is and what was a feasible walk and what was not. We then wandered around to three other churches in the Quirinale area, each more delicious that the last. Scuba is a stonemason and bricklayer, so he was fascinated by brick and travertine and stone and marble and especially domes. He fell in love with the next church on the tour, Bernini’s San Andrea Quirinale, while I lost it over Borromini’s San Carlo Quattro Fontana, one of the great buildings of the world. It is Frank Gehry’s favorite, and I can see why; behind the elegant gray and white classicism lurks a sinuous panther of a building, coiled and alert and ready to pounce. Truly remarkable. The last church on this part of the tour was San Ignazio, one of the Jesuit churches of the Counter Reformation. A bit of a joke: the dome is really just a tromp l’oiel ceiling fresco that looks remarkably real when viewed from exactly the right place in the nave.

Then we took a cab to the gallery in the Palazzo Doria-Pamphilij (love that classy “j”!) We took a lot of cabs, by the way, from one neighborhood to the next, and walked and walked as well; this was perfect. The $60 or so we spent on cabs was money well spent; we did manage to see a great deal and we didn’t kill ourselves either.

I became know as one-picture Robert on this tour. I had usually picked out one picture (or maybe three or four) in each gallery or museum or cathedral that I wanted to see, and those I saw. To hell with the rest. (I am kidding, sort of.) But this really does mean that the great art treasures don’t swim before my eyes in a blur of martyred saints and sad-eyed virgins. I know what I want to see, and I see it. Of course, serendipity does play a part. And I will have to go back to see all the Carravaggios. Early on, Scuba and I stood before a huge, grim, brown, badly lit, unreadable baroque painting in some church, and I commented, “They did this stuff by the acre.” From then on, when duty began to overtake pleasure whilst viewing paintings, he or I would say “Acres,” and we would move on to a previously ordained treasure, to emerge from whatever museum we were in fresh as daisies. I heartily recommend this method of viewing art to all Slow Travelers: it takes a little art history research and a stern will, but it becomes a kind of treasure hunt as well. The Piero Trail is the apotheosis of this method of art tourism.

The one picture at the Doria-Pamphilij was, of course, the Velasquez of the Pamphilij pope, Innocent X. But first we got to tour the state rooms of a fascinating palace, with an audio tour narrated by the current Prince, Jonathan D-P. My eye caught a couple of lovely Claudes, and I am sure that there are other treasures as well, but the whole ambience of an inhabited, private palace was the fascinating thing for me, at least until we saw the great Bernini bust of Innocent X and then, in an alcove to the left, alone, the Velasquez. I realized that I had come to Rome, to Italy, really, to see this painting, and I wasn’t disappointed. This was pretty much one of the great Art Highs of the entire trip.

On the way out, we followed the signs to the Tea Room, and there, beside a fountain at little tables, we had a couple of delicious panini and some coffee, served in an atmosphere unlike a restaurant, really; we were in the tea room of a Roman Palace, and it felt like it, with the faintest whiff of Henry James in the air.

Then back into the turmoil and a walk to the Pantheon, stopping for more caffe at Tazza d’Oro. And the Pantheon. And the Pantheon. As a recovering classics major, I guess this building meant almost the most to me. I won’t gush.

Then a cab to our hotel, Hotel Santa Maria. In a little alley maybe 50 yards north of the Piazza Santa Maria Trastevere. I loved this hotel. It is a cluster of one-story buildings behind a gate, 18 rooms, I think, around two graveled courtyards, connected by covered walk-ways. An old cloister, I guess, but completely rebuilt. The room was small, but neat and clean and dead quiet: all we heard were morning church bells. I loved that fact that there was no lobby, no elevator, no dingy hotel corridor. Not cheap, at 168.50 euro per night (including a discount for paying cash) but very pleasant. The staff in the office, a separate little building, was very helpful. They recommended a restaurant around the corner, where we had lunch, and filled us in on other things that we needed to know, like the name of a great bookstore on via Nazionale.

Had some more caffe in Bar San Calisto, a very cool caffe right near SMT, and then a cab to St. Peters.

St. Peters is one of those places where one is almost preordained to be disappointed. Heard so much, seen so many pictures, it will seem stale and old when we get there, right? Wrong, so wrong. The enormous scale, the perfection of the proportions of the interior, the richness of the light and the colors, the joy of Bernini’s baldichino and tribune—we were prepared for none of this. Or rather our preparations were totally inadequate. The pieta worked it’s magic, and we thought back reflectively to this, Michelangelo’s first great sculpture, later in the week, when we saw the great pieta from the end of his life, in Florence’s Opera del Duomo. Scuba climbed the dome while I explored the Basilica some more, and then I walked around the great square and Bernini’s colonnades, urban perfection. We met up at Caffe San Pietro in the via della Conciliazione for yet more espressi and mineral water.

Walked back slowly across the Tiber towards the Piazza Navona. This is where I really fell in love with Rome, wandering down the little streets: Piazzas, fountains, a palazzo or two, the vibrant life in the streets, big lumbering baroque travertine church facades towering over ochre street scenes—I love Rome, what can I say? We managed to spend the Violet Hour in Piazza Navona, at Tre Scalini, eating chocolate tartufi and swilling down more coffee. Not cheap, but again, one of the most satisfying urban experiences imaginable.

We wandered off with only the vaguest directions for a restaurant I had heard about. We never found it, but instead had a good, unmemorable dinner in a restaurant in a tiny alley, surrounded by Rome at night. 40 euro for the two of us, pretty much eating everything, no alcohol. No memory of the name of the place, but I guess everyone has to discover their own alley restaurant in Rome. Caffe at caffe Sant’ Eustachio, then back to the hood (SMT) where we walked around and finally went to sleep in our silent hotel room. Basically a perfect day.

The next day was a little tougher. I hadn’t choreographed everything with the fanaticism I had planned the day before, and it was raining to boot. We ate our (included) breakfast in the nice dining room, instead of outside in the gorgeous courtyard.

A cab took us to the foot of the steps in front of the Capitoline Square. Rome seems to specialize in urban set pieces, and, of course, this is one of the noblest. I wanted to get a grasp of the whole lay-out of the square, the forum behind, the coliseum behind that. And I had a few treasure to see in the museum as well: the fragments of the massive Constantine statue, the Triton, the mounted Marcus Aurileous (sp). Scuba walked down into the forum to look around, while I wandered around the museum buildings, looking out the rainy windows as often as I looked at any individual works of art. Gradually, I began to concentrate on the Roman sculpture and spent a fascinated hour among the treasures gathered there.

Scuba reappeared and we decided on the spot to brave the rain and walk out towards…what? The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, of course. I will admit that neither of these places was on my list, but Scuba had been totally patient with my whirlwind Tour of the Baroque, so why not, I said, when he suggested these two sites.

Again, the walk took my breath away. I just love the streets of Rome. And I am so delighted that I went to see the Trevi fountain. The rain stopped, and we turned a corner, and there it was. I almost laughed out loud. It’s so over the top, so unnecessary, so perfect. I also have fond memories of Anita Ekberg, she of the torpedo bosoms, wading through the fountain in La Dolce Vita. Total high point, once I managed to blot out the hundreds of tourists crowding around. I couldn’t do that with the Spanish Steps, alas. My loss, I am sure, but I was unmoved by this particular urban set piece. Here, the mobs of visitors did make the object of their desire disappear. Maybe at 4 am in November, maybe next time. I’ll just keep my happy memories of the Trevi fountain.

Cab to Orso 80 for a late lunch which consisted just of their amazing antipasti plates, all 648 of them. 42 Euro including dessert and no alcohol.

Checked out of the hotel and explored Trastevere. Fantastic neighborhood, like the Village. Decide I need a year or two in Rome to really get it. We slowly wend our way across Rome, stopping in bookstores and wandering around aimlessly until we get to Termini station at about six, when we get a train back to Tuscany and our other vacation.

Rome is a discovery, like seeing the facade of San Vitale down a flight of stairs, exploring it, and feeling oneself back in the earliest Christian days. Rome is wonderful, exasperating, beautiful, dirty, noisy, regal, perfect. I feel like Audrey Hepburn (I never thought I’d ever write that particular sentiment down!) when at the end of Roman Holiday, she is asked what part of her European tour she like the best. “Rome,” she said, “definitely Rome.”

Guidebooks: The Companion Guide to Rome, Georgina Masson – the best guidebook I have ever used

Cadogan Guide to Rome – helpful and practical

Cafe Life, Rome – surprisingly useful

Red map of Rome – one page, laminated, all the major sites

The only thing I really hate about Rome? The disgusting spray-painted graffiti all over. Ugh. Makes me mad. The color of Rome is delicate, and they are ruining it.

Resources

Hotel Santa Maria

Trip Report Pages

The trip report

Resources

Resources are on the last page of the trip report.

Print

Printable version

Car Rental	Hotel Booking	Flight Booking	Train Tickets	Books, Maps, Events
Europe Cell Phones	Long Distance Cards	Luggage, etc.	Travel Insurance	Classifieds

* Advertise on Slow Travel | Post your travel questions on the Slow Travel Forums