Reconsidering Rome

We first visited Rome as a family about seven years ago. It was the typical quick tourist visit in August – hot, crowded and we only had time to hit the highlights. We would not have said it was one of our favorite places. In addition to being crazy hot and crowded, the locals seemed annoyed with all the tourists, and the city gave the impression it simply lived off its past. However, we just returned from our second visit to Rome and came away with a much more positive impression. Our son, Rory, is currently doing a study abroad program in Rome, so he was the draw for our visit. We decided to go for a long Easter weekend, and that turned out to be another special draw as well (as I’ll explain). With a six night stay this time, we were able to see much more.

The old: Even though we’d been to Rome before, it was hard not to see again the important places like the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. There are also endless beautiful churches and ancient ruins. Check, check, check and check!

The new: Whenever we travel somewhere, we also really like to experience living like locals. So what did we do? First, we stayed in an AirBnb in a nice, quiet non-touristy neighborhood called Monteverde. This is where Rory and his fellow classmates are living, so we wanted to be nearby. If you try to Google ‘neighborhoods of Rome’ this one doesn’t even show up! It’s just southwest of the known and trendy district of Trastevere, so it’s very near all of that buzz and it’s also right on the tram line into the historic city center. Around the corner from our apartment we shopped at a produce stand, a butcher’s shop, and even a gluten free bakery. I cooked some meals, but we could also find very reasonably priced, delicious neighborhood restaurants as well.

Secondly, while Rome has great public transportation and we did use the trams and very nice trains, another thing we did this time was to walk everywhere. One day we walked for hours and hours, and I’m pretty sure we circumnavigated the full perimeter of the city center and then some. (We clocked 24,500 steps.) The number of really interesting random things you can see greatly increases once you’re on foot and off the beaten path. Less trafficked areas/sites we got to see were the Jewish Quarter, interesting bridges and memorials, local food markets, and interesting residences. One of the most pleasant discoveries, right on the border of Monteverde, was one of Rome’s largest landscaped parks – Villa Doria Pamphili – which is located on an ancient noble Roman estate. Did you know that at least 40% of the space in Rome is green?! (nature reserves, parks & forests) This was a huge surprise to us, and we found the wonderful parks to be a huge resource for its residents. 

Speaking of food, we even found our favorite restaurant from our first visit many moons ago. Between the three of us, we pieced the clues together and found it very near the Pantheon. Thankfully, it had survived the Covid pandemic and was still as good as our memories – Ristorante Vecchia Locanda.

The special: The big event of our trip was attending Easter mass in the Vatican with the Pope. Rory scored us tickets and we joined the other 60,000 attendees in St. Peter’s Square. We had a perfect day for it – it wasn’t sunny or hot or cold. After standing in a tremendously long line to pass through security, we entered the beautiful space and chose a spot in the second half of the area but right along the railing with an unobstructed view. Mass began at 10am and we stood for two and a half hours for the full event, which included the mass itself, Pope Francis’s ride around in his “Popemobile” to see the crowds of people, and then his “urbi et orbi” speech which is his traditional Easter message and blessing to the city and the world. 

Now, attending Easter mass at the Vatican is probably not every Jewish girl’s dream, but I still found it beautiful, full of humanity, and surprising in many ways. We expected the service to be spoken in either Italian or Latin, but it turned out that every little part was delivered in a different language. As well, I was amazed by how many nationalities were represented, as evidenced by the variety of flags and cheers being flown and shouted after the mass had ended. We’re talking all across the globe from Brazil to Japan and everywhere in between. During the mass, I was thinking there is no way in the world they’d be able to deliver Holy Communion to all interested attendees, but you would not have believed the army of priests who filed out into the enormous crowd to make it happen, and quickly. Finally, it was entertaining and heart-warming to see the Pope ride around in his Popemobile back and forth through the organized pathways to wave to everyone. He and I even connected eyes and shared a smile. 🙂

As our time in the Vatican ended, we headed to a nearby restaurant where we had reserved a table for lunch. Would you believe we had boating friends from Licata (actually from Oregon!) who were also in Rome for Easter? They joined us for lunch, and it was fun to have sailing friends to share other life experiences with.

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When it was time to leave Rome, we gave Rory huge hugs (and the remaining food in our kitchen) and returned to peaceful Licata. We definitely have more positive experiences and memories to hold on to this time. We decided Rome is a very lively and livable city with endless things to see and do. And, we wish Rory an amazing experience as he continues to soak up the Italian history, language and culture through his studies and travels!

Now, it’s time for small boat maintenance projects to get Sabática ready for her new sailing season. We’re keen to get back out to sea soon!