Exploring Ancient Rome and Monti

Monday October 11 was another sunny day with a high of 19C.  It had rained in the early morning but cleared by 10:00 a.m.  

Out host had already told us that there was going to be a 24 hour widespread transport strike on Monday.  There is always warning about these strikes.  We were glad that we are not travelling by train until Wednesday.

We headed out to Viale di Trastevere, the main street, en route to the Tiber and ran into a large demonstration.  I don't think there has been one trip to France, Italy or Spain that we haven't run into a demo.  There were thousands of protesters in different locations around the city led by trade unionists against the policies of the new coalition government.  We found out later that they were urging the centre-left Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, to scrap austerity measures and focus on job creation.  Public trust in his fragile coalition with the centre-right is dropping.  Italy is experiencing its longest recession in more than 40 years.

We also read later that there had been a large anti-vaccine protest on Saturday over the government's policy to make the COVID-19 Green Pass mandatory for all workers.  A number of leaders of the extreme right-wing party Forza Nuova were arrested after they attacked the headquarters of the Italian General Confederation of Labour.   The demonstrators on Monday made it clear they were not part of the anti-vax/ anti Green Pass groups.

Demo in Trastevere - many were young people

Lots of Carbinieri

Alonso getting into the spirit

Unione Sindicale di Base

Banner at demo

 
Our destination for the day was the Monti neighbourhood, but the route took us past Ancient Rome.

Our first stop after crossing the Tiber was the bakery that had too many people lined up to get on Sunday. Monday was much quieter and we stopped at Antico Forno Urbani to get some of the very highly rated pizza al taglio (sliced pizza) in town.  

Only one person ahead of us today at Antico Forno Urbani

Lots of pizza being brought out fresh from the oven

Alonso with a piece of the pizza with a delicious tomato sauce-- very thin crust

We then walked by a number of Roman ruins on small sites.

In the distance was the Theatre of Marcellus- an ancient open-air theatre (inaugurated in 12BC)

We stopped at the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo in 1538.  It is home to the Capitoline Museums.  The statue is a copy of an equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.

We stopped to view the Imperial Forums consisting of the forums of Trajan, Augustus, Nerva and Caesar.  They were largely buried when Mussolini bulldozed Via dei Fori Imperiali through the area in 1933, but excavations have since unearthed much of them.  Always spectacular to see these ruins.

A Funny Thing Happened ...

All hail Caesar!!

We then made it to the Monti neighbourhood.  We stopped for a coffee at La Bodega del Caffè on one of the prettiest squares in Monti.   

                        

Alonso with treats

Moi aussi

We then wandered the streets in Monti, checking out some of the small boutiques and just being 'Flâneurs".

Wonderful quiet streets in Monti

Flowers still blooming

Perfect for Rome

We liked the ivy connecting the buildings

More of the same

We passed a small jewellery store that was getting ready to be part of the first Rome Jewellery Week (October 11-17).  Unfortunately, the store was not going to be open until 6:30 p.m.  We later read that over 100 jewellers are participating in Rome Jewellery Week, which is being held in a number of stores around the city.  We may try and drop by a couple of stores that are in our 'hood.  

Signage for Roma Jewellery Week

We paused to rest at a bench at the edge of Monti to enjoy the blue sky and my favourite Roman trees. 

 

We really enjoy the wonderful Roman trees

Then we started to walk back seeing the Roman Forums from a different angle.  "Forum of the Peace" was build between 70-75 A.D.

Part of Forum of the Peace

We stopped for a photo of the Vittoriano (The Altare della Patria, Alter of the Fatherland), a colossal mountain of white marble that towers over Piazza Venezia.  It was built at the turn of the 20th century to honour Italy's first king, Vittorio Emanuele II.

One can't ignore the Vittoriano (rather overwhelming)

We went back to the apartment for a short rest and then headed out to dinner at Spirito DiVino, a restaurant recommended by our food tour guide.  It was only a 12 minute walk from our apartment in a section of Travestere near the river.  It is a slow food restaurant using fresh products and ancient recipes, chosen and prepared by Chef Eliana Catalani, who had left an international career as a virologist after 37 years to pursue her vocation as a gourmet chef!  

The restaurant is located in a building in Trastevere that housed Rome's first synagogue until Pope Paul IV forced the Jews into the Ghetto across the Tiber.  The synagogue was founded by a man who lived from 1035-1106.  It was in a beautiful medieval house with arches and on the base of the central column there are still Hebrew letters caved into the marble.  The house had been a synagogue, a convent, foundry, private residence, warehouse and has been a restaurant since 1998.  A number of treasures had been found during excavations.

First page of the menu

The Chef's husband Romeo took our order and their son Francesco is in charge of the wines.  A lovely family restaurant.  Both Romeo and Francesco had great senses of humour.  We decided to share three courses.  They were kind enough to bring us each our half portions of the pasta and main courses.

Roasted cauliflower with prosciutto and grapes- our appetiser

Pasta with an octopus and bean sauce- slow cooked and delicious

Alonso with the boiled meat in an amazing tomato sauce 

The main course was our favourite- melt in your mouth.  When we asked about the dish before we ordered, Romeo explained it was a classic eaten when he was growing up. The beef is boiled once and then recooked with a wonderful tomato sauce.  He wasn't sure we would like it, but we thought it sounded delicious and ordered it.  Good choice!

In the front of the restaurant, one could look down from the main floor into a deep well!

Leaving the resto at around 9:45 p.m. - lovely spot on a very quiet street

A very full day--- another 20,000 steps as we continued our exploration of the Eternal City.