Walking in Rome!

Saturday October 9 was a glorious day in Rome.  Blue skies with a high of 25C.  We have learned to ignore the forecasts on our weather app, except for same day weather.

View up our small street from the apartment-

We headed to a small local market in a square about five minutes from our apartment to buy some food for dinner.

Fish kiosk where we bought some salmon

We bought some plums here

View of small market- excellent produce quality

After stopping back at the apartment, we headed across the Tiber.  It's funny how crossing the Tiber reminds us both of crossing the Seine in Paris.

Crossing the Tiber River

We walked up to Caffè Sant' Eustachio, one of our favourite caffès, located near the Pantheon.  Their espresso has the best crema.

Alonso, coffee and cornetti

Inside of Sant' Eustachio

Hopping place

Lots of coffees and paraphernalia to purchase

We then stopped at the Pantheon for some pictures.  We have been inside on a previous trip and the line was very long today.  Piazza della Rotonda includes a fountain with an obelisk and the Pantheon.   The fountain was constructed in 1575 and the obelisk added in 1711.

The Pantheon in all its glory

 We then checked out a nearby piazza that we had also visited on a previous trip.

Then it was on to the Trevi fountain.  It was fun going to the sites we had visited before on such a beautiful day.  Lots of walking.

Trevi fountain

Alonso at the Trevi fountain- La Dolce Vita

We carried on to the Spanish Steps, which were built between 1723-26.

Keats Shelley House next to the Spanish Steps- John Keats died here in 1821.

Fountain at the bottom of the steps

Looking up the Spanish Steps

We wanted to get away from the crowds and decided to walk up Via Margutta, a narrow street that was originally home to modest craftsmen, workshops and stables, but now hosts many art galleries.   It is one of Rome's prettiest pedestrian cobbled lanes.  It is named after a 16th century family of barbers.   Frederico Fellini lived on this street.  Picasso worked at a gallery at No 54, and the Italian Futurists had their first meeting there in 1917.  Joe Bradley's apartment in Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn met up was at No. 51.

Looking up Via Margutta

Water fountain on the street

No. 51

Gallery with portraits of Audrey Hepburn

Lots of flowers still blooming on the Via Margutta

We wandered over to Fatamorgana Gelato, which our Lonely Planet guide says is arguably Rome's best artisanal ice cream- all natural and gluten free.  Alonso had pistachio and I had chocolate and orange (no dairy).  It was very good.

Alonso with our gelato

Signage at Fatamorgana

In a bit of serendipity, we turned down one of the nearby streets and happened on the store of one of my favourites jewellers- Angela Caputa.  She has a few stores in Italy (only this one in Rome) and one in Paris.  I recently happened on some of her jewellery in a design store in Montreal.  She had a new collection with black and white polka dots.  I acquired a small pair of clip-ons with the dots.

Window display at Angela Caputa

We then paid a visit to Santa Maria Novella, where I bought my favourite melagrano soap.  The Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella can trace its roots back to the Florence of 1221, where their flagship store is located.

Outside Santa Maria Novella

We proceeded to Chiesa di San Luigi dei Francesi, church to Rome's French community since 1589.  It is an incredible baroque church and is home to a celebrated trio of Carvaggio paintings: Vocation di San Matteo ( The Calling of Saint Matthew); Martirio di San Matteo ( The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew) and San Matteo e l'angelo ( Saint Matthew and the Angel), known collectively as the St. Matthew cycle.  Luckily, the church is open in the afternoon from 2:30-6:45 on Saturday and we were able to visit.

Outside the Church

Beautiful baroque interior

The Carvaggios were spectacular--- the lighting and the details are so beautiful.  Well worth a visit.

The Martyrdom of St. Matthew

St. Matthew and the Angel

The Calling of St. Matthew

We then went back to the square where Caffè Sant' Eustachio is located and had a drink at 089 Bar.

Aperol Spritzes-- they later bought us some snacks that came with the drinks

View from our seats of a nearby church

Lovely building across the square

We walked back to the apartment, crossing the Tiber after sunset.  Very beautiful.

Crossing the Tiber at night

We then headed back to the apartment, where I worked on the blog while Alonso made a delicious dinner of the salmon we had bought at the local market this morning.

Salmon, zucchini, tomatoes-- so fresh

A wonderful day wandering in Rome.  Exactly the holiday we imagined-- exploring a different neighbourhood each day and spending most of day outside.  It was a bit crowded today as everyone in Rome seemed to be outside.  However, retail stores still restrict the number of people allowed in and one must wear a mask inside.  

Note:  To enter indoor restaurants and galleries/museums one needs either a Green Pass if one is from the EU or proof of double vaccine from Canada and the US.   The Americans on our food tour yesterday had a CDC QR code that got them inside the one restaurant we visited.  We showed our hard copies of the proof of our vaccines-- it took a bit longer as the staff had to check with higher ups that we could enter without a QR code.  Hopefully, those Canadian international vaccine passports will be ready soon!  We've had no problems, but it always takes a bit more 'splaining that Canadians (for the time being) can just show written proof of double vaccines taken within a six month period.  It helps to point to the type of vaccine (ie Pfizer), and the date of the second dose on the document.  The staff wanted to see hard copies and not the digital copies we had on our phones.