Cats, Ghettos, and the Priest's Shopping Mall - Monday 5/30

Meeting at our normal time, we headed over to Piazza Navona, a site I remember well. Surrounded by restaurants and cafes, the old circus was nearly empty when we arrived. Bright in the morning sun, I finally got to see the Fountain of Four Rivers without the scaffolding that was here years ago. And much to Alissa’s delight, we discovered Dan Brown was indeed wrong – the fountain isn’t THAT deep. There was a group presentation, and we all stood around listening to them before going off on our own to write our Voyeur exercise. Writing about various people in the square, we were essentially being graded to people watch. However, I blame Dan for any stalker tendencies – Shannon and I took sneaky photographs of the people we were writing about (we happened to be writing about the same couple). Though I must admit I do love taking candids, I usually don’t observe my subjects and write about them for extended periods of time…

We then took a visit to a gorgeous church (which I also forget the name of), with more gold ceilings I could awe at. It was only a short stay, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, for it housed three wonderful Caravaggio paintings.

It was then we headed over to the Pantheon, one of my favorite places. My wide-angle lens was only made for this dome! Many of us took photographs and loitered in the murmur-filled space, trying to get ourselves with the coffered ceiling and oculus in the background, lying on the floor to take shots. The last picture here is proof the temple is house to a few important tombs, this one including Raphael!

While heading towards Campo di Fiori for lunch, a popular spot amongst us, we took Dan’s tour of popular sites the Italians frequented, such as the street of the cat, and one of the many “messenger” statues, where people used to leave notes to one another. We passed two, places one might miss if you didn’t know what it was - appearing to be just another statue.

Along one long road, we passed many shops with reliquaries and priests’ garb, and even fancy clergy outfits. Melissa and I joked it was the Priest’s shopping mall, and we saw many of them wandering the streets, coming out of stores. To be honest, many of the golden and glass pieces were gorgeous!

We also stopped at the Republican Ruins, a place in the middle of a square below the road where four temples remain. It is one of the well-known cat sanctuaries of the city, home to many strays. We spent a few minutes wandering around the sanctuary, and it was like playing where’s Waldo with cats.

Shortly we came to our lunch spot. Me and a few others headed to a deli recommended by Dan, where we bought fresh meat and cheese (I of course just ate the cheese), and the mozzarella was delicious! My meal was accompanied by some 4 cheese flavored cheese puffs, Cheetos’ Italian cousin. Me, Alissa, and Shannon munched on our food in the French piazza, just outside the embassy where we could sit and rest our feet.

Feeling refreshed after lunch, we headed over to the Jewish Ghettos, where we had two tours in line. Sadly I don’t have many shots from either, because no pictures were allowed inside the museum or synagogue, but I can tell you all about the goings on! Our first tour brought us through the museum and both synagogues, one small, and one the largest in Rome. Though we soon grew tired, and many started nodding off during the tour (myself included, her voice was so soothing!), it was interesting to see that both places of worship were still active. I finally woke up when we got into the large synagogue, a place I was itching to take photographs of. Unusual for it’s high decoration, my eyes were at awe. The ceiling, a rectangle shaped dome like structure, had trees at the bottom, with fish like scales leading to the top, a rainbow from top to bottom, red to purple. Ceilings were covered in a cobalt blue with golden stars, to remind everyone of their equality under god. It was truly a beautiful space.

Shortly after, we got up on tired feet and walked through what used to be the ghetto. Only one original building remains, but we were shown where the fountains were, the edges of the space, and what crowded life would have been like. It’s surprising to learn some of the houses were in the Tiber river – though I am still not quite sure how that would have worked.

Later that day, with Dan’s suggestion, we headed off to the opposite end of the city for Rome’s best pizza. Though we had to wait to be seated, it was well worth the wait. We split into two groups, and ordered one of the greatest meals of the trip. It was in a corner, intimidating to tourists maybe, and there was little English to be spoken to waiters, but it was truly full of locals and worth the wait. The meal was overall cheap and delicious, and though we didn’t set out until late, our stomachs were soon satisfied.