Rome: The Janiculum and Getting Home

The Centro.

The last stop on our circle tour of Rome is the Janiculum Hill. This hill is west of Trastevere (so across the river from the city center and even further away than Trastevere is) and it's primarily a residential part of the city. There's not much to see or do here but I wanted to go for one reason: this is where the Centro (where Aaron learned all about classics on site as a senior in college and where he first learned to love Rome) is located and I wanted to re-visit my old stomping grounds.

The park at dusk.

The day we got to the Janiculum, we arrived at sort of a strange time. We had taken the bus from the Bocca della Verità across the river and up the hill (it would have been a very long walk with lots of stairs, besides!) and we got there around 5 pm. That meant the sun was already setting and dusk was settling in. But I took Lisa past the Centro to show her where I lived then we continued up the street to the Villa Doria Pamphili. Originally a seventeenth-century suburban villa it's now the largest landscaped park in Rome. Unfortunately, because it was getting dark, we didn't go very far into the park, but at least Lisa got to see the place where I enjoyed many a weekend lunch.

Speaking of lunch, we walked back past the Centro towards the bus stop in order to go to Pizzeria da Simone, my favorite pizzeria in Rome and the place where I bought almost all of my lunches on Saturdays and Sundays at the Centro (we weren't provided with meals on weekends and we weren't allowed to use the Centro's kitchens to cook for ourselves). Even though it was only about 5:30 (and it seemed a little early for dinner), we got some pizza. It was just as good as I remember it - the only difference that I noticed in the place is that they seem to have expanded the little store-front shop. Afterwards, we got gelato at Miami Gelateria, one of the two neighborhood gelateria I used to frequent.

It was really pretty amazing how little appeared to have changed there in eight years. The neighborhood wine-store was still there, as was the barber shop, the Sicilian restaurant, the pharmacy, and the bar. Other than the slightly larger pizzeria, the only change I really noticed is that the local bank had changed its name. It was almost like stepping back in time to my senior year of college - except now I was with my wife!

Wait, that's not Aaron!

Since this was our last night in Rome, Lisa suggested walking down into Trastevere for a glass of wine at a cafe (as noted in our first entry on Rome). I'm very proud that I managed to successfully find the way from the Centro down the hill to Trastevere in the dark. This is a route that I took every Saturday and Sunday night in order to find a restaurant for dinner but if I had to draw the route on a map, I couldn't do it. Finding our way into Trastevere was something that all of us Centristi did by feel, rather than by certain geographical knowledge. Fortunately, I remembered that feeling well enough to find the way with only one wrong turn - and I could tell almost immediately that it was a wrong turn because it didn't feel right! It was reassuring to know that my brain still possessed that sense of feeling.

As we prepare to end the entries on our honeymoon, we thought we ought to sum up our trip in food...

Typical breakfast (near the convent).

Lunch (on the road, pizza al taglio).

Dinner (Osteria dei Pontifici).

Dessert (near the Pantheon). You
must go to know Valhrona's splendor.

Thus concludes our honeymoon in Rome. One brief word about getting home, though. As I said in the first entry, Rocco had arranged to meet us at the convent on Friday morning and sure enough, he was there waiting for us when we came back from our morning foray into the city. On the way to the airport, he explained that he wasn't technically on duty, meaning he wasn't supposed to be transporting paying passengers, just friends and family. He therefore had me sit in the front with him so that if we were stopped by the police, he could say that I was his friend and he was driving us to the airport for free. (He learned halfway through the ride to the airport that his dear friend Aaron could actually only understand about a third of what he said, as it was all in French). Similarly, as we entered the airport, he said we should get our

A view of the lemon trees in the courtyard
as we left the convent.

money out to pay him now because he couldn't stop in the taxi area and leisurely drop us off since he wasn't on duty - he'd have to pull into the normal passenger drop-off area. Ah, Italians and their casual disregard for rules and regulations, right? Also on the cab ride, Lisa explained to Rocco that I was applying for a job at the Centro for next year and he was very excited to hear that we might be living in Rome (although he admitted he doesn't really like the ancient part of Rome and was never very good with Roman history when he was in school!). He then informed us that he and his wife own an apartment across the street from their house in Trastevere that they rent out and he'd be happy to rent it to us if we moved to Rome. He even went so far as to give us his wife's cell phone number so we could call her and ask about renting it if we wanted! Much like our entry to Rome, then, it was a very pleasant ride to end our time in the city. Perhaps next time we visit Rome, we'll have to call Rocco in advance (we have his card and cell number) to see if he can pick us up at the airport again to help us start things off on the right foot!

Happiness on the last morning.