Italy in May - Rome, Part IV

I will continue my exploration of Rome with stories about Piazza della Reppublica and Baths of Diocletian, Via Guilia, Victor Emannuel monument, fountains and plazzas, museums and galleries. In Rome old and new live right next to each other and somehow nothing looks out of its place, or maybe we just aren't shocked anymore by Eiffel towers.

Quick Tips:

If you are on the run or on the budget, McDonald’s and Burger King are your best friend. The food is decent and cheap. Usually you will find a McDonald’s either in the building of the train station or right next to it. Nowadays, you don’t even need to change money, just come up to the ATM and get your euros from the wall. And since euro and dollar are almost equivalent, you know exactly how much you are spending.

When you make a reservation at a hotel by phone or e-mail, make sure that they send you the details of the reservation in writing – it is an Italian law. When you check-in, you will be asked to leave your passport with them for a couple of hours. They have to register you at the police, so don’t annerved, this is a regular procedure, just comply with the rules.

Don’t call from your hotel room especially internationally, you will be charged a connection fee even if you call a toll-free number, Westin Excelsior charged me 1 euro plus tax, but I heard that they raised surcharge to . Buy local calling cards, you will save a lot of money.

Best Way To Get Around:

When traveling by train, you need to know at least several words to get by: binario – platform, stazione – station, uscita – exit, dov’e - where. Also learn to count – you will need to understand the announcement at the train station and the price when buying tickets, food, etc. Also make sure that you remember that the word "euro" is pronounced as "æuro". It may be difficult at first, but you’ll get used to it. If they see that you don’t understand, they will switch to English.

Truly the most beautiful Baroque piazza I’ve seen in Italy, Piazza Navona boasts three of Bellini’s gorgeous fountains.

The first, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, was unveiled in 1651 and was built for the pope Innocent X Pamphilj. The fountain is built around an ancient Roman obelisk, with the pope’s coat of armor attached to it. The obelisk is surrounded by four giant figures, each representing one of the four rivers – the Ganges, the Danube, The Nile, and the Plate.

The second fountain on the Piazza is the beautiful Fontana del Moro, which very much like the Trevi Fountain has a sea scene, with a figure of Neptune in the middle standing on sea creatures with water coming out of their mouths. It is surrounded by four Tritons, each blowing water out of the shells. You have to walk around the fountain and spend some time looking at each figure to really appreciate each statue. This fountain has a very light and playful appearance about it, while Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi looks like a very heavy, elaborate, and massive structure.

This Piazza once had a portion of the Baths of Diocletian, the remains of which are now adjacent to it. It has a shape of a semicircle, and on two sides of it are the buildings that were built in the 19th century with the massive arches supported by columns. The three floors above the colonnades now house various banks and travel agencies.

There is quite a traffic through it nowadays, and right in the middle of that traffic is a small island with an elegant and rather provocative fountain, Fontana delle Naiadi (Fountain of the Nayads), that was built in 1901 and created quite a stir when it was first unveiled. Each of the four nymphs is naked and when the water hits them, it creates a halo around each nymph making them look both naughty and god-like at the same time. In the middle is the figure of the sea god added later.

On the other side, between the Piazza della Reppublica and Piazza dei Cinquecento, are the remains of the Baths of Diocletian. Baths were built 1700 years ago and are the largest in Rome. The church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, built by Michelangelo from the ruins of the Baths is right across from the colonnades. When you exit the building through the back door, you can get a very good look at the remains of the Baths. Also here, adjacent to the Piazza, is the Museo Nazionale Romano which is one of the largest museum of Roman antiquities in the world.

Campo de Fiori is a large piazza that for centuries now has been a food and flower market with a very appropriate name that in translation means "field of flowers." When you are here, you can imagine medieval Romans walking from one merchant to another, and you are following in their steps. The square is surrounded by buildings, small restaurants, and cafes. Also nearby is the French embassy-–Palazzo Farnese-–and if you cross the square you can get a good view of its façade from the entrance to the building right behind the statue of Giordano Bruno. This statue is here because this square has also been in those long gone medieval times the place of mass executions, and Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake here over 400 years ago for his philosophical views that clashed with the religious teachings.

Palazzo Farnese is one of the amazing buildings in Rome. It has a very imposing light-colored façade and its design has become the prototype for a lot of palaces built in Rome afterwards. A lot of famous artists worked on the building, including Michelangelo, who added the third floor and had plans to connect this palace with Villa Farnesina in Trastevere by a bridge, but that was never realized. It has been the French Embassy for over 350 years. Unfortunately, you are not allowed inside, but in front of the embassy you can see pictures of the restoration efforts taking place inside. They show the original frescoes and how the restoration effort uncovers the original colors that sometimes are so bright that nobody expects that (very much like Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel).

Campo de’ Fiori is a great place to stop for lunch (it is cheaper here), to practice your Italian and bargaining skills, and to do some people-watching while you are at it.

This is a very large white stone monument that natives call a wedding cake, and it most certainly looks it. The monument was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy. The monument is very large and you can see it from the roof of St. Peter's. It has white columns in the background with large porticos on each side and a carriage with horses showing the triumph of victory of unified Italy. In the center of the next layer is the king himself, with fountain in front of him and lots of steps to get to the statue. If you get a chance to walk along one of the porticos on the outside, look up and at good lighting you will see frescoes all the way at the top. You can only look at the monument from the bottom of the steps, nobody is allowed inside. The best shots can be taken from across the street, but it is extremely difficult to take a picture so that the whole monument fits into one shot.