Italy Series: Rome: Trastevere..Our neighborhood

Via San Francesco a Ripa

When we arrived in Roma, it was hot and overwhelmingly different from New York in August. After our initial shock of how small the cars are ( and how much luggage we had), the drive in from

Fiumicino Airport was nice but I distinctly remember how anxious I was for what to expect. The city of Rome was rather empty and we soon found out people were still on their "summer break" where they shut down and leave town for a month or so. When we arrived in Trastevere, our friend Cinzia suggested having a cafe before unloading the car, I soon realized why, the apartment was four stories up and obviously there was no elevator. I immediately regretted bringing so much luggage. 

Cinzia and I

Once we settled in and met the sublet-er etc, we decided to go for a walk and see the neighborhood we would live in for the next four months. It was a short walk from the city center, across a small bridge which spans the Tiber river in an area called Trastevere right off the Piazza del Santa Maria in Trastevere (The name "Trastevere" derives from Latin "Trans Tiber" (across the Tiber).

Piazza del Santa Maria in Trastevere

We took a walk through a few windy streets which opened into beautiful Piazza's while listening to the buzzing of well spoken Italian and smell of fresh pasta and pizza. The sounds of the motorini were a bit overwhelming at first, broken up every hour by the chiming church bells. We made our way over to Lungo Sanzio where which is lined with vendors and then crossed the Ponte Sisto which is one of many ( I think seven) bridges that cross the Tiber River. 

Chiesa del Santa Maria in Trastevere

The Ponte Sisto is lined with squatters and their dogs which frightened me a bit but I would eventually get used to it. We then made our way to the Via Guilia, through Piazza di San Calisto and eventually came into Campo De' Fiore ( Field of Flowers). 

Ponte Sisto

Via Giulia

Vicolo del Polverone

Piazza di San Calisto

Via Giulia

The Campo was where the studio would be and basically where I would teach while in Roma. It was quite a happening place, filled with vendors for most of the day and then replaced with crowds of hungry patrons. We would stop into Joe Rivetto's for a cafe, before class and pick up some wine and dinner on the way back out almost every day from September until December. You may notice how much graffiti exists in Roma, its too bad because each building has some historic significance but like New Yorkers, I guess the city is just like any other place to them. Anyway, this is the start of the Italy series and if you keep up, you will really see the vast differences in the various parts we visited and of course Rome is not complete and can't be done in one post, theres so much more Pantheon, Giancolo, Roman Forum, Basillica San Pietro, Fontana di Trevi, Vatican, Roman Colosseum, Villa Adriano (Tivoli), Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps)..etc). I hope you'll stay with it

Campo De Fiore