Rome Day Two: Trevi Fountain, Van Gogh, the Mouth of Truth…and Bad Customer Service

*My travel recaps from our trip to Rome were deleted due to an issue with my previous blog server; I still had all the text from my daily summaries and I’m slowly going back, adding relevant pictures to those travel logs, and reposting them to my new website. *

I had a hard time waking up on Day Two! The night before we made tentative plans to arrive early at the Trevi Fountain to escape the crowds…but I ended up prioritizing sleep. After a leisurely start – and still full from supper the previous evening (most days we opted to skip breakfast entirely) – we made our way to one of the world’s most iconic water features.

The fountain is HUGE and nestled into the junction of three different streets (Trivium literally means “intersection of three streets”). It’s relatively modern – from the 1760s – but is famous for a reason. The Trevi Fountain is breathtaking in terms of scale and noise. All that rushing water is loud! We each threw in a coin; you’re supposed to throw it over your left shoulder with your right hand to guarantee a return trip to Rome (here’s hoping)…but I’m pretty sure I did it backward. Oops. Apparently, about €3,000 in coins are thrown into the fountain each day. Not a bad daily paycheck!

Next was a quick stop at Galleria Sciarra, housed in the atrium of an office building and covered floor to ceiling with paintings of – from what I could tell – almost exclusively women.

On Day One we walked by a sign for a Van Gogh exhibit. He’s John’s favourite painter and we go out of our way to see any and all Van Gogh works (we’ve seen them in Denmark, France, Canada…and now Italy). I had planned for us to go to the Spanish Steps right after the Trevi Fountain, but we opted to take a detour so we could make it to the art exhibit as early as possible since we hadn’t been able to sort out how to order tickets online. There ended up being no lineup and we were walking by over FIFTY Van Goghs a few minutes later. The site of the exhibit was pretty cool, too: Palazzo Bonaparte – purchased by Napoleon Bonaparte’s mother in 1818, this is where she spent the final years of her life.

This unexpected art pitstop ended up being a highlight of our trip to Rome. Van Gogh’s works were arranged chronologically, and the accompanying signage was top-notch. It was fascinating to see the shifts in his style over time. From dark, muted tones used to depict the lives of the working poor, to bright floral scenes from his time in France, ending with the famous swirling technique that emerged when he was hospitalized after a series of mental breakdowns (Starry Night was painted when he was in a mental asylum). The exhibit finished with his tragic death, weaving the story of his life from start to end beautifully. Of all the art exhibits I’ve ever been to, I think this was the best in terms of layout and accompanying text. It also provided an overview of what came after his death; his brother, Theo, died within a year, leaving Theo’s wife solely responsible for establishing the legacy of her – at that point completely unknown – brother-in-law’s art. She was clearly an incredible entrepreneur.

I always love a good quote; these three were my favourites:

• I’d like to walk with you there to find out whether we look at things the same way.
• A person who doesn’t feel small – who doesn’t realize that he’s a speck – what a fundamental mistake he makes.
• If something in yourself says you aren’t a painter – it’s then that you should paint, old chap and that voice will be silenced too.

By now I was famished and ready to eat. We passed an incredible-looking little pizza place but it had a bit of a line, and I made the mistake of opting for a “chain” location; the pizza was okay but the worst food we had in Italy. John ordered some deep-fried olives and took a picture to send to Abby; before we left home, she told us her Sunday School teachers had visited Rome with their kids and had ordered a whole bunch of these thinking they were Timbits – iconic Canadian doughnut balls.

The pizzeria was directly across from The Column of Marcus Aurelius. I can’t remember how old this was (very old), but the carved detail was incredible, and it is right in front of the prime minister of Italy’s official residence, which explained the heavy military presence.

Next, we backtracked to the iconic and beautiful Spanish Steps. They were built in the 1700s to link a French church (at the top) to a Spanish Embassy (at the bottom).

After years of locals and tourists sitting and eating on these steps they were filthy, so Bulgari paid over a million euros to clean them off. Now people face steep fines for sitting, eating, or trying to take a stroller up or down the steps. We climbed to the top (more stairs) and then headed off to see other “hidden gems” I had listed in our itinerary.

The side streets around the Spanish Steps were part of a fashion district. Dior, Gucchi, Rolex, Cartier – you name a luxury brand and chances are good they have a store in this area.

Most of the time, we would navigate from one point to the other by simply entering the next destination into our GPS, but we had no idea what famous structure(s) we’d be passing by next. This time we happened upon the Mamertine Prison (formerly Tullianum).

Finished around 616 BC, the prison was close to another set of giant ruins; I have no idea what they were, but I’m sure they were significant. I was surprised by how moving I found it to walk by this ancient building. While historians aren’t sure that the apostle Peter was imprisoned here, it’s very likely. There is significant evidence that Paul was held within these very walls – he was a Roman citizen – before being executed at the command of Nero. Peter! Someone who walked and talked with Jesus! And Paul! A persecutor of Christ-followers before his dramatic and life-changing walk to Damascus. Here! They saw these same buildings and columns and walked the same roads. Of everything we saw and did in Rome, this time spent walking by the Mamertine Prison was one of the most impactful spiritually.

From there, we made our way to the Mouth of Truth – another landmark made popular by the movie Roman Holiday. This giant marble mask (from pictures online, I imagined a small round disc; it’s actually enormous and weighs almost 3,000 pounds) is associated with an old legend: it will bite off the hand of any liar who puts their hand inside the mouth. The carving likely depicts the sea god Oceanus. It might have been used as a cover for the oculus of a nearby temple. Or it might have been used to drain blood from animal sacrifices. Regardless of its original function, it’s about 2,000 years old and a huge tourist draw.

It’s free to walk up and put your hand inside the mouth; there was a long line, but it moved quickly and everyone was very patient while each tourist took their requisite pictures. After finishing at the Mouth of Truth, we were immediately routed into a little church. I had read a sign that said Adrian’s crypt, but John thought I said Hadrian’s crypt. They were asking for a donation to go down to see it, so we ponied up €5 . I didn’t have much context for Hadrian (or Adrian, for that matter), but Hadrian was a famous emperor. Adrian was a former pope.

Once we got downstairs – to a very underwhelming little room – John realized there had been a mix-up. But the visit was redeemed by seeing the skull of St. Valentine. As in the St. Valentine, from which stems our holiday of love. Yup – we got to see his skull. How romantic! (He was martyred and buried on February 14, 269 AD.)

Next, we walked by Circus Maximus – it’s now a public park and completely forgettable (though it had fantastic views of Palatine Hill). Circus Maximus is an ancient chariot-racing stadium and it was huge – the biggest in ancient Rome and could hold 150,000 spectators. I think I recall reading something about scenes from the movie Ben Hur being filmed at this location?

We were making our way to the Orange Gardens (Giardino Degli Aranci) on Aventine Hill, known for being one of the best places to see the Roman “skyline.”

It took us a few minutes to realize that the trees in this park were actually full of oranges! The next day, our Colosseum tour guide told us these oranges are very bitter and aren’t consumed as fruit and are used for medicines, liquors, or perfumes. These gardens did offer great views of Roman landmarks, though I think it would be far more beautiful in the summer months when things are green and flowering.

Perhaps the most frequently cited “hidden gem” I had come across in my planning process was our next stop: the Knights of Malta Keyhole. There is a whole bunch of history about this area I can’t remember – monks lived here, then it was used by the Knights Templar. Anyhoo, we were there to look through a tiny keyhole. This was actually one of the biggest Wow moments from our trip to Rome. When you look through the tiny keyhole it lines up exactly with the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. Unfortunately, iPhone cameras can’t capture the view, but it was so cool: beautiful hedges perfectly framing the world’s most iconic Christian church.

Since we were on this side of town, we decided to walk a bit further to see a pyramid. Yes, a pyramid. In Rome. Who knew? (Not me.) More specifically, this was the Pyramid of Cestisus. It dates back to about 12 BC and was built in less than a year!

There used to be a second – larger – pyramid located between Castel Sant’Angelo and St. Peter’s, but it was dismantled in the 1500s by a pope and the marble from that pyramid was used to build the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica (our guide on Wednesday talked a lot about how over the years many building materials were reused/recycled – including lots of items from the Colosseum).

We wandered back along the Tiber River (quite dirty, with garbage everywhere). We had planned to explore Trastevere, but were tired and never did end up making it back.

We walked until we reached Ponte dei Quattro Capi – the oldest bridge in Rome, built in 62 BC. That same bridge is still being used today…and we walked across it on to Tiber Island. This island is of the “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” variety (think a smaller Île de la Cité), but there were two cool features that convinced me to add it to our itinerary.

First, it houses the Colonna Infame: a small column where – until the 1870s – the Catholic Church used to publicly display the names of “miscreants” (not sure how one garnered that title officially) who were not permitted to participate in Easter Mass. A second, more touching reason: in the 1940’s, Nazis occupied Rome, targeting the Jewish communities in this area. Two Jewish doctors who worked in the hospital (still in use) on tiny Tiber Island started admitting Jews with a rare and contagious disease they called Syndrome K. This syndrome was fabricated, but it paved the way for a number of Jews to be saved from certain death during the Nazi occupation.

Once off the island, we wandered into several churches (I think I read somewhere there are 900 churches in Rome?!) – and then encountered the worst experience of our time in Italy. Thankfully, it was very minor, but I suspect it’s an “experience “adventure” we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

Up until this point my “hidden gem” research had paid off nicely. Another spot that consistently showed up on these lists was Borromini’s Perspective (from the 1650s), a famous representation of Baroque art. It’s an optical illusion; a series of columns and a statue are arranged to look far bigger/longer than they actually are. The pictures I saw online looked cool and that was enough for me. After walking for hours (and eating on the go), we were both ready to find a bathroom. I hadn’t realized this landmark was inside a “museum” of sorts. We thought we spotted a bathroom off to the side of the main door, but decided to go inside the museum first to confirm. The ticket agent looked angry from the second we stepped in the door. She spoke in broken English (completely fair; we’re foreigners and I don’t expect locals to speak my language). We asked about the bathrooms, and she indicated they were outside but I gathered we might have to buy tickets before we used them. She asked what we wanted to do and we tried to explain about the perspective. Without going into all the laborious details of the conversation, it turns out there is an art museum and there is an outside garden. You pay one fee – €5 – to access both. But there is a perforated spot on the side of the ticket that can be torn off. In the end, she tore off the side of our tickets without us understanding what was happening and we went directly to the gardens. The perspective was underwhelming, and we were done in less than two minutes. It did not feel worth €10. We went back inside and decided we might as well see the art museum as well. Then the ticket agent started yelling at us and saying we couldn’t see the art because she had torn off the side of our tickets. We had to START with the art and FINISH with the garden. We had literally talked with her 2 minutes prior and had paid the full entry fee. There were other people waiting to buy tickets and she refused to let us go through to the museum. It was an awful experience and I was angry but…what could we do? Also, I still really needed a bathroom. We found those – free of charge, turns out we didn’t need a ticket to use them – but they had NO TOILET paper. The only good thing I can say about this stop in our day: it made for a very memorable (albeit negative and quasi-expensive) experience. Thankfully, this was the only time we had any unpleasant interaction with people in Rome. Tourists and locals alike were all so friendly. Aside from one very cranky ticket agent. Win some, lose some. And we lost that one in spectacular fashion.

These sorts of experiences really shake me (I’m a people pleaser), so it took me a while to get over the negative vibe and I was ready to head back to the hotel to regroup. The best thing to counter a grumpy Italian? Good gelato and cool architecture.

En route home we stopped at a random gelato shop – they are everywhere – and it ended up being my favourite overall gelato experience from our time in Italy. A crunchy cone (no cups for me after the first day!) with pistachio and stracciatella (milk and chocolate) flavours – topped with whipped cream. I enjoyed this gelato so much that I actually used pictures on my iPhone to retrace our steps another day so I could find this same shop!

We spent an hour or so at the hotel relaxing (I needed to send a few work e-mails and check in with the kids). I was still a bit rattled by the museum experience, and we settled on a surefire way to break me out of a slump – seeing the Colosseum at night. This worked like a charm and was a major highlight from our trip. It was absolutely beautiful lit up (we had contemplated doing an evening tour of the Colosseum, which I bet would be fantastic). We wandered all around the exterior and John took incredible pictures.

It was also a perfect time to explore the area around the Arch of Constantine; this giant arch (the biggest in Rome) was commissioned to commemorate Constantine’s victory in a historic battle in 312 AD and was finished by 315 AD!

By now it was 8:30 pm and time for supper. We had seen a nice-looking restaurant close to our hotel and opted for that. The food was extraordinary. We started with a plate of prosciutto and fresh mozzarella (nothing like the grocery store variety!). Of course, there was bread (in most Italian restaurants you don’t actually order bread; they bring it automatically, but you do pay for it). At this point John decided he was going to sample carbonaras at different restaurants over our stay in Rome; it was delicious. I opted for the salmon penne which was incredible. We finished with limoncello which was very…meh for me. Sickly sweet, but iconic in Italy. This meal and the restaurant vibe was so nice. And the portions always astonished me – so much (excellent!) food for relatively low prices.

Then it was back to the hotel and off to bed.