Seeing more of Rome

A blast of arctic cold has swept through Europe, reaching Rome and going as far south as North Africa.  In the far corners of our baggage with stuff we did not unpack at this apartment, we found our silk thermals, puffy vests, hats, and gloves.  These items have accompanied us on many trips, mostly unused, but they came in handy now and then, especially early and late in the day.  On some days, the Roman sun came out from behind a wall of clouds to make us feel toasty for a few hours, but as old Sol made the bend across the sky, its warmth faded to chilling cold again. 

We walked on those days, exploring lesser-known parts of Rome and nearby towns that many visitors never see.  We walked to Quartiere Coppede, a storybook neighborhood, just 30 minutes away from our apartment.  Between 1915 and 1927, the architect Gino Coppede, inspired by the Art Nouveau style, began to build eclectic mansions and small villas for Rome’s bourgeois families. One villa outshone the other. Each palace, even a modest villa, is rich and stylized with whimsical mosaics and sculptures blending a fusion of Baroque, medieval, and Gothic, as if he threw in everything he ever knew about architectural types.  The palaces have names too, at least most of them do, such as House of Fairies, the Spider Palace,  and the Palace of Ambassadors. The showcase palaces form a square around the Coppede Fountain of Frogs. Although it sounds strange, the area is a peaceful place to live, still highly sought after, and is absolutely lovely, one hundred years later. 

Not far from Coppede is the Villa Torlonia estate.   In the late 1800s and early 1900s, owning great agricultural estates outside the city walls became popular with Rome’s extremely wealthy families.  Examples are Villa Medici, Villa Borghese, Villa Corsini, and many more.  These “villas” included enormous houses gracing park-like estates with orchards, great lawns, fountains, temples, obelisks, and sculptures.  Villa Torlonia, completed in the 1920s one of those.  It features expansive grounds, statuary, a theatre, and the Casina delle Civette or elaborate Swiss Cabin, designed to be a getaway from the stuffiness of the main residence. Just imagine. . .  

On another very chilly day, we walked 2 miles, mostly uphill, to reach the “orange garden” known as Parco Savello or Giardino de Aranci on Aventine Hill. This small park of majestic stone pine trees and orange trees gets its name from the many bitter orange trees growing there.  People came there that day to soak in the rare November midday sun and recharge.  Children kicked a ball from here to there.  A toddler learned how to join in.  More though, this tiny green spot amidst all Rome’s grandeur, is special.  Uniquely, this natural overlook spans the great city below, which is why most people make the effort to come here.  Sometimes, I think Stan and I are charmed in that we are amazed at all we get to do and see, some things quite accidentally. 

Not far from there is the Aventine Keyhole, where on a large green door on Rome’s Knights of Malta Square is a keyhole outlined by a brass plate.  Through the keyhole is a magnificent sight.  If you are willing to stand in the hour-long queue (apparently this is not as lesser known as we thought), you can look through the keyhole for free and mysteriously see a perfectly framed view of St. Peter’s Basilica’s dome in the distance.  Is it real or is it magic? 

We stood in that long line in the cold.  Why not?  As we often say to each other, “What else have you got to do?”  When we finally had our turn at the keyhole, yes, we could see the Basilica.  It is miraculous indeed.  How on earth did this keyhole scene work out?  Was it planned, or did it just happen?  We tried to take photos, but our phones just could not determine which lens to use.  Sometimes smartphones are not so smart.  Therefore, we got nothing.  We might try it again. 

On one of these walks, we toured the Botanical Garden of Rome, which once was the grand estate surrounding Villa Corsini, another one of those 1800s grand homes out of the city. Although in a state of long-term neglect, the University of Sapienza is in the process of restoring fountains and greenhouses. Still, the gardens contain thousands of species of trees and offer a quiet and serene escape from busy Rome. From the gardens, we made our way along the river collecting photos of the magnificent bridges until we reached the huge first-century Castel Sant’Angelo, just a long corridor from St. Peter’s Basilica and the Apostolic Palace. Oddly, at first we didn’t recognize this world-famous church. We’ve always approached it from the direction of the Vatican Museums. What could it be, we wondered; it did appear large and important. It was with Barry and Reto that we finally took a closer look, and Wow! St. Peter’s Basilica from a new perspective. Workers were putting up a gigantic Christmas tree. Maybe we will return once again to see the place in Christmas attire.

When Stan and I began this trip, my longtime friend, Barry, contacted me, saying Let’s meet in Rome for Thanksgiving. We did! I first met Barry over 20 years ago when he was just a child, at least a very young man. He was my hairdresser, such a good one, and my friend, until he met Reto and ultimately moved to Basel, Switzerland, to be together. Like us, these two love to travel; we meet whenever we get the chance. The four of us had a wonderful time together. We had fabulous food at ADESSO Vineria-Bistrot on Thanksgiving evening, and spent the entire next day walking, talking, and seeing lesser-known sights all over Rome. Rome presented us with perfect weather under its enormous, clear blue sky. We did repeat visits to the Orange Garden for panoramic photo ops of the grand city, and tried our hand at capturing a photo of St. Peter’s Basilica through the Knights of Malta keyhole. While the four of us did plenty of walking that day, there was, of course, good food and cocktails.

Funny, isn’t it, that with some people, you just click. We do look forward to our next time together . . . which we hope will be sooner than later.

Following the days of cold temperatures, serious rain swept in. While the rain caused the temps to mellow a bit, Stan and I are like most pets.  When we see that it is wet outside, we just hold it.  Hold it, we did. But we put those days to use, planning our 2026 adventure.  It is going to be good. A hint. . .Tiger tracking safari and Terracotta Soldiers. 

I hope you will stay with us. 

The Malta Keyhole – Yes, we returned to try it again!