Our Italian Adventure

With all of the famous tourist sites out of the way, our weekend would be more relaxed. On Saturday, we would enjoy Janiculum Hill, the trendy Trastavere neighborhood, and see a music concert dedicated to the rock band Pink Floyd. We would recommend two of those activities to anyone visiting Rome, and advise against one of the activities.

We started our morning by arriving at the top of Janiculum Hill. This hill overlooks Rome and allows one to get away from the tourist hordes. Considered by many locals to be the eighth hill of Rome, Janiculum became an important landmark due to the valiant attempt of Roman partisans to keep alive their first attempt in 1848-9 to create an Italian Republic. Although they were defeated by the Hapsburgs, the battle on Janiculum Hill became an inspiration for Italians, and eventually led to complete Italian independence in 1870. Even after most of Italy was unified in 1860, the Papacy resisted and kept Rome under their control. A variation of the phrase now used in Palestine was originally used by those attempting to unite all of Italy. “Free from the Alps to the Adriatic”. One of the hero generals of the 1848-9 revolution, Giuseppe Garibaldi demanded the government march on Rome, but King Victor Emmanuel refused to support him in 1862. Instead, Emmanuel negotiated with Napoleon to remove French troops from Rome. WIthout French support Romans demanded the Italian government take Rome and remove the Papacy from power.

Pope Pius IV refused to negotiate with the Republic, and on September 11th, 1870, the Kingdom’s troops entered Rome. Italy’s capitol was moved to Rome from Florence in 1871. The Papacy ordered the Catholic Church not to co-operate with the new government. It wasn’t until 1929, that the Papacy formally recognized the Republic.

For those who want to expand their knowledge past the ancient Roman Empires, a trip to Janiculum Hill is suggested. In 1883, the Italian government purchased the hill from the papacy. At the top in Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi is a very large equestrian monument dedicated to the hero General. Also there are great viewing points of Rome from this Piazza. On the paths leading down to the Trastevere neighborhill are 84 statues of the partisans from the 1848-9 revolution. These heroes are also buried on the hill at the Ossuary Memorial marking the spot where most of the battle occurred.

Further down the hill is the stunning Fountain dell’ Acqua Paola commissioned by Pope Paul V (Borgese) around 1610. This gorgeous fountain marked the end of the aqueduct leading into Rome. This fountain inspired the design of the Trevi Fountain. However, this fountain is in a more beautiful setting and doesn’t have the insane crowds which envelop the Trevi Fountain. Nearby is the Church of San Pietro-Monterio. This beautiful church on the side of the hill is the alleged site of St Peter’s crucifixion. A wedding was taking place when we arrived. At the base of this hill lies the Trastavere neighborhood. Two additional stops are highly recommended before exploring Trastavere. The first is the Botanical Gardens of Rome. The second is a “must-see”. Stop and visit the Donna Camilla Savilli four-star hotel. This former convent has a cloister garden-courtyard, a bar/lounge, a beautiful chapel and a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Rome. We acted like we were guests and were never challenged by staff. In addition, there are no signs prohibiting others from visiting the hotel. Part of this acceptance is that most tourists have no clue this hotel has these amenities along with marble floors and ancient doorways.

The Trastavere neighborhood is a fun place to walk around and it offers many quaint streets, shopping and is considered a great destination for foodies. As we were walking in the neighborhood, we suddenly heard a loud explosion and wondered if WW3 had just started. Instead, this was the cannon on Janculum Hill which has been used to signify 12noon since 1847. The cannon was originally fired from Castel Sant’Angelo near St Peter’s Basilica, but was moved to Janiculum Hill in 1904. We had our best lunch in Rome by choosing to have sandwiches at Donkey Punch. These sandwiches were some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, at least until we arrived in Siena later in our vacation. Donkey Punch is a very simple and small place. Their specialty sandwiches are named after music rock groups. I had the Nirvana.

After further explorations, we eventually walked back into old Rome by crossing Ponte Sisto. On the Trastavere side of the bridge is a Plaza. The Plaza is supposedly a must-see at night with live music, dancing and different types of entertainment. In the daytime, it was nothing special. The bridge was originally built by Marcus Aurelius in 211AD. After being destroyed in 792AD by a flood, it was then called “Rotto” (broken), until it was restored in 1495.

Our final activity for Saturday, May 10th, was the “Pink Floyd Legend” concert at the Teatro Olimpico. Our seats were nicely located and the theater was beautiful, but the music was just average and the tone of the concert launched into a divisive political statement by the cover band. In addition, this theater was about an hour walk to our hotel and at 1030pm, we could not get a taxi to pick us up in that area. We ended up walking about 30 minutes until after repeated attempts by using our taxi app, we were finally sucessful.

On our last day in Rome, we only had one main activity. Around 9am, on Sunday, May 11th, we left for Campo Central which was part of the Olympic venue from 1960. Many structures have been rebuilt and repurposed. While planning for Rome, I was looking for extra activities which didn’t include common tourist themes. Since becoming an adult, I’ve had two main sport passions for participation. The first was windsurfing which I started in my mid-20’s. This passion continued until I was in my early 50’s when tennis became my main passion. Windsurfing came to a screeching halt in 2018 when I had a bad roadbike accident which required shoulder surgery. Even after surgery and rehab, I cannot lift my left arm above my head without assistance. This would make windsurfing extremely difficult with water starts. With tennis, I eventually joined some USTA teams and even went to Indy for regional championships on two occasions. I became a USTA team captain for about 10 years and just retired from USTA after 2024. I still play tennis on a regular basis.

While searching for extra activities, I discovered the tennis Italian Open was occurring while we were in Rome! I immediately purchased tickets for the main top-draw arena on Sunday, May 11th. When we arrived, the grounds were huge with multiple stadiums and venues. There was an area with mulltiple ping-pong tables set up. Since the tournament didn’t start until 11am., we quickly found an empty table and played a game to 11. Amy plays a lot of pickleball and we were quite surprised to find several outdoor pickleball courts near one of the tennis stadiums. We watched one match and when one person left, the young Italian male asked if we wanted to play. We quickly said yes and being two versus one, we held our own until his friends arrived. We then wallked to the main arena and got to see #1 A Sabalenka take down American Sophia Kenin, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. In the second match, we watched #8 Italian L Musetti easily defeat American B Nakashima who was ranked #28 in the tournament. It was not a good day for the Americans. The Italian Open is the final tuneup before the French Open. During this period, all tournaments are played on clay courts.

Afterwards, we returned to our lodging and had our last meal in Rome. After visiting the cats one last time, we packed and got ready for our first train trip. We would be going from Italy’s busiest and largest city, to the sea.