Rome

It was a quick stop for us in Rome after a memorable few days in Florence and Tuscany: it was forecast to be very hot and there’s only so much history we could cover in the scorching summer sun with a seven and 10 year old. The Frecciarossa high-speed train whizzed us across central Italy from Florence in what seemed the blink of an eye, one can cover a lot of ground at 200MPH/320KMH! We had the kids watch a short documentary on the Colosseum before exploring Rome to give them some perspective on what they were going to be experiencing. I think I should have joined in and watched Gladiator again before walking around the millennia-old ruins of the heart of the Roman Empire.

The bulk of the main archaeological sites in central Rome can be accessed on foot within about 30 minutes from end to end if one really hooves it: the Pantheon at one end and theColosseum at the other. But it takes some time to really appreciate each one along the way so we broke up our exploring over a couple of days. The heat also necessitated us seeking refuge in the shade or inside during the middle of each day. It was only about 33°C/91°F or 34°C/93°F during the mid-afternoon but the humidity in Rome hovered around 85%, which made the temperature feel downright oppressive. I can handle humidity if there’s some water – a pool or the ocean – on offer, but in the midst of a concrete and stone jungle it was decidedly unpleasant. The girls seemed to handle it much better than Max and I, all of us were drenched in sweat each afternoon by the time we returned back to the air conditioned hotel for a rest before venturing out in the evening. I took two cold showers each day. That said, I still very much enjoyed exploring the city, quite humbling to reflect on the fact that we were walking through what is generally considered to be the birthplace of democracy more than two thousand years ago. (In the times we find ourselves, it was also interesting for me to see Rome after reading The Mosquito a few months ago, which featured a lengthy section on how the nearby Pontine Marshes and the malaria-bearing mosquitoes that called them home defended Rome from invaders for centuries. The word “quarantine” is derived from Italian words than roughly translate to “40 days” and was instituted in Rome during a plague epidemic 400 years ago. I’m glad there are no countries instituting 40 day quarantines at the moment, Australia’s 14 days is authoritarian enough!)

We continued our culinary adventures in Rome at some notable eateries within the old city. The porchetta and cured meats at the hole-in-the-wall Prosciutteria Cantina dei Papi were so good we ate lunch there on both days, their 3€ half liter ice cold Peronis were also a serious draw in the heat. Oil-soaked focaccia sandwiching salty pork loin, pork belly and crispy pork skin… Divine! We also hunted down some of Rome’s best lasagna at the quaint Ai Tre Scalini a short walk from our hotel. Wild Man turned eight when we were in Rome – and lost his eighth tooth on his eighth birthday to boot – so we took some guidance from the New York Times’ 36 Hours in Rome article and dined him at La Ciambella for his big day. The food, setting and service were all exceptional, and what better place to satisfy Max’s craving for spaghettone carbonara than in Rome (generally considered to be the birthplace of the dish). I can whip up a pretty handsome carbonara, but I have a few things to learn after tasting Max’s from La Ciambella. All the dishes were delectable, but I think the linguina with fermented black garlic, olive oil, chili and bottarga (a cured fish from Sardinia) was my favorite: such an amazing journey through the six tastes of the palate.

I want to make a note here of Max’s bathroom trip at La Ciambella just so I remember it when he’s older. He had a haircut the evening before his birthday and was pretty jazzed with his new spiky style. In the bathroom at La Ciambella he saw a large bottle with a pump next to the door, the only English word recognizable to him on the label being “gel.” Thinking the bottle was complimentary hair gel and not realizing it was actually alcohol-based hand sanitizing gel, he slathered his new hairstyle with it and came back to the table with a very shiny and clean-smelling head of hair. Fortunately it was the end of the day and the hotel’s shower wasn’t too far away.

Lisa hunted down a fun adventure around Villa Borghese during the morning on Max’s birthday: one can rent four-seater bicycles to explore the Roman gardens and lakes encircling the villa. The bike rental place, however, was a bit of a letdown as our first bike’s chain broke after about 10-15 minutes on it, and then one of the replacement two-seaters we were given ran out of battery halfway through our adventures and I had to push it up every hill to get it back to the bike rental spot. I was definitely uttering a few expletives in the heat. The gardens around Villa Borghese were sadly in a bit of a state of disrepair: overgrown with weeds and littered with trash, nothing like they would have been during the height of the Roman Empire. It was a bit of a reflection of Rome in general actually, with filthy streets and graffiti everywhere. I guess that’s what a debt crisis and a decade of fiscal austerity will do to a city.

Exploring the Pantheon – a building which has inspired so many modern structures around the world, notably the US Capitol – was a highlight, as was the exquisite interior of Chiesa di Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola nearby. Uncovered shoulders aren’t permitted inside the Pantheon, so it took a little fast talking and 5€ for me to borrow a couple of shawls for Lisa and Lilia from a nearby street vendor so we could all see the interior together.

Everyone voted the Colosseum as their favorite site in Rome. The immensity of the structure was amazing, especially when one considers it was built in an era before modern machinery and cranes. I’m glad we had the kids watch a short documentary on the Colosseum before we toured, as it had them thinking through all its aspects as we walked around the different levels for a couple of hours. The engineering that went into its construction really is astonishing: the false floor and subterranean mechanical elevators, the ability to turn the base into a lake for boat competitions and drain it within 90 minutes, seating for thousands of spectators… Today the bulk of theColosseum is reconstructed from smatterings of stone and brick, but there were quite a number of examples of the original marble construction dotted about the structure. A very worthwhile adventure on Wild Man’s birthday, I hope he remembers it when he’s old enough to really appreciate it. I also really enjoyed a stroll through the Roman Forum just next to the Colosseum, standing there overlooking the ruins and imagining sandal-clad Romans bustling about thousands of years ago.

One could spend many days in Rome exploring all the archaeological sites the city has to offer. So much history to take in. One spot we didn’t explore that I’d like to visit some day is the Vatican City and particularly the Sistine Chapel, but with reduced admissions due to COVID and the impenetrable summer heat and humidity it wasn’t meant to be this time around. Also, next time I think I’ll visit during autumn or spring!