Rome and Salerno, but mostly Rome

Hello all!

 

Chester taking back over here, we are resting and relaxing after our week in Rome which was busy and wonderful and over before we knew it. We are now about three weeks into our trip, pretty fully settled into travel now and heading into summer. This post covers the bit of time we spent in Salerno, but mostly the full week we had in Rome.

Salerno

When we pulled into Salerno's rather unremarkable port from the Amalfi coast, I had a feeling I may have gone overboard in planning time in the city. Salerno is often seen as a gateway city to the Amalfi coast and a smaller version of Naples, and most visitors blow past it - would it have enough to hold our attention for the two nights we had planned there? However, by the time we were leaving on our train to Rome, I was solidly in the Salerno fan club, charmed by some of the best food and most relaxed sightseeing we'd had yet.

 

After checking in, we visited the main Cathedral (Duomo)  in the center of town, as you do in Italy. This one was really remarkable as it hosts the tomb of St. Matthew, one of the Twelve Apostles, in a stunning beautiful ornate crypt beneath the church. I was wowed by the stonework and frescoes and, as in most Catholic churches, intimidated by the complexity and depth of Catholic lore. 

Duomos around Salerno.

That night, we had a late dinner at an osteria that finally freed us from the shackles of pizza and pasta. Seafood was the centerpiece of the menu, and we were really impressed by the cuttlefish and octopus dishes we ordered - way more authentic and interesting than what we were eating on the Amalfi coast. 

 

For our full day, we caught a train south to Paestum. This archeological site is a former Greek colony turned Roman town that is older than Pompeii and boasts three well preserved temples from 400-600 BC, as well as the ruins of the surrounding town. It was really awe-inspiring to walk among the towering Doric columns erected over 2500 years ago, and see how the Roman town layered itself on top of the Greek foundations, most plainly in that the Romans filled in the amphitheater for democratic debates - the ekklesiasterion - as democratic debate was not as much of a tradition for the Romans as it was for the Greeks.

 

The museum was also pretty interesting with its collection of artifacts collected from the town during excavations. The star of the museum was definitely frescoes collected from a nearby tomb known as the Tomb of the Diver. So excellently preserved that they look like they were painted yesterday, the frescoes show unusual scenes of a symposium (a drinking party for men) which is apparently uncommon for tomb decorations, as well as a singular depiction of a diving man leaping into a body of water. The origin and meaning of frescoes is still a mystery.

 That evening after we got back from Paestum, we wandered along Salerno's seafront and enjoyed some drinks before dinner overlooking Salerno's public beach. We were both enchanted by the relaxed but lively golden hour, watching kids play soccer, a couple doing an engagement shoot, and friends meeting up after work. 

A lone man contemplates on the Salerno beach.

Rome

If you are spending a month in Italy, it seems pretty inevitable that you will end up in Rome for some time. For us, that time is eight days, the longest stretch of days we planned to be spending anywhere on on our trip. In addition to the long stay, Rome was also exciting because we had two sets of friends of ours that we would be seeing - Alex and Yasmine, my college roommate and his fiancee who recently moved to Rome, and Nathan and Czarina, my childhood friend and his girlfriend who were visiting after a destination wedding. We were looking forward to connecting with them to explore the eternal city.

 

We came into Rome on the train from Salerno, navigating the metro and bus lines to get us to our AirBnB in the Trastevere neighborhood. We were then welcomed by Alex for a lovely Lebanese barbecue at his apartment that evening, which was a great meal and a fantastic break from restaurant dining. It was good catching up with him and hearing from him and Yasmine about their wedding, which we will be attending in Greece in a few months. We saw them a few more times periodically through the week.

Arrival barbecue.

For the week itself, we didn't come in with any set plans and more or less made some while we were there. We ended up having a fun but occasionally exhausting week exploring the hurricane that is Rome. Keen readers will know this is an especially chaotic time to visit Rome between the election of a new pope and the celebration of a jubilee year were bringing millions of tourists to an already touristy city and truth be told it was a lot, but we expected as much and it was not too much to plan around; the worst of it was a few hot and cramped bus rides.

 

Rather than run through a list of how we spent our semi-spontaneous days, I'll list out some of the best things we saw and did (and ate) over the week:

• A very special, 6AM tour of the Vatican Museums, actually on our last day. This was something I had impulsively booked before asking Nikita - though got her eventual approval - and I am glad I pulled the trigger. These "keymaster tours" tours only happen twice a month and allow you to go along with the staff of the Vatican Museums as they unlock and illuminate the galleries of the Vatican, well before any crowds. For many of the doors, the guards hand over the keys and allow you to open the doors - Nikita got to open the door to the famous gallery of maps that preceded the sistine chapel.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Early morning at the Vatican, looking out at Rome

   

   

   

  

  A keymaster and his keys.

  
  

  

  Very awake and alert.
  

  
  This was such a unique experience and I think something that we will remember as a core memory of Italy. It was a bit hard to be totally attentive at that hour in the morning to be honest, so we more just let the rooms of the Vatican wash over us as we passed through them with the small tour group. The Sistine Chapel was particularly awe-inspiring, both for its history and its sheer, overwhelming beauty.
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Lots of dinners in Trastevere, the neighborhood we were staying. Trastevere is a winding puzzle of small alleys filled with bars, restaurants, and shops that is pretty touristy, but also retains some charm at least relative to the historic center. We had lots of good pasta here and also enjoyed the atmosphere.
  
  Dirty steps and cheap wine in Trastevere.
• The "spooky bone church" also known as the Capuchin Crypt was a delightful and bizarre visit. The most straightforward explanation of the crypt is that Capuchin monks in the 1600s needed more room to bury the recently deceased, so they exhumed their predecessors and started to build decorative rooms with the bones of long-dead monks. By the time the project was finished, the remains of more than four thousand monks were suspended, hung and stacked in the crypts in flowering and arching patterns. Definitely a little weird, but the museum that preceded the crypt gave good context of the Capuchin order and their intention to remind us via their bone art of our temporary status on this earth, and the heavy knowledge that we all end up in the same place eventually.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This was another entry in my macabre travels but this time I got to spook out Nikita so that was fun.
  
  
• Drinks at Cafe du Parc, a very happening little outdoor bar near Piramide station that Alex introduced us to. I particularly liked this spot and the vibe, and another neat thing was we saw a movie being filmed there.  

  

  Not the cafe, but a good opportunity to post this photo with our friends.

  
  
• A visit to the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Villa Borghese. We both really enjoyed this smaller museum focusing on modern art after we had grown a bit weary of paintings of cherubs and whatnot. Fantastic and well arranged collections, I particularly enjoyed the pieces by Giacomo Balla and Nikita liked Van Goghs as well as some other pieces.
  
  

  

  Strikingly physical sculpture.

  
  

  

  A depiction of Nikita after a long day walking around Rome.

  
  

  

  A Balla piece I liked.

  
  
• An amazing dinner over three languid hours at Trecca, many thanks to Nathan and Czarina for arranging it. Trecca specializes in off-cuts (think tripe, sweetbreads, innards, etc) which I have usually been a pretty big wimp about but was totally wowed by their presentation here in rich, unexpected sauces. Paired with our discovery of cesanese, a heavy local red wine varietal, this was a dinner adventure with friends at its finest.

  

  Sheep ragu

  
  

  

  Chicken innards and eggplant.

  
  

  

  The best pasta puttanesca I've ever had.

  
  
• A few more ways we spent our time that we enjoyed, but benefit more from pictures than full write-ups below:
  

  

  Climbing Jiancolo Hill and appreciating the views.

Sunset walks on the Tiber.

• Finally, a few quick pics that fall into the "stuff you gotta do in Rome" that we did and enjoyed, but I don't think would benefit from lengthy write-ups as our experiences were not particularly unique: 
   

  

  A tour of the Colosseum and Palantine Hill (hot! awe-inspiring! crowded!)

   

   

  I am adding a few more of Nikita's photos from the tour below because I think they are great:
  

   

  

  
  

  Continuing on below...
  

  
   

  

  A visit to the Pantheon (crowded! big! impressive!)

  
  

  

  Doria Pamphilj galleries (beautiful! stuffy! hoarded!)

  
  

  

  Trevi Fountain (crowded! beautiful! crowded!)

   
  Whew! Writing this entry has almost tired me out as much as Rome itself. Quite the time, quite the city. We hope to be back soon!