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Italy | Forum Boarium Temples

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By Andrea Zachrich

The first Tuesday, which is the first full day of the program, we headed out to see the Forum Boarium. This used to be a bustling part of the city used for commerce (mainly trading of cattle), political speeches, and housed places of worship. Today, however, its a relatively quiet part of the city. We visited two temples, two arches, and two churches here. I thought the most interesting places were the temples because they are actually ancient structures, while the churches were built over ancient temples and altars, and its hard to see what’s left of them now.

The two temples are both related to the area they were found in. The round temple is called Hercules Olivarius (Hercules of Olives) or Hercules Victor. It would have been a very expensive temple to build because it is made of imported Greek marble. At the time it was built during the Republic in late 2nd century BC, marble had not yet been discovered in Italy. It is called Hercules of Olives because it was dedicated by a rich merchant who sold olives (according to an inscription found inside the temple). It survives in such good shape today because it was turned into a Christian church, and because it has been restored and cleaned. Ancient buildings that were used as churches often survive in much better condition than buildings that were left alone, used as housing, or stripped for building materials. During the middle ages and the Renaissance, people believed that it was a temple of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, because it was round and temples of Vesta were always round. However, when restoring the temple, an inscription stating who built the temple and its dedication to Hercules was found inside, confirming its identity. The wooden roof is a modern addition, but that’s what it would most likely have looked like in antiquity. Additionally, there are many other depictions and items dedicated to Hercules in the Forum Boarium because it is said to be the place in Rome where the hero stopped while completing his twelve trials.

The rectangular temple in the Forum Boarium is dedicated to the god Portunus, who is the god of ports. This is fitting, because the Forum Boarium is quite close to the Tiber river, and they would often trade goods in this area that had been shipped on the river. As with the round temple dedicated to Hercules, this temple was used as a church, and has been restored, and they have added a tile roof. It is also from the Republican era of the Roman empire. Unlike the round temple, this particular temple is made of travertine, which is a white stone used extensively in buildings Italy (including modern buildings). Most of the white stone you see in Rome is travertine. You can tell the difference between travertine and marble because travertine is much more porous than marble, and thus often gets dirtier much more quickly.

The temple is in a very typical Italic style. It has a raised porch that would have been used for political speeches and announcements. It has engaged columns built into the walls with free standing ones on the porch. It’s built in a rectangular shape with a pointed roof (although the roof is a restoration). In later times, the travertine was covered in reliefs sculpted out of stucco and painted in order to look like marble. None of these decorations survive today, but we can still get a pretty good idea of what the temple looked like.

There are also two arches that survive in the Forum Boarium, one of which we know a lot about and one which we know very little about. They are called the Arch of the Argentarii and the Arch of Janus/Constantine. The Arch of the Argentarii was built during the reign of Septimius Severus in the 3rd century AD as a tribute from the cattle merchants to the emperor. It survived essentially untouched (except by the elements) because it was incorporated into the side of a church. The main bit of damage done to the arch is actually contemporary with its building. After Caracalla killed his brother Geta (who was murdered while running to his mother and died in her arms), he erased Geta’s image and name from all of the monuments in Rome. The Roman Emperors were savage, but I suppose that’s part of what makes studying ancient Rome so fascinating.

The second arch, the Arch of Janus, is in much worse condition than the other one still standing in the Forum Boarium, although parts of it have been recently restored. The arch is called the arch of Janus because it is one of the few arches with four openings. It is also sometimes called the Arch of Constantine because it was built during the time period of his reign. It actually had the original top on the arch until the 18th century, when they removed it thinking it was a later addition. Modern scholars believe, however, that they unknowingly destroyed the original decoration. The Cloaca Maxima (the main sewer line of ancient Rome) runs directly down the center of the arch (underground of course). That may have significance, or it may be coincidental.

Also in the Forum Boarium are two churches that have ancient ruins under them, and one of them has the Hand of Truth (Roman Holiday anyone?), but you can only see the ancient ruins under one of the churches. Saint Nicola in Carcere is a church is built over three Roman temples, which are currently the foundations/crypt for the church. We got to go down there, and its creepy because they just casually have bones sitting in notch holes in the walls. You could reach out and touch them if you felt so inclined (but please don’t, obviously.) We didn’t get to see the ancient ruins under the other church, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, but it was a beautiful church. It’s one of the few medieval churches left in Rome (many were re-built during the Renaissance and Baroque period) and it has a beautiful floor made of small pieces of marble cut in a geometric pattern. This type of floor was made by the Cosmati brothers, and is popular for churches in Rome from the Medieval period. It is stunning.

Also, outside of this church is “The Hand of Truth” featured in the American movie Roman Holiday. This ancient Roman sewer cap, which depicts the face of the river god Oceanus, has a particularly interesting back story that has origins in the middle ages. Legend has it that if you tell the truth when you stick your hand in the mouth of Oceanus, then you get to keep your hand, but, if you lie, then you lose the hand. We didn’t want to risk losing a hand before we had to write our midterm, so we didn’t test if the myth was true while we there :).

Me testing the Hand of Truth!

The Forum Boarium is a great place to go for a lot of ancient Roman monuments fairly close together, and is one of the quieter places in Rome. It’s also right next to a very good pizza place in Testaccio Market called Casa Manco. It was a fun morning with a delicious lunch after!

Italy | Eating in Bars (aka Cafes)

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By Andrea Zachrich

What are bars in Italy?

First thing to know, cafes are called bars in Italy. They also sell alcoholic drinks, and might change into more of a traditional bar in the evening, but during the day its where you would go to get a coffee or a pastry or sometimes gelato if they have it. I remember first landing in Milan and telling my friend Mike something along the lines of “Wow, Italians must drink a lot because I see at least one bar per street block”, but they’re not (entirely) there for serving alcohol. I’m not sure why the meaning of bar is so different in Italy and America, but these are the places to go for coffee and snacks during the day.

Second important thing to know: there are different places in the bar where you eat depending on how you order. If you sit down at a table in a bar, they will bring you menus and usually charge you a service fee of 1 to 2 euros. If you walk up and order at the counter, they expect you to stand at the bar and eat/drink your food while standing there, and do not charge you the service fee. I kind of felt like I was in the way while standing at the bar, but you’re not and they expect you to do it. Some bars will allow you to sit down at the table after you order, especially if they’re not busy, but most don’t want you to because they charge people a little extra to do so.

Bar near our daily meeting place at Piazza Belli

Coffee

In addition, coffee is served a little differently here. If you order a “caffe”, they give you an espresso (usually a fairly small one), but it should only cost around 1-2 euros. I haven’t found anywhere that will serve me a large cup of coffee like you could get at a coffee shop in America. You can, of course, ask for cappuccinos and items like that made using a standard espresso machine. If you’re lactose intolerant, you might be out of luck because many bars don’t have milk substitutes (although I have noticed the most common one is soy, so I would try to ask for that). Also, there’s usually not a menu for coffee, but if you see an espresso machine behind the counter, they should be able to make all the standard drinks.

Also, iced coffee is not really a thing here, BUT there is something called “crema di caffe” and it is my favorite Italian food item thus far. I’ve gotten one everyday since we’ve been here. It’s essentially a creamy icy espresso slushie with a touch of sweetness.  It’s delicious and I would for sure recommend it while you’re here. It’s often so thick that they usually serve it with a spoon instead of a straw. They keep it in one of those machines that constantly stirs it, so look for that behind that counter. Sometimes they call it “cold coffee” as well.

One last thing: to-go coffee (or “take away” as I’ve commonly heard it called here) is not very common. A lot of places will do it, but most expect you to take the 4-5 minutes to stand at the counter and drink your coffee, and you should! It’s fun to stand there and people watch the other people in the bar. If it’s not too busy, the people working there can be fun to talk, help you with your Italian, to or give recommendations if you ask and they’re in a good mood.

Eating in bars was something that really confused me until our professor explained it, so I thought I would save you the embarrassment of being the clueless American who has no idea what’s going on.

Crema di Caffe (take away, I know, I broke my rule but I was late)

Italy | Class Requirements

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By Andrea Zachrich

If you’re a future Exploring Rome student and reading this blog, you might have some questions on details regarding how the program works while you’re actually in Rome. I know the Study Abroad office gives students a ton of pre-departure information (so make sure you go to those meetings), but it’s hard to imagine what the classes are like until you actually get there. I thought I would break down some of the things I had the most questions on about the class, like tests and other big assignments, so that you have a little more of an idea of what you’re getting into. Keep in mind, these could obviously change for your year, but I only have my own experience to base it off of, so I’m going to talk about that. Side note: don’t worry if you’re a non-Classics or a nonHistory major. I’m not going to say that those majors didn’t have a bit of an advantage (mostly because they knew a lot of the history behind the sites we visited), but a lot of people on my program were from other majors and they did just fine. Everything you need to know will be covered in lecture, so, if you pay attention, no prior knowledge is required.

Day to Day Schedule

All of the weekdays look more or less the same (with some exceptions for field trips which I talk about in other posts). Basically, we met every morning at 8:30 at Piazza Belli – which is right next to the Tiber river. For our year, getting to this Piazza was kind of a mob – about a 20 minute walk or 8 minute tram ride. But, do not fear, I know other years have stayed closer to the meeting location. Sometimes, we would meet later or earlier, but the professor will always tell you the day before if that’s the case.

At 8:30, we would head off to whatever activity we were doing that morning. It could be a museum or a site like the Roman Forum or the Coliseum. Our lectures were almost always on-site or, if the site was particularly busy, near to or just outside of the site. The class followed the syllabus very well, so I would keep a copy or a screenshot of that handy.

At anywhere from 11:30-1 we would be let loose to go and enjoy lunch and take a quick break before meeting back up again in the evening. I usually would go and get lunch (originally, I tried to cook my own food but I couldn’t resist the Italian restaurants ugh). After lunch, I would usually go back to the apartment and nap and/or work on some homework. A few times, I met up with friends and wandered around the city in between, which was fun but very tiring. My biggest piece of advice I could give you is to find some air conditioning during this break, whether it’s in the restaurant you have lunch in or back at the apartment you’re staying at. It’s really hard to stay out a full day in the Roman heat if you’re not used to it.

At anywhere from 3:30 to 5 we would meet back up again and go to another site. Again, this could be a museum or a church or a tomb or anything. We would then be done for class anywhere from 6 to 8 pm and would be let loose to go eat dinner, watch the world cup games, or whatever else we wanted to do. None of us tended to stay up too late during the week because we did have to be up so early every day, and the days were pretty tiring.

The syllabus was very accurate (with a few changes) while I was there, and the professor will always tell you if it’s going to be different. Being out and about during lectures was an awesome way to learn and I found that I retained a ton of the information simply because I was there, and it’s a lot harder to forget something when you’ve actually visited something.

Class Requirements and Assignments

Midterm

The midterm and the final were the only two times during this program that we were ever in a classroom, which was awesome. We took the tests at the Accent Center – UCLA’s headquarters for study abroad students in Rome. As with most of Professor Gurval’s tests, the midterm was very fair. He gave us about 50 monuments, all of which we had visited, and asked us to know basic facts about them such as the date, location, and some simple history. There were 10 on the midterm (plus an extra credit that wasn’t included on the list of 50 but was a place we had visited) and we had a little less than 10 minutes to answer each one. The test lasted about an hour and a half. As you can imagine, it was straight forward and we knew exactly what was expected of us going into the test.

Final

The final was a lot more creative during the midterm, and I even had some fun with it. As with the midterm, we got the final essay questions in advance. We had two essays to write in about 90 minutes: one was about what each architect from different imperial eras would give you for advice if you were a Renaissance architect tasked with rebuilding Rome and what buildings they would use to support their advice, and the other required you to pick a type of person from Roman society and build a tomb for that person using elements from other tombs we saw and what this shows or reveals about ancient Roman society. In the tomb essay, for example, I decided that I was going to be a freed slave who became wealthy through running a shipbuilding company by master passed down to me after he died. My tomb, which was based quite strongly on the Baker’s Tomb and the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome with elements taken from tombs in Pompeii and other places, was going to be a cylinder with a statue of a boat on top. I really appreciated that we were able to showcase our knowledge of the places we’ve been and what we learned about Roman society in a really creative (and almost fun) way.

Presentations

During the second week of class, you will be asked to give a group presentation with 1-2 other people about a monument. It’s really not very stressful and doesn’t take a whole ton of time. You have to talk about the main person associated with the monument, it’s architecture, and its history up to today. Our professor gave us individual readings based on what monument we were presenting on, and we got to split up the information so no one had to talk very long. You get to pick where you want to present and how you want to present the information as a group. It can be cool to learn from your classmates, and people were usually really interested in most of the presentations. The best advice I can give is to take all the information you have, and cut out at least half of it. The main problem people had in my class is that they went over time.

Journals & Sketchpads

Another project for the class requires you to keep an almost daily journal and sketchpad. I actually really enjoyed doing both. It gets so crazy with all the running around Rome that it’s nice to take a couple of minutes and chill and reflect on your day and sketch something out. The journals were mainly focused on your own thoughts and opinions rather than facts we learned (they’re not your notes) and I’m glad I have it to look back on. The sketchpad could be anything we’ve seen. The only requirements for that was that you actually spend some time on it and you try to have a variation in the items you draw (architecture, statues, paintings, mosaics, etc.). You’ll get feedback on both about halfway through the class so you have an idea of how you’re doing and what you could improve on.

Participation

Another part of your grade will come from participation on site visits. This is not hard. Just pay attention to lecture, ask questions if you have them, participate in group discussions, and don’t lose the group on the bus. The class is pretty engaging, so I think participating came fairly natural to most people.

Final Project

The final project was actually really fun (or well, as fun as something that you’re getting graded on can be). During our first week in Rome, we were asked to pick a theme that we would collect pictures of throughout the class. Some examples of themes were grapes (that’s me!), wings, Venus (the goddess not the planet), lions, rear ends, and river gods. There are a ton of themes to choose from. Most of the items were expected to be from antiquity, but not all of them had to be. When you get home, you’ll be asked to pick 10 of these items and pretend that you are a curator putting on a themed art exhibit using the art. You’ll have to make a PowerPoint with pictures of the items and some basic information (age, location, history, etc.) and write a 5-7 page paper about the theme and what it can tell us about Roman society. Research is not required but I found it to be useful in examining my theme. It’s due a little over a month after you get back. Even after traveling for three weeks around Europe after the program and backpacking for 5 days in Sequoia, I still managed to have more than enough time to complete the project, so you will be fine too.

Overall, this class is awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone with any major (unless they hate learning cool things idk?) It offers you the opportunity to learn things in an incredibly unique way by being on-site and the assignments were fair. Rome is also an awesome city. I’ve been to quite a few places in Europe, and it’s definitely my favorite city I’ve visited. A lot of organized chaos going on there. Plus, what better place could you go to study ancient Rome besides Rome?

Italy | Casa Manco

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By Andrea Zachrich

Looking for some amazing Pizza?

Casa Manco has some of the best pizza in Rome.

This pizza tastes how all pizzas should taste. The dough is light and fluffy and thick and not overcooked. They have a variety of toppings (in fact, it changes everyday). It’s not very expensive. And its amazing.

Tell me this pizza doesn’t look amazing

Casa Manco is located in Testacchio New Market near the Jewish Ghetto in Rome in Box 22 of the market. It’s a little stand where you walk up and order your pizza, and then either walk around eating your pizza or go sit at the tables in the food area of the market. It’s made fresh regularly, and you can often see pizzas being made in front of you as you order. The people who work there are also very nice, and they take credit cards (a rarity for smaller places in Italy). You pay by the weight of the pizza you order, so you can get just as much as you need or want for lunch, and save some money by not having any waste. The prices are very reasonable too. When I went for the first time, I got a TON of pizza for just under 10 euros and took half of it home for dinner that evening.

When we went the first time, I got a sample of 4 kinds of pizza: plain cheese, salami, tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, and gorgonzola and pear. They were all delicious. You can’t go wrong with a plain cheese pizza when the dough and ingredients are exceptional as they are at this pizza stand. The salami was also very good mostly because the salami on the top of the pizza was amazing. It’s a little spicy, but full of flavor. This one was my favorite of the four I tried. The tomato and mozzarella had the least amount of flavor, but don’t let that stop you from getting it because it also tastes very good. The gorgonzola and pear was, while it seems like an interesting comment, was delicious. I don’t even like gorgonzola that much, and I really enjoyed this pizza. The friends I went with to Casa Manco also got a variety of pizzas, including “grice” pizza (pecorino cheese and black pepper), eggplant and spicy provolone pizza, and onion pizza, and everyone really liked whatever they got. I have since tried many of the pizzas there, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. If you happen to be in this part of town, I would definitely stop by, and even if you’re not in this part of town, you should also make a trip over because this pizza is delicious.

The market its in is also interesting to walk around it. They sell fresh fish, meat, fruits, and veggies, and much of it is beautifully displayed in the stands in the market. If you’re looking to save some money and cook dinner while in Rome, this market has all you need at reasonable prices, and its very fresh.

One important thing to note about the market (including this pizza place), is that it closes for the day in the afternoon, so you can only go to Casa Manco for lunch (or breakfast). We tried to go once for dinner without paying attention to the hours, and we were severely disappointed because we missed out on some great pizza that evening.

So far in Italy, I have only had better pizza in Florence. So, if you’re in the mood for pizza and its not after 3pm, you should make the walk over to Testacchio Market and enjoy some Casa Manco.

We found it!

Italy | Borghese Gallery

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by Andrea Zachrich

We went to the Borghese Gallery during our third week in Rome, and it was easily my favorite museum of the trip. It has a very unique layout, an interesting collection of art, and is in a beautiful location.

Here’s a picture of the gallery. They don’t really have a ton of signs telling you what the building is, so here’s what it looks like when you walk up to the front so that you know.

History

This museum is in the former Borghese villa in the Villa Borghese park (usually just called Villa Borghese now). The villa was built in the 1600’s by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, as a place to showcase his art collection. So from the beginning, this building was designed to display art. Cardinal Borghese was an avid art collector and sponsored many artists. The gallery houses artwork from antiquity and the Renaissance, and includes works from famous artists such as Bernini, Caravaggio, and Raphael. The building and park surrounding it were sold to the Italian government in 1902, and it was turned into a public museum shortly after.

The Layout

Besides the amazing art, a big part of the why this museum was my favorite is due to its unique layout. First off, the whole museum has the vibes of a mansion rather than a museum. It almost feels like you walked into someone’s home and instead of furniture, they have art pieces. Additionally, almost all of the rooms have a “theme” of some sort. For example, one room has frescoes that depict scenes involving Paris and almost all of the artwork in the room is related to the story of the Iliad or the the Trojan war. Another room, known as the Egyptian room, has frescoes and artwork that all relate to Egypt, such as a bust of Cleopatra and a depiction of the Nile River (personified) with her children. It was really fun to walk into the rooms and try and guess what the theme was that linked all the art together. There wasn’t always one, but even when there wasn’t, I admired the way in which the collector wasn’t afraid to display modern and ancient art side by side. As a student of antiquity, it was interesting to compare the art and see if I could identify whether it was old or new art. Also, there is a room full of busts of emperors, and our class had a fun time trying to identify the emperor without looking at who it was (you will get pretty good at identifying emperors by the end of this program, my friends all think its a really strange skill to have but I think its cool to be able to do).

The Art Collection

There are soooo many amazing pieces in this museum. My personal favorites are three Bernini sculptures: Apollo and Daphne, Pluto and Persephone, and David.The detail on these marble statues is absolutely mind blowing.

This is the statue of Apollo and Daphne. For those of you that don’t know, the myth of these two goes like this: basically, Apollo insults Cupid, so in spite, Cupid shot an arrow at Apollo that made him fall in love with Daphne and an arrow at Daphne that made her abhor the idea of falling in love. Apollo cannot control his lust, and ends up chasing Daphne through the forest even though she does not want to be with him. She begs her father, the god Peneus, for a way out of the situation, and he turns her into a laurel tree, which Apollo vows will be eternally green as a tribute to her. This statue shows the moment she is turning into a tree. The detail is incredible. My favorite part is the toenails – you can see them turning into the roots of the tree she will become. You can also see the fear on her face of being caught by Apollo.

This is the statue of Pluto and Persephone. I really like this statue for one main reason: that thigh grab! Bernini somehow managed to make marble bend under Pluto’s grab like its flesh, and it’s awesome to look at. I also love how her hair is swinging to the side as she attempts to escape the god. It’s so full of movement, and almost looks like it could come to life. Plus, there’s a dog included (even if its Pluto’s scary, three-headed dog).

This is the statue of David. Look at his face! This is not the idealized David of Michelangelo, standing stoic before the battle, but rather a David shown deep in concentration in the middle of the fight. He looks young and small, but determined. I love this sculpture purely for that facial expression.

Tips for Visiting

One of the most important things I can tell you about this museum is that you NEED a reservation and it must be booked in advance online on their website for a specific time (they’re in 2 hour time slots). The museum will sometimes have day of reservations when someone cancels, but I wouldn’t risk it if you really want to go to this museum. I know this policy seems like a pain, but it actually makes visiting the gallery really nice because there aren’t many people in there with you, so you can really take your time and enjoy the art without waiting behind people to see it or feeling like you’re blocking someone else’s view. Professor Gurval said that he has noticed over the years that the least busy time is right before the museum closes in the 5-7 time slot and during week days.

Additionally, the museum and park are kind of out of the way of the main attractions in Rome, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get there. I even got there early and went around the gift shop and sat in the cafe and got myself a cappuccino. You can see below how the gallery (on the East side of the park) is pretty far from a lot of places in Rome.

One last thing: the park around it is also a really cool place to visit. I know some other students in our class rented those covered bikes (the ones that kind of look like golf carts) and had a ton of fun biking around. I walked around before our time slot, and its really beautiful. If you like to run, it looked like a gorgeous place to run and get away from all the traffic in Rome (although I never made it over there to run because it was pretty far from where we lived – even by bus).

If you have time while you’re in Rome, you should definitely try and stop here (I know I say that about every place in Rome, but it is a really cool city!) It’s full of beautiful art in a beautiful building in a beautiful park – what more could you want?

Italy | Best Otaleg in Trastevere

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By Andrea Zachrich

Otaleg is what word backwards? I’ll just give you a minute…

GELATO!! Otaleg is easily one of my favorite gelato places in Rome, and certainly my favorite in Trastevere. What I look for in a gelato place are:

The Flavors

Are they unique flavors? Do they have the classics and some new, more creative flavors?

This place has it all! They have more interesting flavors such as mango with chocolate (which was delicious by the way) and classics such as stratiacella (chocolate chip) and fondente (dark chocolate). They would also occasionally change out their more creative flavors, so there was usually something new to try when I went in.

The Price

Is it cheap? Does the gelato place scoop a decent amount for what you pay? (Giolitti, for example, is a little on the high side at 2.80 euros for a small with two flavors, but the scoops they give you are huge and they don’t charge extra for the panna (whip cream)).

Side note: try panna if you get the chance! It’s essentially whip cream without the pressurized air (so like it’s literally whipped cream). It’s delicious and almost like you get another scoop of ice cream on top of your gelato

This place is simple: they charge a euro for a scoop. So two flavors is 2 euro, and 3 flavors is 3 euro, etc. All the scoops are the same size, because they use a little ice cream scooper (which is a little unconventional for a gelato place, but at least it’s standardized). It’s also really tasty, so I think that it’s worth the price!

The Presentation

Is the inside cute? Do they have all the flavors displayed nicely?

I know this is nit-picky, but when you get gelato nearly every day for a month, you have to have some way to distinguish between the places! This place has a modern look, which is different from many of the places in Rome. The flavors are displayed in front of you, and the flavor names are written in Italian and English. While the English is unnecessary (you will learn food names in Italian quickly, trust me), it does make ordering easier because you don’t have to ask (or guess) what all the flavors are.

Cool, modern interior of the gelato shop!

How to get there

This place is very centrally located in Trastevere, and is right by the main church of Santa Maria de Trastevere on Via d. San Cosimato. Here’s a map to help you find it!

Notice how close it is to the main square and the river!

Giolitti will always have my heart, but this place was much closer to our apartments, so it was a good subsitute when my love of Giolitti’s wasn’t strong enough to walk all the way across the city in the summer heat. If you happen to find yourself in Trastevere, and want some gelato, I would definitely recommend this place!

Rome | Another Couple of Running Routes in Rome

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By Andrea Zachrich

So, as you can tell by the maps below, I definitely attempted to run while I was in Rome for the summer (attempted being the key word in that sentence. I started the month working out 5-6 times a week and ended it 2-3 times a week. You win some and you lose some). I think I have mentioned this in every post so far, but Rome is hot during the summer. Like walk outside and feel like you’re melting like the Wicked Witch of the West HOT.

Additionally, the free time we had during the day away from class was smack in the middle of the day. We usually went from 8:30 until lunchtime, and then took a break from class until 4 or 5 pm when we met back up again. As such, I was working out during the hottest part of the day in one of the hottest cities in Europe (I know some of you are going to say “Just go in the morning” to which I respond “no, just no.” But if you like mornings, then by all means go for it). As such, much of my route planning was focused on finding routes that alleviated some of the pain of the heat, which meant trying to run in parks and by water instead of on concrete of cobble stone that really absorbs the heat and throws it back at you. Here’s a couple of ideas for runs in places near Trastevere that aren’t ludicrously hot.

Run #1

As mentioned before, running near a body of water usually means that the air is cooler. Luckily, Rome has a large river, the Tiber, running right smack dab in the middle of it. I tried to plan this run so that I just ran alongside it as much as possible. The run looks kind of haphazard because I sort of made it up as I went along.

Pros of this run:

  1. Running near the water makes it much cooler, especially in the evening
  2. The Tiber can be really pretty in certain places
  3. There is a running path in places along the river

Cons of this run:

  1. There can be a lot of people at certain parts along the river such as one section near the heart of Trastevere where there’s a bunch of shops and restaurants
  2. No water fountains (nasoni) along the river itself, you’d have to pop back up to ground level if you got thirsty.
  3. It’s not the most scenic route – you’re just running next to the river the whole time.

Even with all the cons, I would still recommend the run. It’s easy enough to walk up a set of stairs if you’re dying for water, and if you time it right (i.e. don’t go at dinner time or during a World Cup game oops) then people won’t be a problem. There is a separate path for walkers/runners along the shop area that’s usually pretty free unless it’s a busy time for whatever reason.

Run #2

Again, I tried to find a run where at least a part of it would be off the streets for the sake of keeping cool. The closest park to our apartment, according to google maps, is called Villa Doria Pamphii. It’s the giant green thing you see on the map. I headed off one day to go and check it out on a run, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Some quick background on the park because I was curious after I ran through it:

This park is the largest landscaped public park in Rome (who knew?) It was owned by the Pamphii family until their family line died out in the 17th century and was then passed down to Prince Doria (hence, the double name of the park). The Pamphii’s were very wealthy, and one was even a pope! (Innocent X). The park was purchased by the city of Rome in the 1960’s, and the villa on the property was turned into a museum housing much of the work that was in the collection of these wealthy families (I didn’t end up running by this).

Pros of this run:

  1. The park is beautiful – there’s lots of water and trees and grass and pretty buildings interspaced among the nature and it’s just generally a really nice park.
  2. There’s nasoni all over the park. Being able to do a quick stop (or four) for water during a run in the summer makes the run much easier.
  3. Some of the paths in the park aren’t paved – I guess some people wouldn’t like this, but I trail run a lot at home and I prefer the dirt paths.

Cons of this run:

  1. It’s a mob to get back to Trastevere. On my way home, I encountered the largest outdoor staircase in terms of height I have ever seen (and, mind you, I hunt out large staircases to do workouts on). Even though I love stair workouts, I don’t tend to love them towards the end of a 5 mile run.
  2. You have to run through city streets to get there – not a deal breaker, but the park isn’t THAT close.

Again, I would recommend this run. I really enjoyed the park a lot, and it’s a really convenient place to run due to all the nasoni. Yes, it is rough to get home, but I just told myself I got an extra scoop of gelato that night as a reward for running up that massive staircase. About half the run is inside the park, and the other half isn’t too bad because you’re running through not particularly busy side streets most of the way to get there. If you like running through nice parks, and you’re staying in Trastevere, you should consider giving Villa Doria Pamphii a visit.

Overall, I think running in Rome is actually a really cool thing to do. It gives you a much better sense of the layout of the city, and you’re running through and by history every time you step out the door. During any given mile, you could run past a 2000 year old structure (like the Coliseum), a 17th century villa (like Villa Doria Pamphii park), next to a river that helped build an empire (like the Tiber), or across a bridge adorned with statues designed by the famous Baroque sculture Bernini (like the Pont Sant Angelo). It’s not always comfortable, given the heat and the cobblestones, but I was often so distracted by the fact that I just passed something incredible that it was easy to lessen the discomfort. If you’re a runner, and you have a chance to run while you’re in Rome, do it! I will always have fond memories of my runs in Rome.

Italy | Alla Fratte

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By Andrea Zachrich

What is it?

Alla Fratte is a delicious Italian restaurant in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome. It has incredibly fair prices for the food they serve, has a nice atmosphere, and great service (a rarity in Italy!) We found it by chance one day when we searched something along the lines of “good, cheap restaurants in Trastevere” and this place popped up.

Where is it?

It’s in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome fairly close to the main church (Santa Maria in Trastevere). If you want to learn more about Trastevere, peep at my post here! I included a screenshot of a google map below so you know exactly where it is.

Here’s the exterior. I swooped this photo off their website, by the way.

It’s the big red dot in the center!

What should you order?

Everything. I did not have one thing there that disappointed in the four times we went, and neither did any of my friends. I especially liked the appetizers – they have great bruschetta and prosciutto and cheeses (check out the picture below). You also can’t go wrong with any of the pizzas. I really enjoyed the gnocchi as well! If you go as a group, they also do group specials. We went as a group of six one time, and started with a pizza as an appetizer, then some pasta, and then a cooked meat platter (it was amazing!) I wish I had pictures of that meal. The group meal was a little more expensive, but the individual items are super reasonable – especially for Rome. I put a couple of photos of the menu below to give you a little bit of idea about prices.

Why should you go there?

As talked about earlier, it’s got amazing food. I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. The outside of the building is covered with ivy, and the inside walls are covered with murals of famous Roman landmarks such as the Spanish steps. It’s got an old school vibe with table cloths on the tables and a tiled floor.

The interior! (I also swooped this off their website).

The service is also very good. They spoke English quite well. We also had a very funny moment with a server there involving one of the friends in my group. The first time we went there for lunch, my friend (for whatever reason) decides to try and speak in Spanish to the server, but he does so in the most gringo accent I’ve ever heard. The server started laughing, and actually starts to mimic my friend’s American accent in Spanish, and had the whole table cracking up. I can definitely appreciate a place that has a good sense of humor (especially when dealing with us silly Americans).

For some reason, this is the only picture I have of the food we ate there. We usually ate it with so much gusto that I would forget to grab a photo until it was mostly eaten.

Prosciutto e mozzarella we split as a table!

The only bummer about this place is that it’s not air conditioned, but don’t hold it against the place. If you go for dinner, and not for lunch, the temperature inside is not too warm because it’s quite a large restaurant.

So, if you have a decent sized group, or are just looking for some good Italian food while you’re in Trastevere, this is a great option! I hope you enjoy!