A Morning Walk

The weather is perfect — 20 degrees C (about 70 F) and the skies are deep blue. Some puffy clouds come, but quickly go, and the pink, orange and yellow palazzi are competing for attention. Rome is vibrant.  It is spring.

My morning walk varies, but one of my favorites is up to the Gianicolo Hill (Janiculum). If you are near the Vatican on the western side of the Tiber River, this walk will make your day. It is beautiful in the morning when the sunlight is coming up on the city center to the East, but it is just as beautiful at sunset, or at night, when the lights of the entire city are at your feet. Wear comfortable shoes, bring a camera, and get ready to be utterly delighted by what you see, and hear, as you experience Rome awakening.

You can begin the walk from Via Concilliazione, the main street which leads directly to St. Peter’s.  The boulevard was built by Mussolini to accommodate all the visitors descending on the basilica as well as exercise his power.  Romans continue to lament over its construction which destroyed several of the old Borgo streets and displaced many people.  In my opinion, approaching the basilica from the large boulevard takes away from the awe one feels when seeing the basilica through the spaces between the ancient buildings on the small narrow streets.  Imagine when it was built walking amidst the craggy streets and then turning and coming upon the massive church.  This was the feeling intended by Michelangelo and the other architects who designed it.  A far more thrilling way to see the church.  So if this is your first trip to St. Peter’s, I suggest you do not come upon it from Via Concilliazione but instead walk through the small Borgo streets where fruit vendors and flower carts still sell their wares.   Come down Borgo Pio or Borgo Vittorio and make a few turns on the cobblestone, or sanpietrino as they are called, streets before seeing this great feat of architecture as they did in the 17th century.

From the corner of Via Concilliazione and Via Traspontina take Via Traspontina towards the river. Pass a newspaper kiosk on your left and then turn right before the river at the church and hospital of Santo Spirito. Continue with the hospital on your right until you come to one of the busiest intersections in the morning — Piazza della Rovere. Be careful as motorcycles, city buses, and cars compete to the front of the traffic. I once saw a full city bus take the corner on its side, Romans bobbing up and down, as the driver blew a red light. Motorcycles will go around cars and drive into oncoming lanes just to get to the front of the traffic stopped at the light. You may want to take a few photos of the world’s most beautiful male and female police. The polizia and Carabinieri, the city and military police respectively, are positioned at this corner every morning directing traffic. (I’ve never seen either write a ticket although I’ve watched, as have they, many violations occur.)

Cross the intersection and bear right along a side street parallel to the river, passing a few tourist shops. Turn right at the second alley. It will be a small street with a large set of stairs at its end. Take the steps up, slowly if you are not in the best of shape, to the street at the top and make a left. You will climb even more as you wonder how the cars stay in place on such an incline. At the end of this street is a beautiful church — Sant’ Onoforio. If you are lucky and the gates are open, go up the steps and enter the garden. The view is beautiful but an even better one awaits further up the Gianicolo. Go into the cloister on the right. The arched courtyard is incredibly tranquil (notice the young olive trees in terra-cotta pots) even though just outside the traffic is mounting during the morning rush hour. This week in the garden was a nun reading on a stone bench.

Outside the church, follow the winding road up the hill. This is the Passeggiata del Gianicolo. A famous children’s hospital Bambino Jesu is on the right. (The first children’s heart transplant using an artificial heart was performed here.) If you are ready for a coffee and something to eat Bar Tasso is a favorite hangout for doctors and hospital staff. Immediately after the hospital you will see on your left a set of steps and a broken tree. Take these steps up the Rampa della Quercia, or the Ramp of the Oak Tree. This is the tree under which the 16th c. poet Torquato Tasso was said to have rested. The tree is barely alive and a large branch remains secured to an iron holder. Continue to the top of the steps and follow the street along the view to the left. You will pass a tower and on the right an elementary school where if you are early on your walk you will see Roman parents bringing their kids to school many by motorcycle. And you may even have the pleasure of seeing a dog along for the ride, seated and balancing on the bike’s foot rest!

After the school is the monument to Anita Garibaldi, Brazilian wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi. A romantic and revolutionary couple, at the age of 18 she left Brazil to join him on his battles. Together in 1849, they came to Rome to defend the then newly formed Roman Republic against the French. Take a look at the monument (her gun in one hand and baby in the other) as her adventurous spirit lives on. Continue through the grassy park on the left with the busts of many Roman soldiers, ending in the piazza with a monument to Garibaldi. The view you’ve been climbing for is before you — Rome in all its splendor. Breath deep and take it in.

When ready, continue to the end of the wall and cross the street to your right. You will see a grassy park

in a triangle. Walk left and take a small pebble path to your right. You will pass a small statue of a boy and a dog — A Righetto — dedicated to the children who were lost during the defense of the Roman Republic. The playful sculpture of the dog is one of my favorites. Turn left at the end of the path onto Viale Lorenzo Brunetti. Pass through a small arch and there will be a large arch in the Piazza San Pancrazio. This is a busy circle any time of day so be careful as you walk. (To the right will lead you to Villa Pamphili Park, the Central Park of Rome and well worth a visit.) Across the piazza is Bar Gianicolo. If you are daring and can navigate yourself across the many lanes, it is a favorite of Americans at the American Academy of Rome which is just around the corner (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their rehearsal dinner at the Academy’s villa on the left behind the tall iron gates).

Behind the arch follow the street named Angelo Massina. This is down hill and you will see the Academy’s main building on your right (fellows of the academy study here). At certain times the doors are open to the public. On the left is the garden. At the end of the street you can go left to continue down* or right and go about a hundred yards to the top of the street. The home of the American Ambassador to the Vatican City is on the left (the garden with its large stone urn is behind a fence). At the end of this street and to the left is a wonderful jewel of a park called Villa Sciara. *Going down to the left will bring you to the Fontone, or big fountain. This is a landmark seen in many Italian films, Last Night on Earth being one of them. Go around to the front of the fountain and again enjoy the view. Below is Trastevere, an old working class neighborhood which today has become popular with Americans living in Rome and on weekends it is filled with young Romans. Passing the fountain you will see a stairway down on the right. Go down the steps passing the Spanish Institute. [*Alternatively, If you have time you can go down on the other side of the fountain, further down Via Garibaldi, to the church of San Pietro in Montorio where you can enter the gate and see Bramante’s perfectly scaled Tempietto.]

At the end of the steps go left, down the street, connecting to Via Garibaldi. My friend Luisa’s lovely B&B Garibaldi is behind ivy gates on the left, a compound with a small villa, artist’s studio, courtyard with orange and lemon trees and a resident dog named Tinto (dogs are welcome). Follow Via Garibaldi down to the intersection. Turn left at the bar and pass through the arch onto Via della Lungara which runs below street level and parallel to the river. The cobblestone street will have you holding in your tummy as the cars and buses squeeze by. At the end of the Lungara you will be back at Piazza della Rovere and can either cross the bridge on your right toward Campo dei Fiori or go straight to the Vatican (passing through the arch of Santo Spirito and the Borgo). If you are ready for lunch the Hotel Columbus (photo at right) in front of the church of Santo Spirito has a lovely courtyard restaurant.

Go ahead and have pranzo — you’ve earned it!