Trastevere and on to Assisi

We spent the 4th of July celebrating America’s birthday in Rome. No fireworks, no barbeque, no beer, Instead we wandered the back streets of Rome’s cross-the-river neighborhood known as Trastevere. While the kids went with Steve and Beth to take in the Popes’ art collection at St. Peters, we had the day to ourselves to check out some of Rome’s sites that we missed in our trip here 10 years ago post 9/11.

Formerly a gritty, work-a-day district, Trastevere is gentrifying--but slowly and well. Just across the Tiber from the old Center, the streets are much quieter and feel more like a small town with piazzas, churches and gardens that aren’t over run with tour groups. It is the Italy we came to see.

We visited several churches during our wanderings and shared a much-too-big bowl of pistachio and tiramisu gelato on the edge of a fountain in Piazzo Santa Maria in Trastevere while listening to an busker playing accordion. There was a recommended art museum that Court wanted to see but alas it closed at 1 p.m. -- just as we finally found it. We found consolation in a quiet park walk that cost us 8 Euro but was worth the peace and quiet from Roma.

On a tip from a museum worker, we caught a bus to San Clemente (--an amazing study in the history of Rome. In what is basically a pagan temple to Mithras under a Church under another Church, visitors get to see the stratigraphy of Rome’s religious evolution. It was damp and perfectly preserved, including several ancient frescoes. On street level, visitors see the 12th century Basilica di San Clemente church. Nice enough, but nothing grand on a Roma scale. Then the steps lead down to a 4th century Christian church--complete with frescoes from the early years of Christianity. Another staircase leads down another three centuries to a pagan Mithrian alter. A piece of marble on one of the levels has a Christian epitaph on one side and a pagan quote on the other. Fascinating!

We returned home to the apartment to find that St. Peter’s proved less satisfying than our journey. While they successfully saw the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum, they somehow missed going to the Basilica and decided it was not worth the miles and miles of waiting.

The evening was salvaged with a lovely dinner at a Rick Steve’s recommended restaurant called Ristorante il Gabriello. Everything is a la carte in Italy but we never went hungry. It’s a great opportunity to sample veal in wine sauce or someone else’s ravioli spinache! Molto bene!

July 5th-on to Assisi

Today was one of those challenging travel days that one just needs to endure to get to cool places. Luckily it ended in the heavenly hill town of Assisi, but it took some wrong turns, a little bit of hail, tiny passageways, frustrating car rentals, and asking directions several times to get us there.

First there was the thunderstorm. We had prepared ourselves for 90 degree weather but not hail and New Orleans style downpours. Well, Steve and Beth were prepared with rain ponchos but not the Seattle Schrieves. Anyway, the storm finally cleared (as Garin predicted) by the time we had to walk with suitcases and backpacks to the Metro station about three blocks away. That went rather smoothly…until the car rental. Things in Italy are notoriously slow, but this was 2 painfully long hours with only three couples ahead of us. Thrifty was not very nifty!

We knew driving in Rome would be chaotic but the lack of knowledge of where we were, plus inability to read the signs plus the crazed Italian drivers who would drive over you if they had Monster trucks, was a little unbearable. We missed our exit to Firenze and again, with help from a nice Italian man, we got on our way.

Finally we reached the picturesque town of Assisi, birthplace of the famous St. Francis of Assisi (born in 1181) who talked to the animals and stripped himself naked to declare his devotion to a life of poverty thereby creating, eventually, the order of Franciscan monks. We were not very patient and kind to each other, unfortunately, upon entering the town of 27,000 because, quite frankly, you can’t tell where you are going despite the signs in Italiano!

Frustrated with maps, Courtney said, “Go right up here!” and alas, the passageway got narrower and narrower, putting both Garin and Steve’s tiny cars into purgatory. If it weren’t -- again -- for some nice Italians (love those Umbrians) we would not have gotten out without scratching the sides of our rental cars and taking off some ancient stone in the process. Parking lot eventually found, we met the lovely Anna Marie, caretaker and owner of our apartment building, complete with bountiful flower garden, a breathtaking view of Umbrian hillside and much to Anna’s joy, a swimming pool! Rested and filled up on wine and cheese, we shall now depart to a much earned dinner shortly amid the bells of San Rufino.