Italy, Day 4: In Which We are Serenaded for Someone Else’s Birthday

Today was almost completely unplanned. We had considered doing a couple of museums, but it would take a lot of time and effort, and we’re not very patient people. I wanted to go to the App ian Way, which was the old road to Rome, so we walked in that direction after breakfast. When we got near the , there was actual nature, which was lovely. There was finally no threat of rain, so the walkers and bikers were out in force. After wandering around the paths near the Catacombs of St.Callixtus for a bit, we decided to move on to my next desired destination, the Giardino degli Aranai.

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A building along the Appian Way (Photo/Jason Rafal)

 The giardino was a bit of a hike from where we were, and Jason was getting hungry and tired, so we decided to try to find food first. We quickly realized that it was Sunday, which meant that most of the good restaurants were closed. We decided that our best bet would be to head back toward the Colosseum, which would have food areas pandering to tourists.

 After being ambushed by a bike race and finding a way through the giant wall (the most difficult part about trying to navigate Rome by foot), we got back to the Circo Massimo. We found a restaurant that was both open and crowded (with both tourists and Italians) and were ushered to a seat. I have noticed that Rome has very proactive and primarily male restaurant hosts. They stand in the sidewalk and usher you to a table if you seem at all interested (or try to start up a conversation if you’re just passing by, which was difficult for me as a shy tourist).

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An alarming sign on a railway bridge (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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A bike race in Rome (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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The wall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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Some Romans marching around (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Lunch was accompanied by Chianti, which was dangerously smooth. We also shared some delicious tiramisu. Jason thinks that tiramisu is the first step toward making me like coffee, which seems unlikely, but I’m happy to eat tasty creamy desserts.

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Dog parking (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch, we headed to the giardino, which was up the hill from the Roman Forum. It was a beautiful area—lots of cobblestones and trees, both of which I like. We finally arrived at the giardino, which is actually a tiny, lovely park. It has benches, a small grove of orange trees, rose bushes, and a gorgeous view of the city. We had joined the group who was sitting on the rock banister and looking out at the city when the people started singing.

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A fountain at the giardino (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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Nicole and the view (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Over the next few minutes, we pieced together that someone had hired two opera singers, a brother and sister pair, to serenade a middle-aged woman for her birthday. Using an iPad and a speaker to play the music, the brother sang My Way in an extremely heavy Italian accent, slowly gaining the attention of the entire giardino. His sister, who was wearing a floor-length burgundy dress, then sang a song from an Italian opera (we both recognized it, but couldn’t tell which one it was). After more rounds of applause, the pair sang happy birthday to the woman together. With the performance over, we headed out.

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The brother sings My Way (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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The sister sings an Italian opera (Photo/Jason Rafal)

 We were kind of at a loss for what else to do, so we headed for the Jewish ghetto, which was close, on the assumption that it would have more open stores than the rest of the city on a Sunday. Indeed, unlike when we had walked through on a Friday, the place was hopping. The restaurants were full at 2:30 p.m., and there were groups of children playing in the streets. We stopped at a gelato shop so that I could try a frulatti (seems to be a fruit smoothie) and took a look at the section of original wall, which is near the Teatro Marello. The Roman ghetto is apparently the oldest ghetto in the world. The informational sign made it seem like the Jews just chose to live next to the wall, which was an amusing/sad way of putting it.

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Fontana delle Tartarughe (Photo/Jason Rafal)

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Late afternoon sun over the Roman Forum (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Walking back to the Colosseum metro stop, the street was a zoo of people. We couldn’t figure out why, but a large area of the street was blocked off, and crowds of people were just walking in both directions. Between that and the men trying to sell “selfie sticks” (little extender arms that hold your cell phone and allow you to take pictures from a couple feet away with a remote), it was fairly overwhelming. It’s definitely a bustling city. It’s been great, but I think I’m ready to move on.