Roma, my favourite city . . eternally

Of course I am not a local in Rome but I don’t like to consider myself a tourist either. I visited Rome for the first time maaany years ago, with parents, uncles and cousin on the way to a wedding in Bologna. Later, in 1998, I spent one month an a half in Rome learning Italian and during my free time I tried to explore every corner of the city. When I was doing the Erasmus in Genoa, I came down to Rome once or twice and it was in Rome where I welcome the new century . . . yes, I know a little bit about this city!

After 6 years far from Italy and with a brand new camera, it was time go fly to Rome again. I wanted to “rediscover” its main tourist sights but most of all I wanted to photography Rome as its best.

First day started at Palatino Hill where we were supposed to find the shorter line to buy the Roma Pass but Romans are so disorganized that there were only two people taking care of a long long queue of desperate tourists. . . it took us more than an hour to buy the Roma Pass and get in 🙁

Il Palatino (Palatine Hill) is one of the seven hills of Rome and, according to the legend, was the place where the twins Romulus and Remus where found by the wolf, who kept them alive. Later in the Republican Period (509 BC – 44 BC) many emperors and affluent families had their home here.

Even if the day was cloudy, the Palatine was a nice stroll. Unfortunately the houses of Livia and Emperor Augustus, maybe the most important neighbours on Palatino, were closed for restoration so we could not admire its fantastic frescoes inside.

After the Palatino we started the Foro Romano visit from the monument dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II with terrific views over la Via dei Fori Imperiali. There is no better introduction to Rome than from the top of this monument!

Next stop was Piazza del Campidoglio, on Capitoline Hill, where the ancient Capitole was located. The Capitole was the center of the political power in ancient times and were the most important state ceremonies were celebrated. Today there is not much left from this glorious past and the Roman monuments have been replaced by a piazza in renaissance style, la Piazza del Campidoglio.

I was very lucky at Piazza del Campidoglio because strangely it was not very crowded so I could admire  this fantastic piazza, set on a paved oval field and dominated by Marco Aurelio’s statue, and its monumental stairs all designed by Michelangelo.

Have you ever heard the Latin quote “Arx tarpeia Capitoli proxima” or “the Tarpeian Rock is near the Capitole” ? Well, this is one of my favourite quotes and I was happy to know that the Tarpeian Rock still exists (but few Romans know about it! 😉 )

Before going to Trastevere for a great dinner, I spent some time taking some night shots of fabulous places like la Fontana di Trevi or il Colosseo.