paradise found

so for weeks we have been trying to find a nearby garden or green space to relax/work/read and there are none to be found right around us. However, there is the Villa Borghese garden which is a huge public park about a 30-minute walk away and yesterday I decided to check it out because it was yet another gorgeous day and I didn't want to lock myself away in studio as I usually do on the weekends at RPI. I actually didn't wake up until 11:30 which is the latest I have slept in since I got home from school in May and was trying to catch up on sleep. I headed out at about 1:00 along Vittoria Emmanuele and one of the first things I come across is the Largo di Torre Argentina. They say that Rome is made up of layers of history and it's so true: here you can see how this ancient theater/temple complex is literally 4-5 meters below the current street level. My guidebook says this is allegedly where Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15 but I don't know if that's true. The space is actually now a cat sanctuary for homeless cats and volunteers regularly feed, groom, and tend to the cats.











I continued along Vittoria Emmanuele, along Via del Corso (the main shopping street), along Via Tritone and then uphill along the Via Venuto to the park entrance. I had read that you could rent bikes so I rented a traditional one for 4 E/hr and biked around the park. I would never dare to ride out in the streets of the city with all the cars, buses, mopeds, bikes, and pedestrians but I was able to see most of the park during my hour and it was a decent workout. The only downside was the bike only came equipped with a bell and no gears, so pedaling up and down the hills was interesting. At one point I had biked to the other entrance to the park (Piazza del Popolo) and then realized I only had 10 minutes to bike uphill along the gravel/cobblestone road to return the bike in time; luckily I made it.


Then I sat in the park, wrote some postcards and relaxed and then made the half-hour walk back through all the back streets of the city, passing major monuments the whole way. We are literally a 5-minute walk away from the Pantheon (we pass it on the way to every Italian class), the Roman Forum, and other ancient/Renaissance/Baroque architecture - amazing.

I figured I should do some work so I went to studio from 6-11 and actually got a lot of work done in a short amount of time (relatively short, in our terms). This morning we got up and went to a large flea market that we had heard about. It was alright, mostly just a concentration of every street vendor we have ever seen in Rome selling bags, kitchenware, jewelry, antiques, basically everything. but instead of being spread out across a large field (like our at home), everything was compacted in rows along 2 streets with everyone trying to push past you while you stop to browse - crazy! But I bought a little leather backpack (I had been looking for something like that for awhile) for 5 E and then a cutting board for our apartment, which we have deperately needed. I walked back, ate some lunch, am now working in studio, and someone is looking into getting tickets to a Rome soccer game this afternoon, so we'll see how that goes. Ciao!