Peopleless Piazza del Popolo and other Rome, Italy General Tips

Piazza del Popolo without people

Favorite Thing: All the piazzas in Rome are magnets for people. You won't see many people if you take a stroll at 5:00 am in the morning.

Piazza del Popolo was a 5 minute walk from the Hotel Dei Mellini, and is one of the gateways to Villa Borghese, Rome's counterpart to Central Park.

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Piazza Navona: Piazza Navona

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Written by karenincalifornia

on May 25, 2005

Piazza Navona at dawn

Favorite Thing: Piazza Navona, which was a five minute walk from our hotel is usually a hub of activity, except in the early morning (see photo). Evening is the most fun. All the restaurants are busy, mimes and street performers are abundant, magicians and musicians are entertaining the crowds, and artists are displaying their works.

Tre Scalini, one of Rome's most reknown restaurants is located on Piazza Navona. It was highly recommended by my good VT friend, pchamlis, but unforunately, we did not have enough evenings to eat there. I hear it is very good. If pchamlis says it is good, it must be good.

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Castel Sant'Angelo: Castel S. Angelo

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Written by karenincalifornia

on May 26, 2005

Castel S. Angelo, Rome

Favorite Thing: The Castel S. Angelo was just about 5 blocks from our hotel. This is one of the older structures in Rome and used to be the home of a pope or two. A visit to the Castel is worth the price of admission. The exhibits are interesting, and the views of Rome are lovely. They even had a small instrumental ensemble performing on the terrace.

This was the only place we went to where they had one price for tourists, and a lower price for Romans. We failed miserably at our imitation of Roman locals, so we paid the higher price. It was still worth it.

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Fountains & River: Green River

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Written by karenincalifornia

on May 26, 2005

Tiber River, Rome

Favorite Thing: Pick up a flat rock, skip it across green river.
--Creedence Clearwater Revival

Fondest Memory: This beautiful view can be seen from the top of the Castel S. Angelo.

You'll note that the Tiber River (or Fiume Tevere) is very green and very opaque. Needless to say, watersports are not a big thing in Rome. No one even walks on the lower sidewalk along the river.

This link will take you to an article about the mystery of dead fish in the Tiber River.

Rome debates mystery of dead fish in Tiber River

If you are at a restaurant and the special is Tiber River trout almondine, you should order something else.

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Papal Rome: Pontiff list

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Written by karenincalifornia

on May 26, 2005

List of popes at St. Peters

Favorite Thing: In case you can't rattle off the names of all the popes over all the centuries, there is a list of them in St. Peters to jog your memory. The list in this photo is now out of date since there are been one addition in recent weeks.

My son, the non-Catholic scholar in his Catholic high school, took this photo, no doubt to secure his position in religion class as a know-it-all.

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Trevi Fountain: Spectacular

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Written by karenincalifornia

on May 26, 2005

Trevi Fountain, Rome