At the end of our anniversary trip we arranged a van from Positano Car Service, Via Cristoforo Colombo, 2 84017 Positano (Sa) Italy www.positanocarservice.com, to transport the six of us from Positano to Rome directly. Our driver was Enrico who provided our last lingering looks at the pastel blue waters, high rocky mountains with homes, restaurants and shops, hanging off at impossible angles, and the rock outcrop where two natural tunnels have worn through. He also made the requested stop at Luiselle Moda Positano (www.luisellemodapositano.com), Piano di Sorrento, on the main road between Sorrento and Positano, seven kilometers from Positano, for the final clothing pickup of items ordered on the second stop on our way to Pompeii earlier in the stay. Anna Maria provided the ordered items, and encouraged us to look at a few more. This led to additional purchases we will happily wear upon our return to our individual realities in a few days.
In the van again, Warner and I joked about the fact both of us had purchased lemon yellow shirts and that maybe we should call ourselves the Lemoncello Brothers. We encouraged Gil to get a similar shirt so we could be the three lemon amigos, but he politely declined.
The total trip took just under four hours including the half hour or so at Luiselle Moda Positano, which at this point had become a favorite stop for everyone. Warner and Pam were staying at the St. Regis, Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, 3 , Rome, which is at the Piazza della Repubblica. Robin, Gil, Karen and I were staying at Hotel Mozart – Via dei Greci, 23/B 00187 Roma (www.hotelmozart.com ). Upon check in, we cleaned up a bit and went out to explore Rome with Robin and Gil, who had not previously been in Rome. Since they were staying for several days and we were not, we walked up to Piazza del Popolo, only a few blocks away. There we found a taxi and took a scenic route to the Pantheon. We drove right up next to the building, which I was not aware could be done.
We were apprehensive when we entered the queue to the building as students were filing in. It appeared there would be but a sea of bodies trudging through, with cameras held high, to take pictures of that which they could not see through the forest of movement. But oddly, once inside the students did their quick turn through and were gone. We actually were able to take our time visiting the shrines and memorials to the 16th century painter Raphale; King Vittorio Immanuel II, the first King of a united Italy; his son Humberto, who followed Vittorio Immanuel as King and his wife Queen Margherita; among others. We read with interest the brief narrative provided by the Diocese of Rome who conducts services in this building, but it does not mention the legend that Romulus, the mythological founder of Rome, supposedly ascended to heaven from the site. Historians believe Agrippa, servant of Emperor Augustus, built the initial building in 27 BC. What is most striking is that it remains the largest unsupported dome in the world, more than 1300 years after construction. There is a hole in the roof (the oculus) which makes the building into a sundial. The light plays with the original inlaid marble floors and the walls in interesting ways. The building was also the first pagan temple to be converted into a church by the Christians in 609, which explains why it has survived when nearly every other structure from that era has disappeared.
After the Pantheon, we walked over to Trevi Fountain so we could share it with Robin and Gil. It would also permit us to spend a few more minutes with what is probably our favorite place in Rome. We often stayed here on previous trips, at Hotel Fontana – Piazza di Trevi, 96, 00187 Roma (www.hotelfontana-trevi.com ), a small boutique hotel that overlooks the fountain. It gives us private views from the hotel windows at early hours before we leave Rome for airports and long flights back home. This fountain just seems to re-energize us somehow.
The short walk to the Spanish Steps, followed our communing with the fountain. On the way we located Sofia, the restaurant where we were all meeting for dinner in a few hours. We spent a few minutes taking pictures of the statuary approaching the steps, the building next to the steps where the poet Percy Bysshe Shelly lived for a time around 1819 and where Shelly’s son Will succumbed. We then inspected the steps themselves and climbed to the top, thinking we had left steps behind in Positano. At the top is the Church of the Santissima Trinita dei Monti which was completed in 1585. We had read that the steps were a gift from Spain to connect the Piazza di Spagna below with the Piazza di Trinita dei Monti at the top between 1723 and 1725. We entered the church and rested for a brief period of time, taking in the sounds and sense of this house of worship. The church is not ornate or especially noteworthy other than an interesting sculpture, the Deposition by Wilhelm Achtermann, a German sculptor who spent most of his professional career in Rome. Achtermann created seven such sculptures in 1858 and presented them to the Cathedral of Munster.
We walked down the steps to the Piazza di Spagna and the short distance back to Hotel Mozart. Upon our return we went up to the rooftop restaurant and shared drinks as we listened to a flutist practice pieces in a nearby music school. We could see her shadow behind a window as she played as a shade was drawn but light was coming from behind her. An interesting effect as we looked out over the tops of the buildings near the Spanish Steps.
Dinner was at Sofia (Via di Capo le Case 51, 00187 Roma – www.sofiaristoranteroma.it) which we found in a search of restaurants near the Spanish Steps. It is actually just a block south towards Trevi Fountain. It is highly rated and met our expectations. We each started with a different salad. Pam and Warner tried the Baby spinach salad, with pine nuts and parmesan cheese flakes. Robin and Gil sampled the Wild salad mixture with pomegranates and apple. We tried the Valeriana salad with Asiago cheese, walnuts and pear. All were excellent ways to start the evening. For the main course I tried, along with Warner, the Strozzapreti Amatriciana of cherry tomatoes and crispy bacon, Karen selected the Artichokes flan with crispy artichokes and pennyroyal mint. Robin chose the Linguine with clams and turnip tops, Pam selected the Tagliolini cacio and pepper with zucchini flowers. We had all thoroughly enjoyed the zucchini flowers Clementina prepared the night before, which were lightly fried and crispy, here they were warmed rather than fried and had a very different texture. Gil chose the Beef fillet, asparagus au gratin and baby potatoes which he requested medium rare. He attested to it being perfect. We ordered a 2010 Sardinian Cannonau. We had found so many great wines on this trip we wanted to try something other than from the northern or Amalfi regions of Italy. We were not disappointed as this went very well with everything we ordered. We decided to share a cannoli and the chocolate cake with a hot chocolate center, which helped us finish off the Cannonau.
As usual, the conversation ranged wide and touched on things we’d not wanted to say, namely that the Royal Rumpus that had started more than two weeks earlier was drawing to an end. We talked of where we thought we might be a year from now, trips we’d like to take, including an extensive discussion of a barge trip in France. With regret, we left Ristorante Sofia and walked to the corner. We said our good-byes to Pam and Warner as they picked up a taxi to their hotel. Now just the four of us walked through the now nearly deserted Piazza that looks up at the Spanish Steps. We took pictures of the full moon over the towering Marco Aurelio Column built between 176 and 192 AD with the bronze statue of St. Paul atop added in 1589. A final look back and we proceeded to Hotel Mozart where we said good-bye to Robin and Gil as we would be catching an early flight back the next morning.
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