This list is hastily thrown together for friends who are heading in the Rome direction . . .more details (better spelling and punctuation too) to come if I can find wifi while traipsin' around Europe with me' boss this week.
Forum
- Campidoglio (go out the "back" on the right side for great view of Forum)
- Forum/Colloseum/Palantine Hill
- Circo Massimo (think Ben Hur Chariot race - people still jog there, love it!)
- Santa Maria Ara Caeoli (sp)
- Big freakin' ""Wedding Cake" - Vittorio Emmanuele monument. Has a great restaurant with a spectacular view up top - go to the right side of the monument for access.
- Piazza Venezia - stand with your back to the wedding cake, go to the top left corner, and go into a simple, beautiful adoration chapel. My daily mass spot for awhile.
- "Zero Punto" - fabulous leather store two steps away from Piazza Venezia (Via del Plebiscito)
- John Lateran (up the road from the Forum - catch a bus on the left side of the wedding cake)
- John Lateran Baptistry
- Scala Santa (holy stairs that Christ supposedly walked up to meet Pilate - kitty corner from front of Lateran). "Walk" up on your knees.
- Santa Croce in Gerusaleme (instruments of the passion)
- San Ignazio - St. Francis Xavier's hand (or it might be in the Gesu?), right across from St. Ignatius of Loyola's apartment when he lived in Rome
- Via Condotti, from the Corso to the Spanish Steps- check out Louis Vitton, Fendi and Christian Dior - sighhhh
- Babington's Tea - ridiculously overpriced but they DO serve you tea in a silver teapot with a cat on top
- McDonald's - you really do check out to see a Mickey D's with a marble entrance and sculptures. Get a beer there.
- Spanish Steps - SOAK IT IN. Fantastic at night, even if you have to beat off the rose sellers with a stick
- Trevi fountain (very close to the US Bishops center, which is on Via Umilita)
- Trinita dei Monti - on the top of the Spanish Steps. Glorious. French Mass said there.
- Villa Borgesi - down the road to the left from Trinita dei Monti. Lovely place to bike ride (they rent them!), people-watch, and walk/veg. Beware of couples making out.
- Piazza del Popolo (at the end of the Corso - longer walk than it seems but there is great shopping - or take Flaminio metro stop) Adorable twin churches, biggest piazza in Rome, church where Martin Luther hung out . . . also has great Carvaggios.
Centro (The center)
- Campo di Fiori - check out the herbs! Good place to buy a percolator. Poke around the stores on the road on the northeast corner of the Square (when the statue is facing you). Awesome place to people-watch at night while sipping wine at an outside restaurant. Home of the infamous "Drunken Ship."
- Going from Vittorio Emmanuele II road to Campo di Fiori - check out my favorite pizza place on the right. Looks like a hole in the wall but the pizza is great. GET SUPPLI (soup-lee) with tomato and cheese - "pomodoro e mozzerella." You will thank me. Great little leather store right across from it. And if you walk down a little further to the left, there is a fantastic open-air-front panini shop. Go eat yer food on the benches lining the front of Piazza Farnese and take a look at Nero's bath-sculptures.
- The Gesu - incredible ceiling, Jesuit hub. Neat wood daily-mass chapel
- Largo Argentina - bus hub extraordinaire, Feltrinelli's bookshop has a great English selection
- Piazza Navona - soak it in. Go to the top and check out my alma mater in Piazza Appolliniare. :)
- Bramante Cloister - BEST COFFEESHOP EXPERIENCE EVER. Not so much about the coffee - it's all in the atmosphere. Bramante
- Via Governo Vecchio - FUN antiques, GREAT vintage clothing, pretty boutiques, great stroll
- Cul de Sac - BEST eating spot in Rome, located in Piazza Pasquino. Get J. to tell you what meats and cheeses to get - it's unbelievably good. Experience of a lifetime.
- San Agostino - my favorite church in Rome, right behind Santa Croce University. Saint Monica is buried there.
- San Luigi in Francese - very pretty church, fantastic Carvaggios, lovely sculpted side chapel that looks like fabric is draped over it
- San Eustacio's coffee - supposedly the best cappucino in Rome
- Pantheon - 'nuff said
- Santa Maria Sopra Minerva - can't miss. Fra Angelico is to the left of the altar; St. Catherine of Sienna is buried at the main altar. Michaelangelo's Risen Christ is spectacular
- Giolitti's - supposedly the best gelato in Rome - don't miss it!!
Mary Major area
- Santa Maria in Vittoria - has the famous St. Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy. Otherwise, eh.
- Mary Major - one of the 4 major basilicas in Rome
- Santa Prudezia and Santa Prassadea - one has a Eucharistic miracle, the other one has CAN'T MISS mosiacs. Can't remember which one is which. Mosiac one is two steps from Mary Major.
- San Clemente - one of the neatest things you can do in Rome. On the road in between the Colleseum and John Lateran. Buy a guidebook and take the tour in the catacombs - it's a 12th century church over an 8th century church over a 4th century church over a BC fertility cult site. It's explore-it-yourself fun.
Appian Way
- Eat at Cecelia Metulla's under the ivy canopy
- Quo Vadis Church - supposedly has Christ's footprints in a marble slab (look for the nail indent)
- San Callisto Catacombs - pretty awesome, especially if you get a good tour guide. I think it was better than San Sebastiano's
- San Sebastiano's - more catacombs. Check out the disco-dancing baby Jesus when you walk in to the left. It's something else.
- Walk and enjoy breathing fresh air. Scramble over the stone rutted from Roman times.
Aventine
- Santa Sabina - my favorite ancient church in Rome. Pretty view of the city from the garden. Benedict and Scolastica hung out there.
- Piazza di Cavalieri di Malta - yep, the Knights of Malta have a famous keyhole through which you can see the dome of St. Peter's.
- Santa Maria in Cosmedian - the mouth of truth is located at it (neat!) and St. Valentine is buried there. The church is small and lovely. Fun Roman temples in the vicinity
Trastevere
- My old stomping grounds. Wander anywhere and everywhere - it is artsy, authentic, and fun.
- Santa Maria in Trastevere - can't miss. Find out the story about the oil gushing when Jesus was born
- San Crisogono - on the main strip, very pretty church, Blessed Anna Maria Tiagi is incorrupt there, and it's pretty remarkable (spoken by someone who's completely weirded out by that stuff) Love the statue of St. Joseph there.
- Santa Cecelia's - can't miss it! Check out the catacombs too for a gorgeous chapel
- Tiber Island - worth a walk through. You'll see dozens of American students hanging out on the bottom part of the "ship." St. Bartholomew's is very "international" and cool
St. Peter's
- Besides the obvious . . .
- Santa Spirito Church, otherwise known as "the Divine Mercy Church." Love it. Much devotion to JPII and Divine Mercy there. Go to the bar directly to the right of the front of the church - fabulous prosecco (not expensive at all) and they give you the yummiest snacks to go along with it free
- Go to the Gianicolo hill for the most breathtaking view of Rome
- Go to the top of St. Peter's for the other most breathtaking view of Rome
- Visit the Pope's tombs in the crypt (look for signs as you enter St. Peter's - but then they don't always let you back in . . . do it last. :P
St. Paul Outside the Walls
- Must see; not much else there. Take the blue line metro to get there and MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOORS. Blue line doors will kill you.
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