On the Street Where We Live

Our apartment is on the Via Guilia, just one short block from the Tiber River that winds its way through Rome. The Vatican is just across the river from us, as is the Castel Sant’Angelo. Via Giulia was built by Pope Julian II as a thoroughfare to the Vatican. At that time, it was pedestrian free – for coaches only. The street is narrow, allowing SMART cars and scooters to park on either side, with barely enough room for one car to pass through. For that reason, it Is one way. Also, because there are no sidewalks, pedestrians wander down the middle of the street, stepping aside if a car comes nosing its way through. We walk on Roman cobblestones – three inch volcanic bricks.

Yesterday, I discovered that we are on a bus route. Bus 116, which runs all over old Rome comes down our street about every 20 minutes. I had read in a guidebook that the buses run about every 15 to 20 minutes all over Rome. I first realized we were on a bus route when I saw the “Fermata” sign for Route 116 designating a bus stop. While leaning out my window spying on neighborhood activity, I finally saw my first bus. I had not heard buses going by, because they are electric, and noiseless. Later in the day, while out walking, I encountered several #166 buses and clocked them at 15 to 20 minutes apart. Aha! The guidebook was right. They are tiny buses – maybe 12 people can sit on seats lining the walls of the bus, maybe another 12 can stand in the middle.

As we walked toward the Palazzo Farnese our first day here, hoards of young people dressed in black – apparently not a statement here, as everyone is wearing their black winter wardrobe – swarmed down the length of Via Giulia. Traffic became quite hectic for a few minutes as cars struggled down the street, and we walked against the tide of young people. Yesterday, at about 1:00PM, we heard a ruckus outside, and, looking down from our 5th story windows, we saw the crowd of teenagers surging down the street again. Ah! School lets out at 1:00PM.

As an aside, I sat next to an Italian gentleman on the flight from New York, an English professor at the University of Calabria. We were discussing Italian universities, American universities, similarities and differences. I asked, “Do Italian universities have a foreign language requirement?” He said, well, some majors require specific languages. I clarified: in U.S. schools, many universities require one or two years of a foreign language. He shrugged. This is a high school requirement in Italy – students must be proficient in a second language. Most choose English, but, he remarked, it is so critical to be able to communicate in a second language. I agree.

More about our neighborhood

We are surrounded by churches: Saint Catherine of Siena is a block down the street; Santa Maria della Morte, where we notice skulls decorating the façade among the usual cherubs and scrollwork; the church across the street seems to be Holy Mary of the Suffering – it is hard to tell, but carved stone letters say Beatae Maria Sufragii above the door – we can see two bells on our side of the building, but they do not seem to ring. There are at least 2 more churches within two blocks of us. Throughout the day we hear bells ring, at some length at 6:00 and 6:30. (More later about this, as I plan to look up the system of bell-ringing for various masses).

Our Apartment

From the street-level front door – green with a decorative brass knob right in the middle - we climb 65 marble steps to our 5th floor apartment. A circular staircase within the apartment takes us to a rooftop patio, with views of six local churches, and by peering off to the west, we can just see the top of Saint Peter’s Basilica. We have bright, sunny days, with very moderate temperatures. Just a week ago, there were several days of thunderstorms, and now everyone is wearing jackets, even though jackets aren’t needed this week.

We have four windows looking out over the street. We hear interesting sounds, or conversations, and run to the window to see what is going on in the neighborhood. This morning an odd rattling sound caught my attention, and I watched two men rolling an upright grand piano down the cobblestone street. As a garbage truck approached, they veered the piano between two SMART cars, to let the garbage truck pass. They veered off the street several times, for cars, for the bus. I watched them push the piano up the street another block, where they turned left up the Via di Bresciani. We are so easily entertained while on vacation.