Thursday, September 28 – After our morning coffee, I was struck by a desire to wander to Piazza Navonna, just to poke around and look at the fountains. It’s easily one of my favourite public squares in Rome.
It was a gorgeous, sunny day and, as one might expect, there were a ton of influencers milling about, posing for whatever social media is currently the app du jour and showing off their latest fashions. They did not ruin our visit, although I do shake my head that “influencing” is an actual job. Still, I generally find them more entertaining than annoying. I didn’t take many photos while in the piazza, though, because they were so omnipresent.
Instead of taking photos, Jenn entertained me by conveying some fascinating info she had been reading about the Fiumi Fountain. I also started to reflect on my last visit, in 2017. That was my first time in Rome, and our apartment for that visit was in the Trastevere neighbourhood – a short walk south from the piazza.
I fell in love with Trastevere in 2017. It’s a charming neighbourhood that felt more local than touristy. Two of my favourite Rome restaurant experiences had been in Trastevere – one for dinner and one for lunch. While I had already checked and found that the dinner restaurant (La Boticcella) has since shut its doors for good, the lunch place – a pizza restaurant called La Boccaccio – was still open. I was feeling wistful about visiting Trastevere and since we were both starting to get hungry, I suggested that Jenn and head there to grab a few slices.
That worked out well because I also learned that, in her multiple visits to Rome, Jenn had never wandered the streets of Trastevere. She commented about how well she liked the neighbourhood and, after filling our bellies, we simply meandered, eventually heading even farther south than I had gone in 2017.
Safarii 