The Craic on Tour - Guide to Rome II
By Chris Weldon
March 14 2007
A year ago Chris Weldon (Our man in Rome) prepared a guide for anyone visiting his city. This year he's updated it in preparation for anyone making the trip for the real St Pat's Day match..
ROME
This is intended as a simple, unsophisticated guide for those who don’t know Rome and who will have limited time here. There are quite a few LI supporters travelling over for the Italy v Ireland game on 17th March. Italy have their tails up after successive victories over Scotland and Wales and have actually pushed football off the headlines in their own sports press for the first time. Ireland, on the other hand, have just won the Triple Crown, are going for the Six Nations Championship and will be playing on….St. Paddy’s day. It’s the latter which has inspired thousands of Irish to makke the trip this week to turn Rome Green. A colossal party is brewing. Chances are, if you don’t already have a flight or a hotel room booked it’s going to be very expensive. Ryan Air from Dublin are are charging transatlantic level fares from Dublin. When booking for this fixture it’s always worth adding an extra day or two to really make it worthwhile.
I hope you will find the guide useful. It is not only aimed at this weekend but any weekend with or without rugby.
Getting to Rome
This is so simple and affordable. Between them, Easy jet and Ryan Air have daily flights to Rome Ciampino from Gatwick, Stansted, Bristol, Luton, East Midlands, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin and Shannon. With a bit of planning you should pay no more than £50 return, all up and you can do it for considerably less. BA and Alitalia are more expensive options to Rome Fiumicino. It’s about a two to two and a half hour flight and transfers to the city from the airports are simple via train, bus or taxi. For a group of three or four a pre-booked chauffeur-driven Merc. at 50 euro to the city from either of Rome’s two airports makes sense (Airport Connection +39 06 3383221). There is also Bluecar at 38 euro for the same journey. Not quite as posh and not always possible to book in English (+39 06 7017944) but better value.
Hotels and guesthouses of all types and price levels are available in abundance. Just put ‘Rome Hotels’ into Google to be engulfed by them. Try to stay centrally. It’s worth the few extra euro.
The Match Venue
The matches are played at the Stadio Flaminio off Via Flaminia, which is towards the north of Rome. Apart from taxi the stadium can be reached by overcrowded tram from Piazza Flaminia or on foot by a fifteen-minute stroll from the said piazza which itself can be reached by metro. On match days there is a general drift on foot from Piazza di Spagna through Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Flaminia, which is right alongside, and thence to the stadium.
Stadio Flaminio has a capacity of approximately 26,000 all seated. The West Stand is covered; the two ends and the East stand are uncovered. They are now filling the stadium for 6N matches and it is advisable to buy a ticket in advance if only to avoid poor seats (www.ticketone.it). Centre of the uncovered East Stand is my recommended seating area and it seems quite a few of the LI supporters will be there for the Ireland match. The covered seats are the most expensive and it is cold in the shade. In the not unusual circumstances of bright sunshine the East stand can be glorious in February and March. If it rains...well, it rains. Rome’s winter sun is very warm but the moment it goes behind a cloud you will be reminded that it is winter. Layers are recommended, coat, jumper and shirt/blouse, which can be donned and discarded according to sun and shade. Remember this also when eating al fresco. However, this coming weekend being practically spring the weather should be good, around 20 degrees or better.
Outside the stadium confines you will find an array of outlets selling lager, Guinness and wine and the party starts here. Along via Flaminia near the stadium are many catering vans. Don’t think Madstad catering here, these sell a variety of foods including delicious heated sandwiches and rolls. The spiced roll from the ‘Emporio’ van is worth the price of the match ticket alone. Inside the stadium you will find roving vendors selling lager and soft drinks.
As a general point Six Nations rugby is very much a developing event in Rome. Each year something else is added to the catering and entertainment so who knows what we will find this season.
Social Venues
Let’s get the Irish pubs out of the way first. Rome has a bewildering number of them but, for the most part, you will wonder why they are so-called. Sometimes it’s just a name, other times there is some attempt at Irish decor but that’s it. Italian owned and run they have no connection with the mother country. There are a few exceptions, prominent amongst which are:
The Druid’s Den, Via San Martino ai Monti, near Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in the Termini area, owned by Donna from Donegal and her husband Tonino, an honorary Irishman. This will be the post match venue for a good group of LI supporters and is a favourite haunt of certain well known figures from London Irish Rugby Club. It’s the kind of place you’d find in the outskirts of Mullingar. (www.druidspubrome.com) +39 06 48904781.
Scholars Lounge, Via Del Plebiscito 101b (near Piazza Venezia) 0039 (0)669202208 A city pub with many screens. Altogether different to the Druids’ Den but welcoming and well run by its Irish owner and staff.
The Irish pubs will be rammed next weekend. However, the array of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias should keep you out of the pubs for most of the time.
Piazza Navona is really the central place to go. A beautiful elliptical, baroque construction by Bernini, containing three fountains and surrounded by restaurants, cafes and bars. This is real tourist area so the restaurants are expensive and not of the highest quality but a lunch in the sunshine on the east side (Café Dolce Vita recommended) has to be done. Allow about 10 euro for starters, and/or 15 for main course and 20 to 30 euro for a bottle of wine. Great for people – watching. Also, take the alley out of the west side of the Piazza by St. Agnes church and you will come across whole street loads of less expensive but absolutely heaving restaurants, in the evening in particular. Really good value and great atmosphere.
At the other end of the scale there is the Rooftop Restaurant of the Raphael Hotel. This is a push-the-boat-out jobby. Just behind Piazza Navona. Lovely hotel, perfectly placed. Great, romantic restaurant with lovely views over the city (about 100 -125 euro per head inc. wine - don’t waste it on the kids.). Ask for the upper level of the rooftop restaurant.
Website is www.raphaelhotel.com Best to phone +39 06 682831
Five minutes walk south of Navona is Campo dei Fiori, a lively square, stuffed full of bars and pubs, and one or two good restaurants. (La Carbonara is highly recommended +39 06 6864783. Good quality and about 40 euro a head all-in.) This is generally a young peoples’ area although you don’t get the separation into age groups that we have become used to in our city centres in UK. Here you can enjoy the bustle and the varied street entertainment amongst the pub crowds ofRome although, to be honest, Friday and Saturday nights here are a bit hectic and best avoided.
The Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna is a great meeting area and the alleyways and lanes surrounding it are again full of restaurants and bars. The Enoteca(wine bar) Antica in Via della Croce is excellent for atmosphere, drinks, antipasti at the bar or inexpensive meals (+39 06 679 0896). Another good fun place is near the Spanish steps: Mario Alla Vite in Via Della Vita. Good Tuscan food, good atmosphere and excellent location, about 50 euro per head including wine.+39 06 6783818 . Booking essential. One of my favourites.
While in the area, amuse yourself at the ludicrous prices in the designer shops on Via Dei Condotti but don’t take your wife.
Ten minutes amble north of Piazza di Spagna is Piazza del Popolo. This is a monumental Piazza with only a couple of restaurants but there are many others in the side streets off. In the centre is a glorious 3,000 year-old obelisk, which the Romans nicked from the Egyptians. High above the Piazza is Pincio Park from which you get wonderful views overlooking Rome. Some of us will be starting on match day from Via Veneto, on the other side of the park, walking through and ending overlooking Piazza del Popolo and Rome before plunging into lunch.
There are, of course, a million other marvellous areas to visit but how long have you got? Trastevere south of the Vatican is a maze of alleyways, restaurants and curios where you could forget yourself and the match. Narrow streets, even by Rome standards, and fascinating little niches and shops and cafés etc.. Taverna Trillussa (+39 065818918) is a special restaurant. Not cheap but not too expensive either (say 60 euro per head). Great food and wine. Piazza di Santa Maria is surrounded by restaurants of all price ranges. If you’re in the area I would definitely give it a try.
And so on…
Culture.
Now, as for yer actual culture, they’ve got a bit. I don’t want to preach but based on the experience of many of our visitors I would strongly advise against trying to do too much. One or two things a day is enough for most people. I have seen more than one weekend ruined. From the myriad of choices I have made some suggestions below of central sites, relatively easy to access and relatively well known.
Number one for me is the Vatican Museums. Note they are closed Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Guided tours meet near the Vatican at around 9am Saturdays and 12 noon weekdays. Saturdays are best avoided because of overcrowding and queues. Suggest you try www.enjoyrome.com or call +39 06 4451843 for a booking. The tours by the guide Agnes are particularly recommended. It is a three to four hour job depending on queues. Prepare to be astounded by the richness of sculptures and works of art 2,000 years old and more: Laocoon and his sons fighting off the twin serpents, various stone, marble and bronzes of Hercules, more art than you can take in, the Raphael Rooms and, of course the Sistine Chapel. The tour ends in the magnificent Cathedral of St. Peter itself. There, don’t miss the ‘Pieta’, Michelangelo’s fifteen-ton marble of the dead body of Christ lying across the lap of his desolate mother. One of the most exquisite things I have ever seen, and marvel at the fact that the sculptor fashioned it between the ages of 22 and 24 years old. Price, including indispensable guide and entrance, about 30 euro for the whole thing (reductions for students under 26). Everybody should do this once in their lifetime.
Afterwards why not stroll down Via della Conciliazione which leads straight from the front of the cathedral to the River Tiber, bear left along the tree-lined river and cross Ponte Umberto by the hugely ornate Justice Building and continue down Via Zanardelli for a drink in Piazza Navona. 25 minutes.
The Roman Forum begins by Piazza Venezia behind the so-called ‘Wedding Cake Monument’ built to celebrate the unification of Italy by Vittorio Emmannuel III. The forum, the commercial, political and religious centre of ancient Rome, is basically ruins but can be brought to life by a knowledgeable and passionate guide.
At the end of the forum is the amazing Colosseum, a 2,000 year old 55,000 all-seater stadium where the Roman populace was entertained free of charge by the rulers to keep their minds off insurrection. Once inside this incredible structure it is possible to feel something of the blood thirsty atmosphere which must have prevailed as human beings hacked each other to death or were ripped to pieces by enraged lions. Those Romans certainly knew how to enjoy themselves. All we get these days is the odd ear - biting in the scrum. If visiting the Colosseum you will probably be approached by someone, asking if you want to join a guided tour. Once they have collected about fifteen or so English speaking visitors they will take you in. It costs about 20 euro as opposed to 10 if you simply enter without a guide but it is well worth it and you bypass the queues, which can be very long.
I could just go on and on. There are so many beautiful churches, (the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is strategically placed between Termini and the Druids’ Den) and wonderful historic sites (Torre Argentina where Brutus and co. did for Julius Caesar). The Barberini Museum off the piazza of the same name at the bottom of Via Veneto has some marvellous Caravaggios. The Borghese Gallery (pre-booking only +39 06 328101) is an absolute jewel of a museum in the beautiful Borghese Villa Park. Its four Bernini sculptures are particularly memorable. The Capitoline Museum near Piazza Venezia is probably second only the Vatican. Among its vast array of treasures it contains the original She Wolf sculpture. Made by the Etruscans in 500BC, you can walk right up and touch this symbol of Rome; one of the many humbling moments you can experience in this city. One of my favourites is the Pantheon, the oldest intact building in Italy with its incredible unsupported roof span and its amazing dignity in the face of the MacDonald’s, which confronts it from the other side of the Piazza della Rotonda, near Navona. Entrance is free. In Piazza del Popolo there is a treat for the technically minded among you. In a small museum there are working wooden models made from the engineering drawings of Leonardo da Vinci with explanatory notes. For a quick fix there is the Trevi Fountain, off Via del Corso, not far from Piazza Venezia
Most of all enjoy the warmth and welcome of the Italian people with their noisy, fun loving ways. Enjoy the wonderful food and wine and may the Roman sun shine on you.