Rome 5

One reason the site for Rome was chosen must be the water. I read that ancient Rome used 280 million gallons of water a day. The water comes from a series of springs and fills cisterns. To this day there are operating public water hydrants, with water flowing 24/7. I don't mean available to use, I mean flowing continuously.

The many piazza's with their beautiful fountains were originally places that ancient Roman citizens went to fill water vessels. The water is so good, that even today it is untreated except for chlorine and I would imagine settling tanks.

 

Did I mention that a cappuccino is €1 or $1.14, if you don't get table service. Surprisingly, in England, Italy and Norway(we had an unintended overnight in Oslo), gluten free options are offered commonly in stores and restaurants. I had heard that wheat products in Italy do not cause problems for many people that have problems with U.S. wheat. So, I decided to go for it and see what happened. Luckily for me I was able to enjoy the full range of bread products offered. This is the kind of place where in the morning you go to the bakery and buy 1/2 loaf of bread by weight. Then on the way home you stop and get a cappuccino, etc. and maybe a fresh squeezed orange juice(spremuta d'arancia). Most of the people I dealt with were able to understand my mix of Spanish, French and English words. At least well enough to deal with simple concepts.

There is some humor in the idea of two hearing impaired people understanding each other let alone others speaking another language. Bonnie was much better at the language than I, but I could communicate well enough.

Our apartment was just off the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a large street which goes to the monument of the same name. About half way to the monument from the Campo di Fiori, you will find the Largo di Torre Argentina ruins. They sit well below the street level but have columns sticking up above the current street level. One day, during our wanderings, we happened on them.

Largo di Torre Argentina

Known as Largo di Torre Argentina, this archaeological wonder was excavated as part of Mussolini's rebuilding efforts in 1929, revealing extensive multi-level temples that lie sunken 20 feet below modern street level. Besides several different temples, Torre Argentina also contains part of the famous Theater of Pompey, upon whose steps dictator Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed in 44 BCE. Today, volunteers at Torre Argentina care for approximately 250 cats. After the site was excavated, Rome's feral cats moved in immediately, as they do all over the city, and the gattare, or cat ladies, began feeding and caring for them. Since the mid-1990s, the population has grown from about 90 to the current 250, and the organization has ramped up with care for sick or wounded cats, as well as an extensive spay and neuter program to keep the feral population in check. Most of the permanent residents have special needs - they are blind or missing legs or came from abusive homes. (from the blog "Atlas Obscura")

Of course, we didn't know any of the facts in the last paragraph but there sure were lots of cats, lounging in the sun everywhere one looked.