We prowl around Rome at night.
A lot.
(And yes, it's pretty safe, actually)
Many Italians take a post-dinner stroll called the passaggiata. You walk (piano, piano! they would say - slowly, slowly!), digest your dinner, speak to people in your neighborhood, take in some window shopping, perhaps get a gelato or a small digestivo (after-dinner drink).
We take ours just at and after sunset during the summer when the heat of day is too much to bear.
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| (and in said heat, I feel a little like this) |
We also do this during cooler months because it's when we have time together (daylight hours are shorter, so....).
We check out what's on sale during a holiday, like Easter. Look at those gorgeous, hollow eggs the size of footballs.
We marvel at how some things are just more visible with artificial lighting.
Like the Column of Trajan, for instance.
It is simply easier to see the intricate reliefs of Trajan's successes in the Dacian wars when they are lit from beneath.
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| Of course, we should imagine them painted in full color if we want to envision them the way they were visible to the ancient Roman viewer |
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| Equally interesting is the relief of military garb on the base of the column. |
Some things appear more majestic at night.
At dusk or in the dark, I like to play with photographic options, obviously.
The vertical, vs...
the horizontal...
Our favorite neighborhood joint.
Moonlight, clouds and cypress trees.
Castle Sant'Angelo (or the Mausoleum of Hadrian, depending on your interest in historical classifications), seen from a different bridge.
The Colosseum and the bella luna - as if she is billowing smoke.
How about a Nutella-filled crepe near the Four Rivers Fountain for a post-dinner-walk treat?
Or gelato by the Pantheon?
A nighttime demonstration, also near the Pantheon?
The Four Rivers Fountain, lit in blue, to commemorate a Rome-based meeting of scientific minds dealing with the health of the world's water.
A few months ago, Rome opened her museums to visitors for late-night visits. The lines were so long at most places that we bypassed them, but on the Janiculum hill...
...the Garibaldi monument...
...and the Tempietto were quite accessible. There is a guitarist playing on the steps.
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| The inside of the structure |
The adjoining cloister/courtyard, flame-lit.
And on our walk down the hill to Trastevere, the flowers lit by streetlamps.
A typical scene here, regardless of the season or time of day.
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And fragrant clematis.
When you visit the city and want to know more about the ancient fora (people think of Rome having just one forUM, but in fact she has several, clustered together), you can get tickets to a nighttime light show that attempts to bring the ruins back to life, so to speak. I brought students with me to the shows for the Forum of Augustus and the Forum of Julius Caesar.
These things are really well done.
Images are projected onto the walls of the ruins, and you listen to a narrative via noise-cancelling headphones.
On our passagiata, the ancients are imagined on theirs, as well: walking the rough cobblestones, taking in the wonders of a vibrant place, even in the dark.
