Rome Trip (Day 6)
Day 6: Monday, May 22
Roma-ing + Jewish Ghetto & Museum
I started off the day with some yoga and then Mr. E joined me for a run that retraced my route from earlier in the week and added another bridge to extend the distance and time a bit. Much busier and warmer even just one hour later in the morning! We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast back at the hotel and then took the tram two stops to the other side of the River Tiber. Our original plan was to walk to the hop on/hop off boat loading dock, but as we strolled along the river, we began to realize that J's cautions about the boat tour were well founded -- the embankment walls are rather high, so you can't see much from the river's surface, and the water itself is rather murky. Definitely nothing like the Bateaux Mouches experience in Paris on the Seine!
So instead we decided to just walk all the way to the Jewish Ghetto and the Ebraico Museum, which were our final destinations for the day. We got some great views of the city, including St. Peter's Cathedral, as we crossed back over the river to the shadier side.
Our route took us past the Campo de' Fiori, with its large street market, and through the Piazza where the French Embassy is located.
We reached the Museo Ebraico just before noon, so we were able to begin looking around the exhibits on our own before joining the [very] brief 12:15pm tour in English of the Synagogue, which is right above the Museum. The tour consisted of sitting in the pews and hearing an overview of the history of the Jews in Italy, which is quite different from the two other primary strands of Juadism (Sephardic or Ashkenazi). We learned, for example, that all of the synagogues here follow the Orthodox traditions, including separation of men and women during services. Also, the liturgy in Rome is apparently different, as is some of the pronunciation of Hebrew.
Once the presentation was finished, we returned to the Museum to explore the rest of the exhibits, including a special exhibition about the Menorah, which was jointly organized with the Vatican Museums. In fact, our ticket price was reduced due to this special and first-in-history occasion, and we also received a pass to access the other part of the exhibition at the Vatican.
J had recommended a restaurant to us called Nonna Betta, which was just around the corner from the Museum, so we decided to try it out despite the busyness of the lunch hour.
We had to wait a bit for our order to be taken, but the food was delicious and the server was extremely friendly once we had his attention (thanks to the efforts of a fellow diner at the next table). Mr. E was persuaded to try to specialty of the house, a lightly fried artichoke, and then we shared the eggplant parmigiana and a white-fish stuffed ravioli. We also both ordered the kosher house wine -- red for Mr. E and white for me. We were a bit surprised when they arrived as half bottles rather than just glasses. Should have read the menu more attentively to note the 375ml next in the description!
After lunch, we made several purchases at the shop next door, including some Nonna Betta branded risotto mix and coffee beans, and then started to make our way out of the Jewish Ghetto area, stopping at a gelateria along the way. Mr. E had the pistachio (of course), and I was thrilled to have numerous and unusual non-dairy choices (makes sense in a kosher environment). I ordered the cinnamon apple sorbetto, which included bits of real apple and peel. Fabulous!
Roma-ing + Jewish Ghetto & Museum
I started off the day with some yoga and then Mr. E joined me for a run that retraced my route from earlier in the week and added another bridge to extend the distance and time a bit. Much busier and warmer even just one hour later in the morning! We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast back at the hotel and then took the tram two stops to the other side of the River Tiber. Our original plan was to walk to the hop on/hop off boat loading dock, but as we strolled along the river, we began to realize that J's cautions about the boat tour were well founded -- the embankment walls are rather high, so you can't see much from the river's surface, and the water itself is rather murky. Definitely nothing like the Bateaux Mouches experience in Paris on the Seine!
We reached the Museo Ebraico just before noon, so we were able to begin looking around the exhibits on our own before joining the [very] brief 12:15pm tour in English of the Synagogue, which is right above the Museum. The tour consisted of sitting in the pews and hearing an overview of the history of the Jews in Italy, which is quite different from the two other primary strands of Juadism (Sephardic or Ashkenazi). We learned, for example, that all of the synagogues here follow the Orthodox traditions, including separation of men and women during services. Also, the liturgy in Rome is apparently different, as is some of the pronunciation of Hebrew.
Once the presentation was finished, we returned to the Museum to explore the rest of the exhibits, including a special exhibition about the Menorah, which was jointly organized with the Vatican Museums. In fact, our ticket price was reduced due to this special and first-in-history occasion, and we also received a pass to access the other part of the exhibition at the Vatican.
J had recommended a restaurant to us called Nonna Betta, which was just around the corner from the Museum, so we decided to try it out despite the busyness of the lunch hour.
After lunch, we made several purchases at the shop next door, including some Nonna Betta branded risotto mix and coffee beans, and then started to make our way out of the Jewish Ghetto area, stopping at a gelateria along the way. Mr. E had the pistachio (of course), and I was thrilled to have numerous and unusual non-dairy choices (makes sense in a kosher environment). I ordered the cinnamon apple sorbetto, which included bits of real apple and peel. Fabulous!
We took a different street on our way back towards the Campo de' Fiori, and I found a great bag for S that included free monogramming. The market was starting to close down for the day, but we still got to browse through several of the stalls to admire the local products, including oils, pasta, fruits and veggies, and leather goods.
We got back to the hotel with enough time to change into our swimsuits and hit the pool to cool down a bit and enjoy a poolside cocktail before the 6pm closing time. Dinner consisted of leftovers and items from our Carrefour trip along with a fresh pizza for Mr. E from a nearby restaurant that the porter recommended. We also shared the bottle of kosher Merlot that we had procured earlier in the day (and which was the same wine that Mr. E enjoyed with lunch).
posted by jms | 9:52 PM
1 Comments:
I'm so lucky you took a different street and found my beautiful bag!! It has already been well loved and used. :-)
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