Five peaceful sights to enjoy in Rome

If you need to find some space and quiet in Rome, that busiest of capitals, my Guest post from Marie Allen of Elegant Resorts will help you seek out some blissfully peaceful bolt holes in Rome.

Ah, Rome – The Eternal City. A city where history seeps from every pore, a city where your camera never sleeps, and where beauty and passion, as Barry Manilow said, are always in fashion (true, he was talking about the Copacabana – but the same could be said for Rome’s seething street life, and its sultry procession of latter-day Lollobrigidas. But for all its beauty, the Eternal City does have its drawbacks – put simply, its eternal racket!

Yes, when in Rome you have to see the must-see sights. But don’t slavishly cross them off your list in a succession of exhausting cross-city escapades. Take time to seek out the quieter cul-de-sacs and secret sanctuaries. This is, after all, a spiritual heartland. So stop. Take time out. And spend a stolen hour or two in the city’s back waters. Your soul will thank you. And your soles too, for that matter!

Here are five off-the-beaten-track sights worth seeking out:

Views and more from Janiculum Hill

Janiculum Hill overlooks the modern city of Rome, and it’s here you’ll find the less-visited Syriac Sanctuary. They say this was a sinister spot – dedicated to the Goddess Furrina, ruler of the Furies. In other words, not someone you’d want to mess with. Perhaps that’s why, when this peaceful site was discovered 100 years ago, they found remains of human skulls without teeth or lower jaws. Still, today, it’s a splendid spot. The Janiculum Hill affords stunning views over the city – and the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola is a suitably baroque 17th century fountain worth seeking out.

Underground mystery at Livenza Hypgeum

Behind a workaday storefront of an oil-splattered city garage and, and through a nondescript metal door off bustling Via Salaria is an underground mystery, that Italian scholars are still trying to make sense of. This subterranean place of worship is adorned with colourful mosaics and elaborate frescoes, and it’s known as the Livenza Hypgeum (Via Livenza). The scenes lent weight to the theory that this monument was a place of worship for the Baptai — those immersed in water (from where we get the word Baptism from). But this strange, nocturnal cult was known for its debauchery and orgies. Still, today, there’s none of that here. Just peace, silence and an air of mystery.

Hidden treasures at Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia

Rome has scores of hidden, out of the way museums – you’d expect nothing less for a city with 26 centuries of history to plunder – and one of the most delightful is the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia. A beautiful 16th century villa, built for Pope Julius II, and now home to a stunning display of Etruscan art and artifacts – pre Roman treasures. Especially worth seeking out is the museum’s delicate collection of jewellery, vases and votive statues. Far grander are its marble statues of Roman Gods – Apollo and Hercules. A little-visited gem, some way out of the centre, on the Vigna Vecchia, the old city walls ( 9 Piazzale di Villa Giulia )

English poets at the Keats-Shelley House

At the foot of the tourist-magnet of the Spanish Steps, you’d expect any visitor attraction to be animated and bustling. Not so. The delightfully airy and empty Keats-Shelley House (26 Piazza di Spagna) is a wonderfully cool and silent 18th century palazetto, faithfully restored to resemble the home of British poet, John Keats, who died in 1821. Byron, Shelly, Browning and many other poets stayed here – and you can imagine them passing the time in the palazetto’s graceful salons: in fact, many of their letters and manuscripts are on display.

Fountains and terraces at Villa Medici Gardens

Rome’s parks and gardens offer a pleasing counterpoint to the rattle and hum of the city’s ever-busy streets. Our favourite are the Villa Medici Gardens – an enchanting retreat on the Pincio Hill, covering around 17 acres of glorious terraces, splashing fountains, elegant and rare specimen trees from across the globe and clipped, formal lawns and borders. Henry James called them the most delightful in the world. On a summer’s day it would be hard to argue. (Viale Trinità dei Monti, 1)

Thanks for this guest post to Marie Allen of luxury holiday company Elegant Resorts for letting us in on Rome’s quieter corners. When I visited Rome  a couple of years ago I did find the crowds at all the major sites offputting – next time I’ll be seeking out some of these hidden gems instead.

If this has inspired you to visit Rome then visit our Elegant Resort’s luxury holidays in Italy page for further details.

Photo Credits : View from Janiculum Hill in Rome by YuKengShih , Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia in Rome by   Koji Yatani , Fontana dell’Acqua Paola in Rome by  Mark Turner The Keats-Shelley House in Rome by frattaglia , Villa Medici Gardens in Rome by NoBigShot

More Rome articles to enjoy

The view from the dome of St Peter’s – in Rome
Chiesa Santa Maria in Trastevere – in Rome
Gelato on the island in the Tiber

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Rome – colisseum and forum photoset

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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The Rome of childhood memories

Who’s that cute little girl, sitting confidently in St Peter’s square in Rome – why, roll back the years, that’s me! As a child my parents loved to travel, but my father being a university lecturer had long holidays but a small budget, so every summer we’d pack up the Morris Minor, bundle into the car in the middle of the night and head for Calais and the promise of adventures in Europe

I recently dug out this photo to illustrate a video interview I made for the good folks over at Tripfilms.com, the specialist travel video site where I’ve recently been posting a few of my videos. They decided they’d like to interview me on their blog for their Better know a member series and I decided that I’d do the interview in video to liven things up a bit. So do head over to the Tripfilm blog to see me talking about childhood memories that inspired me to travel, my favourite travel destination and tips for parents struggling to balance their travel aspirations and family life. You can see my Tripfilms interview here.

I can’t say that I remember much of Rome from my childhood visit although we took in all the usual suspects – the Colisseum, the Trevi fountain and St Peter’s Square. Most of what I know is from the stories my mother has told me since; About the friends they arranged to meet in the square but never found although they all swore blind they’d been there at the appointed place and hour; about the first visit to St Peter’s Basilica that had to be abandoned because my Mother was wearing a mini skirt, and about how I loved to tag on to guided tours in museums and churches. I went on to study history at University and I’d still a sucker for beautifully decorated churches.

The one thing I do remember from those European holidays is that we were allowed one ice cream a day – what  treat! and we’d start angling for it as early in the day as possible in the hope that there might always be a second one later. Funny what kids remember – It’s not always what you expect. When I asked my son what he liked about our trip to Rome, he said it was the cool shower in our hotel room.

Anyhow, do head over and take a look at my video and let me know what you think.

This photo is posted as part of Photo Friday hosted over at Delicious Baby - head on over to see some of the other Friday photos.

PS Thanks once again to Lastminute.com for putting me on their list of 50 favourite ‘Oh you lucky Bloggers’ - love you too and all the other lucky bloggers!

Looking for a hotel in Rome? Compare prices and book through Hotels Combined

Other Rome Posts to enjoy

Five Family friendly hotels in Rome
Gelato on the island in the Tiber
Rome through the eyes of the bishop’s great-nephew

www.flickr.com   heatheronhertravels’ Rome – St Peter’s Basilica photoset

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

My Top Three Travel Secrets – and a game of tag

I’ve been tagged. Not once but twice! Both Liz from Travelogged and Barbara from Holeinthedonut were kind enough to nominate me in this travel blogger’s game of tag, where I have to let you into my top three travel secrets and then nominate a few more willing victims to continue the game. The idea started at Tripbase.com to build up a whole range of great tips from blogger throughout the blogsphere.

But firstly I’d better start with a caveat, which is that no-where in the world is really secret (especially not if you live there) and for every tip I give for getting more from your travels, someone will say “But I’ve known that for years”. Anyhow, here goes with some things I’ve enjoyed and would like to pass on to you.

Tip 1 – Use a social networking sites to meet the locals.

For over a year I’ve been a member of Hospitality Club, a network of travellers who enjoy meeting other travellers and can offer free accommodation or advice. There are other well known sites like Couchsurfing that offer a similar service. It’s no secret really that using these websites is a great way to find free accommodation when you’re travelling on a budget. But the thing I believe is less well known is that you can join Hospitality Club, even if you don’t plan to use it to find accommodation but just as a means of meeting the locals.

I’m happy to have people to stay for a couple of days in my spare room, but to be honest, I’d rather find a nice hotel or pension to stay in comfort. But what I love is to be able to e-mail someone and say – “Hey I’ll be in your city next weekend, can we meet up for drinks or dinner”. That’s how I met up with Sergio and Marco on our recent weekend in Lisbon – we’d visited the Castelo of São Jorge and then went for tea at their appartment nearby and talked about the things they love to do in Lisbon, how the city is changing and even got a tour of a little flat above theirs that we could rent if we wanted to come again.

And as well as using Hospitality Club to meet the locals, when you’ve hosted a few people, you’ll have a long list of invites from friends you’ve made, who can’t wait to show you their city. I now have to find ways to visit Cologne, Malaga and Cagliari next year, and that’s just from the folks I’ve met in the last couple of months.

Tip 2 – Stay in a Monastery, Convent or Religious Guest House

In many places of interest in Europe and further afield, you’ll find convents and monasteries that provide excellent accommodation at budget prices. This is not a secret among those with religious affiliations who are visiting as part of a pilgrimage, but others may not realise they can stay in accommodation that is so central, well priced and often in beautiful. historic buildings.

Two examples of this are the Residenza Madri Pie where I stayed in Rome, which is a stone’s throw from St Peter’s Square, and professionally run, with excellent facilities such as a lovely garden and parking. You can find other religious accommodation in Rome and other Italian cities listed on the Santa Susanna website here.

Another was the Monastery of St Anthony of Qozhaya where I stayed for a night in June, while touring Lebanon with a friend. The Monastery is one of the places of interest in the UNESCO World Heritage Quadisha Valley, a rocky gorge with rock hewn churches, and grottos. This is a most beautiful place to stay and one that wasn’t featured in my guidebook, but you can easily contact the monastery directly to book into their guest house.

Of course, as a Catholic I feel at home staying in this kind of accommodation, and if you’re looking for a party time on that backpacking round the world trip, then this won’t be for you, but otherwise if you want simple, homely and moderately priced accommodation then give it a try. I’ve just ordered the Good Night, God Bless book that I saw reviewed on HoleintheDonut, with details of this kind of accommodation throughout Europe where I hope to find a few more hidden gems like these.

Tip 3 - A couple of less known museums in London

For places to visit in London, I’d hesitate to suggest that these are secret, but they are things I really enjoyed and are missed by most travellers if they’re only visiting London for a few days. If you have more time, or regularly get to London, then do seek them out, as they’ll give you a real insight into London life and English society and culture.

The Geffrye Museum in East London

The Geffrye Museum is set in an old Almshouse in East London, and you’ll find room sets, each filled with the domestic interior of English homes through the ages, giving a glimpse into the society of the time. There’s a wonderful cafe in a modern glass annex and at the back there are a series of gardens with the style and plants of different eras. And it’s all free, although there’s a small charge for the audioguide.

The Denis Severs House in Shoreditch

At the Denis Severs House in Shoreditch, you can step into a townhouse, owned by an 18th century family of prosperous silk weavers. Everything is just as they might have left it – you’re in a stage set for a costume drama, where the characters have just left the room. You’ll breathe the air, take in the smells and sounds of life at the time as you tour the house in silence and by candle-light. The house is open only at certain times and days, but worth planning a visit if you can – check their website for details.

So there’s my Top three travel secrets, do share yours in the comments. I’m now passing the challenge to some other bloggers, who I hope will be able to add to the list. They are;

Rosalind at Farsighted Flygirl
Monna at Monna McD
Abi at Cheap Weekend Breaks

P.S. For another moneysaving travel tip, although not so secret, do check out my post on discounts and money-saving vouchers at Vouchercodes and you could win a $50 Amazon Voucher.

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