It's a Beautiful Night in the Neighborhood

Piazza Santa Maria

We spent most of today traveling.  It was a 2 hour Uber ride to Gatwick, which by some miracle the concierge noticed was our airport when I asked the best way to get to HEATHROW. OY! 

We were met by Mateo in Rome who greeted up politely and then never spoke another word on the drive in.  He did remind us of the Italian tendency to drive as if you are in the Daytona 500.  We are housed in Trastevere, which is on the same side of the Tiber as Vatican City.  It was a stronghold of the Etruscans until the Romans took it in order to control that side of the Tiber.  It was an important Jewish center until they were forced to move to the Roman ghetto on the other side of the Tiber.  Today, it remains a funky, bohemian-like area with narrow cobble stoned streets.  Our apartment is near the Piazza Santa Maria in an area filled with every type of specialty shop one could want.  The streets were brimming with people; the shop keepers were very helpful to two mono lingual people.  Our new Italian word: Enoteca or Wine Shop.  The clerk in the enoteca wanted to talk Celtics basketball.  We love it here.

The Piazza Santa Maria has what is considered the oldest fountain in Rome dating to the 8th century.  It has been moved and redesign several times with Bernini's design now in place.  This is a serendipity because Wayne has been studying about all the fountains and made a quest to visit them.  Additional media at Flickr.

The Fountain of Piazza Santa Maria