Day 28

Today will be our last full day in Rome and we have enjoyed every minute. We would come back in a heartbeat as there are so many sights to see that a week doesn't even begin to capture a small part of this great city.

Today we took a wonderful stroll through the Trastevere neighborhood. It is on the west side of the Tiber River, south of the Vatican and across the river from the Forum and Capital Hill area. We started our walk crossing the Ponte Cestio to the Isola Tiberina where the largest building is the Fatebenefratelli, the public hospital favored by Roman women for childbirth. The island's reputation for medical care lives on. During the walk, you could see ancient fragments that are recycled ingloriously into medieval buildings. We went to the last traditional cookie bakery in the area called Biscottificio Artigiano that strives to keep the traditions of cookie making alive.





We entered the beautiful church of Santa Maria of Trastevere which is one of Rome's oldest churches with the most beautiful original mosaics. We spent a moment with St. Anthony who is the saint of the poor. People leave prayers on scrap pieces of paper by his statue.


From there, we headed to the Ghetto where some 30,000 Jews lived in earlier times and some still do. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the synagogue as it is not open to tourists on Saturday. We were, however, able to sample some deep fried artichokes which is a dish they say only Jewish grandmothers can properly cook. They were very good.





Here is that fabulous artichoke dish.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Rome ending the day once again at the Spanish Steps.



We say goodbye to Alessandro

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Location:Roma, Italy