hava nageela

I need to start writing about the different neighborhoods in Roma. There aren't too many-- Trastevere, Centro Storico, Prati, the Jewish Ghetto, Vaticano, North Rome, Quirinale/East Rome, San Giovanni, and Termini are a good representation. Today I'm going to talk about the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere.

Trastevere.
School's here, so I've gotten to know it just by default. I've never hardcore explored Trastevere, but somehow I feel like I know a good deal about its old-Rome streets. Trastevere is colorful- its buildings are stuccoed orange, brown, yellow, muted pinks, dark reds... none of the buildings match perfectly, but somehow they all work together-- just like how they're strung together by clotheslines of aprons, towels, clothes, and rugs any day of the week. The cobblestones seem most uneven in this area of the city, which is in SW Roma just across the river (get it? tra-Tevere?) from the Jewish Ghetto. This is the place you'll find little white-haired Italian ladies doing their fruit shopping in the morning near s. Maria in Trastevere and its piazza, but by night all the trattorie, osterie, and ristoranti are lit up with their sparkly Christmas lights and chattering fills the narrow, zigzaggy streets and wide, open piazze. The fountains even come alive at night. It's fascinating, because Trastevere is sleepy and somewhat quiet and totally quaint and cute and aaaaawwww, ROMAAA by day, but once the sun sets, it is the place to eat and linger for hours and the place for young ragazzi to hit the chicest bars in the city and mingle. Trastevere is gorgeous- that's really all there is to say. No monuments- only a few really significant but often-overlooked churches. The most important church here is Chiesa di santa Maria in Trastevere, which was the first church in Roma and the very first church ever dedicated to Mary. It's very, very old, and it has the longest consistent run of charity to the poor in the whole city-- over 1600 years' to be exact. Its facade is covered in gold mosaics and sits on the main piazza in the neighborhood, piazza di santa Maria in Trastevere (clever naming). Not much English is spoken here, and the food really is good. The best pizza in Rome is located here at la Scaletta........

Jewish Ghetto.
When you walk through the cobblestoned streets, the buildings aren't stone or columned like in some other parts of the city. They're mostly muddled browns and mustardy yellows, muted earth tones. There's not too much to see here in terms of over-touristed sites. It was where the Jews were placed during the world wars (hence ghetto with jewish in front of it), and there's still a large population of Jews that still live there, work there, and go to school there today. When walking down Via Arenula from Largo Argentina, all you have to do is duck into one of the alleyways to your left and you're there.. you'll know you've reached your destination when you spot a few men here and there... ok, everywhere.. wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls. There's a grade school on the main street of the Ghetto (via del Portico d'Ottavia), which is also lined with Kosher bakeries and restaurants (Il Portico has the best pasta cream sauces in all of Rome but also happens to charge a HIGH servizio- service fee). This is also home to
Pasticceria Ebraico Boccione, the unmarked, tiny, family-run corner bakery that only makes 8ish items....including my fave, the torta di ricotta e cioccolato. SO GOOD AAAAHH. There's a huge synagogue practically across the street from an ancient pagan temple, so that's fun too. The Ghetto is mostly just a really nice, residential place to stroll and eat good food. Since there's nothing huge to see there, it's not touristy and is just Romans. Jewish Romans... and those clever enough to discover what amazing offerings it brings to Roma.