Orto Botanico

Last week some of my classmates and I decided to take a walk around our neighborhood, Trastevere, eventually ending up in the Botanical Gardens, also known as Orto Botanico, now owned by the Universita di Roma. After paying the €4 entrance fee, we entered a luscious green space filled with huge palm trees and gorgeous mansion-like buildings (probably used by the college students at the university).

On our way along the extensive and overgrown pathways, we observed different types of plant species growing in ponds, greenhouses, and even brushing against our legs. I was shocked when we strolled into an entire bamboo forest. I did not anticipate that the Roman climate was able to support bamboo or even all the palm trees scattered throughout the entire city. The grounds also held a huge rose garden situated on a hilly embankment. Although not all of the flowers were in bloom, the ones that were gave off a sweet aroma and filled the space with a serene vibe.

Later in the afternoon, we stumbled upon a large tree a bit off of the normal path which supported thick branches holding small, orange balls of fruit. I was immediately intrigued and began examining the pieces that had already fallen to the ground and lie strewn across a twenty foot radius of earth. They smelled like peaches, and so I decided to pick a ripe one from a lower branch and take a bite. Looking back, this was probably not one of my better decisions, yet I was thirsty and the “mini-peaches” smelled delicious. The first bite confirmed our prediction that the balls were indeed peaches or some sort of peach derivative. I had two more and then found the pathway back to the garden. Since it was beginning to get extremely humid, we called it a day and started back towards Trastevere. Taking an afternoon to explore the Botanical Gardens was a welcomed change from the small, muggy classroom back in the Piazza del Collegio Romano!