A Monday Morning Themed Walk - Cafes

Early Monday morning, six students including myself and one teaching assistant from Penn State’s CAS summer program set out on a memorable walk all around the northern part of central Rome. I had wanted to experience a few of the more famous and talked about cafés so we would be heading to three of these establishments to begin the first day of our last week. We all met at the foot of the Giordano Bruno statue in the center of Campo de’ Fiori’s morning market. After perusing some of the food and t-shirt stands, we set off towards our first stop, La Tazza d’Oro, located near the Pantheon. Most of us decided to try their world famous granita de caffé con pannas and we were not disappointed by any means. The mixture of the light whipped cream and iced espresso was delicious and certainly satisfying on such a hot morning.

We backtracked to the Via Corso after this and headed for Via Condotti. Once there, we all began posing next to expensive and sophisticated store fronts fully knowing that these shops contained items that were completely beyond our price range. It was still entertaining to imagine ourselves wearing some of the chic outfits and shoes though. We reached our second destination, the Antico Greco Caffé, only to discover that it was not open on this particular day. There was no sign posted and after my initial displeasure, I decided that I would just try back tomorrow after class.

On the way to our final destination, Piazza del Popolo, we swung by the Babuino talking statue on Via del Babuino and heard from a classmate about its rich history concerning the Italian people’s rights. Finally we had reached the piazza, and I pointed out the rivalry between the two cafes which faced each other in this space. On our left was the left-wing hot spot, Café Rosati, and on the right was the more conservative, Café Canova. The latter was definitely more crowded and filled with very properly dressed patrons. Still, we decided to stick to the original plan and try Rosati. I entered and ordered a cappuccino freddo which is a cappuccino served cold. It was refreshing and provided me with the boost I needed in order to walk around the city in such thick heat. This technically concluded the bar tour, but since the San Maria del Popolo church was so close to where we were, I decided to stroll in to check out the two Caravaggio’s which grace the small chapel located in the front on the left side of the altar. I was very excited that the church was actually open (I had tried on other occasion when it had been closed.) and was extremely intrigued as I gazed up at the Crucifixion of Saint Peter. It was very well done, and I was able to overhear a tour guide telling her group all about this famous work and why it is significant. One thing I learned was that the dirty feet of the men who are crucifying Peter are located in the very front of the painting; they are made to stand out. Back in the day, many were upset by this and considered the entire work blasphemous. Now it is known around the world and many come to visit it each year. It was packed when I viewed it around 11AM. Our walk exceeded my expectations, and I just wish we had more time to complete other themed walks around Rome.