After stopping for some quick gelato for myself (which was truly amazing by the way) I headed over to this beautiful open plaza with a fountain in the middle. While walking around the fountain I began to realize that all the benches were filled with homeless men sleeping during the day. This came as quite a shock to me because I thought that Trestevere was one of the more upscale towns in Rome.
From the central plaza, which was being cleaned while I passed through it, I made my way down a beautifully decorated street, lush with greenery from overhanging balcony's and house walls. There were a lot of people simply strolling through the street as I photographed as many acquantances as I could. I was obviously near some building of importance because there were groups of people in suits headed into what appeared to be a main building in the district. At this hour of the day, Trestevere was certianly alive and busteling.
Doing some more drifting, I landed upon a nice round plaza that had a certain religious element to it. The entire area of Trestevere seemed to have religious undertones to it which I noticed as I passed by the numerous references to Jesus, the lions, and Saints. In perhaps the most blatent of examples, Jesus was carved in to the side of the building located on an extremely busy street corner.
This is one of the more interesting things about Rome to me - the fact that religion is so intertwined with the state itself. Around every street corner and rooted in nearly all the architectual and artistic work, Christianity is not only prevelant but a constant almost omnipotent point. I would tend to believe this was a deliberate plan by the constructors of Rome who wanted the religion to be the constant guiding force in the masses everyday lives. By having Jesus and other symbolic figures around both Rome and Trestevere, it becomes impossible to escape the constant reminder of morality and the stories of the New Testament.
Yet among it all, its hard not to realize the immoral. Not 20 feet from the corner which Jesus peered over, a group of kids were vandalizing a beautiful wall by carving thier names in it with a stone. It was eery standing there taking a picture of them doing this because I could almost see myself doing something so stupid back when I was younger, thinking that it was a cheap and easy way to engrave my name for all eternity. And that's really exactly what these kids were doing, the same thing that all the great Romans and all the great Popes in Rome have wanted for thousands of years: a legacy. Whether it was a massive bust, an immense statue, a fresco, or a Basilica, Roman culture has always consisted of ordinary men triumphing the test of time by becoming something great, something reveered, something immortal. Though an obvious childish act of minor vandilism, I couldn't help but see the desire these kids had to be something, anything, even if that just meant a name in a wall.
Making my way further through Testevare, working back towards the direction of the river, it began to get much hotter than before. The sun started to really break through the overcast sky that had loomed overhead for the morning. The colors of the city really seemed to come to life at this point, making the city for a bit more fun, young-spirited, and warm.
What I liked best about Trestevere on my first visit was the way the colors mimicked the neighborhoods character. The bright orange houses and terracata roofs really gave Testevere a very "west coast" beach feel to it which is ironic because it is in the middle of the city.
Nonetheless, the use of plants and dramatic green overhangs to drape the walls with natures tapestries is simply a great feeling. More than any other area I have been to in Rome, Testevere felt and looked like what I had envisioned Italy to look like.
As I strolled back to the river, perhaps my favorite element of Testevere, I couldn't help but notice how magnificant the grandeur of the river was. Directly through this district, this massive ancient river with tons of history of its own, seemed to flow as if it owned the place. It was powerful, it was commanding, and it was gorgeous to look at. Adjacent to the river, the cars on the main road darted along too, and as fast as they whizzed by me as I stood on the island in the road, the river seemed so much more powerful and threatening.
Then, in the middle of the river, stood the giant arch that stands only as a symbol for the bridge that once stood there before, swept away four different times by the strong current of the Tibre. I found this entire scenario fascinating. The Romans triumphant arch, the structure imperial emperors would erect once they conquered another country, was left standing in a river, destroyed by natures sheer power. Though the arch still remains, it was knocked down time and time again and I felt this real connection with nature at this point. As I stood in the very middle of the bridge, looking down at the current rushing past me, I really tried to envision those before me, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, doing the exact same thing. The whole experience was really great and peaceful because I just felt so relaxed and at ease. In fact, the trip had inspired me so much that I continued to drift beyond Testevere, in to the Jewish Ghetto, through Via de Corso, and even through Piazza de Poppolo - a place I had been tens of times before but never really just embraced it.
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