Today, we’d walk another million miles and yet we weren’t in any hurry to do it. We slept in but did not tarry too long in getting our start. It was our last day in Rome, so best to make the most of it, right? As with most of my travel, I try to choose a good mix of popular, must-see places and out-of-the-box oddities that I think might be really interesting. Today, tipped heavy on the… funky, the weird, and dare I say, even somber, yet beautiful. As with all of our days, wherever we were, we had a lot of ground to cover, so let’s go!!

Our first destination of the day involved a long walk to the Coppede Neighbourhood about an hour away. When I began researching this trip like… 3, years ago, (no, I’m not kidding; remember, it was postponed 2 years for Covid and other life events) I googled a LOT about off-the-beaten-path places to visit. Coppede came up a few times and it looked like a fun place to head for some photos.

I guess we must’ve gotten a later start than I thought because, from the timestamps on my photos, we stopped for an early lunch even before we got there. Maybe we’d both decided to sleep in? Regardless, we popped into a hopping little café that had several choices of ready-made sandwiches on fresh bread and some hot options including cooked vegetables and casserole-like dishes. We each got a couple of the small crusty bun sandwiches, and I also got us a side dish of scalloped potatoes to share. The carb-heavy meal was perfect for fueling our long walk.

From there, Coppede wasn’t hard to find. The ENORMOUS chandelier overhanging the decorative, arched entrance stood sentinel to this entirely quirky couple of city blocks. Once inside, it was immediately apparent that this was a neighborhood that required money. I can’t even imagine what the HOA rules would be like were there to be one. It felt a bit exclusive, and I imagined loads of pricey art hung on the walls within. Being our plebeian selves, we satiated ourselves on the artistry of the exteriors, which had a definite Renaissance/da Vinci vibe.

The funky little neighborhood was a fun side-stop, but it took about a decade to find a taxi to our next destination- The Capuchin Crypt. Our taxi, once we found it with the help of a South American housemaid walking her Coppede family’s dog, dropped us off near the Capuchin Church, an “odd” chapel of bones, which ended being perfect because had he dropped us off right AT the church, we’d have totally missed The Four Fountains. Pilfered from Wiki, “The Quattro Fontane (the Four Fountains) is an ensemble of four Late Renaissance fountains located at the intersection of Via delle Quattro Fontane and Via del Quirinale in Rome. They were commissioned by Pope Sixtus V and built at the direction of Muzio Mattei, and were installed between 1588 and 1593.”. Who knew!?!

I snapped a few photos of these lovely fountains smack on the four corners of a very busy intersection in the middle of Rome and we moved on towards the museum. But first, we wasted a bunch of time lost in some urban garden of some bygone aristocratic family which was supposed to be open to see the inside of, but was not. After what seemed an eternity, we finally paid our tickets (10 Euro, about $11) and went in.

So…. I went in thinking ok, this will just be a visit to the macabre, something like going to Ripley’s; we’d see, we’d be amazed and weirded out, and we’d leave. It was not that.

At all.

I was actually incredibly moved, and it did inspire a level or worship- exactly as it’s meant to do. Before you enter the crypts, you are first required to spend time making your way through an extremely well done and tasteful museum explaining who the Capuchin Order of Monks were/ ARE!, their mission in life and how they, even today, live out their felt calling. It walked us through their history, what some of their tenets are, how they have historically helped the poor by taking a vow of simplicity and charity, etc… There were some quite lovely pieces of art, including a work by Caravaggio.

We spent about an hour or so wandering from room to room observing the VERY strict no photos policy. Several folks were admonished while we were in there for doing so. We also made sure to wear clothes that were modest and covered our shoulders and towhisper when necessary. #respect

Before proceeding into the chapels or “ossuaries” we had learned the history behind them and why they even exist. I will let you do your own research on that, but the main lesson to take away from a visit to the crypts was that they are meant to serve as a stark reminder that life is fleeting, we all pass away, are mortal, and that our duty is to make the most of life here making a difference to serve our fellow man and walk closely with God. The fact that there is art made from human bones just adds a whole other layer of amazing. There was zero macabre or weird vibe or anything distasteful about it. It was respectful and actually incredibly interesting. If you’re in Rome, I’d highly recommend this stop!

Again, I did not take any photos, so the ones I post here are photos of photos that I took in the little book/gift shop at the end. LOL! There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

By the time we ended our self-guided audio tour, (which was included with the ticket price) we headed to the main church next door, but it was closed for the lunch hour. Bummer!

We made up for our disappointment with gelato along the way somewhere:

Our next item on the day’s agenda was the Trevi Fountain. No matter how off the beaten path I usually want to be, some things just shouldn’t be missed. The Trevi is definitely one. I’d seen it already once on a European Grand Tour during high school, but there was no way I’d let Anara miss it. It’s truly a beautiful fountain; no wonder it’s always mobbed with people. Like we were very prone to do, we made a wrong turn which made for a bit of a happy accident. Most people know about the Changing of the Guard in London. And Greece. And a lot of other big Capitol cities. Who knew that Rome has one too!! I sure didn’t; but our wrong turn took us to the Palazzo del Quirinale and it was timed perfectly as the Changing of the Guard was happening! Coolio! It wasn’t big, there wasn’t a bunch of full-on regalia, or fancy costumes really. Just a short and sweet little ceremony that was fun to happen upon.

When we got to the Trevi it was, in fact, mobbed with a throng of people and, in order to get even a half decent shot of anything, we kind of had to weave and bob. No children were harmed in the seeing of this fountain.

Snap, snap and off we went. No coin toss; no wishing. It was just far too people-y for us. In fact, what we’d really come to see was this:

Tragically, it was closed on the one day we had to see it (Mondays). We were both genuinely sad about that. However, we would make up for an underground city tour a couple of days later, so not all was lost….

To round out the day, we ended up at this most charming of eateries: Cucina del Teatro.

HOW we ended up there, or why we took that route is beyond me. Funny story too!!! I have some photos of our dinner and the super quaint setting but failed to take one of its actual name. I spent quite a while a couple of weeks ago hunting for clues and sort of gave up. Almost creepily, one of the Italy FB groups I follow, posted almost my exact photo about a week afterwards. I knew in an INSTANT that that’s where we’d dined and was both weirded out and thrilled that I’d found it!

Anyway, I ordered a glass of white wine that is supposed to be local to Rome (I hardly ever order white) and we split some creamy pasta, some green veggies, and shared dessert. We both sat in awe at the couple beside us who both drank an entire bottle of wine each, and then ordered more. How they could sit on their chairs without passing out in their plates of pasta was beyond me. I just knew I wanted to pay the bill and get out of their before we saw their pasta again. Yikesadoodle!!

A few more sights on the 10-minute walk home:

And that my friends is how we spent our last day in Rome. Still to come: Several days toodling around Tuscany, some fabulous days in Bologna, and one last day in Venice.