Sunday morning dawned grey and rainy but the inclement weather did not dampen our spirits and plans to explore the largest flea market in Rome, Porta Portese. The weather, the sheer volume of people and stalls distracted us from taking photographs but I found this image (taken in better weather obviously) and it is from a brief and educational video about Porta Portese - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dAWjKNA6jY
We went to observe the start of Hanukkah in the Piazza Barberini where a gigantic menorah was installed and the middle candle and the 1st candle were lit by a Rabbi. He was elevated to the top with the assistance of a cherry-picker. The Mayor of Rome was in attendance, and there was a lot of singing, dancing and music. When we got there we went through quite strict security and were frisked and Johan’s backpack searched.
Hanukkah
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Piazza Barberini
Everyone in the crowd were given a round fried dough coated in sugar. Divine! (Apologies for the very blurry photo)
We ventured from Piazza Barberini to the Trevi Fountain thinking it might be a bit quieter and that we could get closer to it – which we could but still not close enough to throw the customary coin into the fountain.
From the Trevi Fountain we got a little lost walking to either a metro or bus stop – Rome is certainly not a city built on a grid. Streets you think are parallel end up leading you astray, and the network of small alleys (some of which look identical to each other) and hard-to-find street signs are a recipe for “where the hell are we!?” but we eventually got to Piazza Venezia where we waited for approximately 45 minutes to get a bus home (longest time we ever had to wait for a bus in Rome)
