ROME AWAY FROM ROME: my walking tour

When I thought about the theme of my tour I wanted to do something I would enjoy myself; a tour I would take my friends and family on. My idea was to get away from the traditional sites of Rome with huge crowds of people that you need to elbow your way through. I chose to do a place in Rome that is so different that you do not even feel like you are anywhere close to the city. When we went to the zoo I fell in love with what we seen on the way; little did I know there was so much more. After going through my tour I felt so relaxed and refreshed. I hope that anyone that goes on this tour will enjoy it just as much as my group. This is a side of Rome that many people never get to experience because you never see much of it when you look at travel brochures or pictures.

To start my tour from Termini, take the metro line A to the Spanga stop. When you get off at Spanga just before you exit out of the metro station there will be signs to your right that say Villa Borghese. Follow the signs and go up the escalators until you are outside. Once outside you have arrived in Villa Borghese. Walk straight until you come to a dirt path on the left, this path leads up to Piazzale dei Martiri. Here you will find several busts of various people. Either way you look from here you see the street lined with trees and benches. If you take a right down the street (Viale delle Magnolie) and cross over to the other sidewalk and on the left will be Vialle Taragona. Down the hill to Via della Fontana Rotunda there is a large fountain that looks like a big blue pool. Everyone sits on the hillside reading and some put their feet in the fountain and lay in the sun taking in the beautiful day. After spending some time here across the fountain head towards the main road and take a right, you will pass a statue of Victor Hugo(famous writer). Cross the street toward the flowers and four lion fountains, still going the same way up the street. Turn left onto Vialle Pietro Canonica, take a right onto the first street; Vialle della Casina di Raffaello. Here you will see a small monument with a green dome that has a pine cone on top and columns all the way around. It has animals all over the inside of the dome and is very beautiful when you see the detail of it. Taking a left onto Vialle dei Pupazzi, Piazza di Sienna is on the right. Piazza di Sienna was built as an equestrian competition arena which is still used today.Looking to the left there is a very large statue. When you get closer to this statue you realize it looks like three different pieces of art in one. On top of the red stone statue is a bronze statue of a man on a horse and on the side is a marble relief sculpture of people. Continuing straight on the Vialle dei Pupazzi you will end up at Piazzale dei Cavalli Marine. In the middle is a beautiful fountain with seahorses underneath. Take a left here and another left onto Pietro Canonica. The museum of Pietro Canonica a Villa Borghese is on the right hand side. It looks like a castle and has some statues in front, it is the museum of Canonica the sculptor painter and musician. The admission to this museum is free, another plus for being away from busy Rome.

After the museum Piazza di Sienna will now be on the right, straight across from it will be an entrance to a gated park. If you follow the dirt path that runs parallel with the road you will run into Viale del Lago. Looking down you can see a beautiful pond with what looks like a Greek temple in the background. This part was my personal favorite. There are statues to look at on the way and once you get there it is nice to just relax and watch all the ducks swim by. On one side of the pond they rent out boats for a very reasonable price. I chose to end my tour at the most beautiful and relaxing place I have found in Rome. Floating out into the middle of a pond on a boat and hearing birds chirping definitely feels hours away from the city. While there are many more things to see in this area I wanted to keep it to a minimum so it felt relaxing instead of crazy; who wants to spend leisure time running around like crazy?