Market Day

Day 10

I find myself at a crossroads where Sunday is either the best day of the week or the worst.

Rome on Sundays is different from the rest of the week.  In just about every open space there is some sort of market that suddenly pops up from the ungodly hour of 630 am to 2 pm.  Today I saw the endless stalls of the Porta Portese Flea Market, an eco-friendly artisan market next to Monte Testaccio, and the mouth-watering stalls at Campo de' Fiori. (All the sites say this one is closed on Sunday, but I've now been there two Sundays in a row and it is packed.)  Finding these markets and stopping at the stalls was fun and different walk through the city.  Also, free samples are always a bonus.

On the downside: so many other things are closed, and get this, all the churches are closed.  The doors to all the churches I have been in in the past week have had their gates and doors shut today.  I assume there is someway to get in for the masses that are held, but I haven't quite figured that out yet.  Also, a lot of the best small restaurants and businesses are closed, so pickings are slim if you are trying to stay close to home.  On the other hand, the Jewish Quarter was the busiest I have seen it.

10 days in and I already feel like a native of the city.  (Except for the whole speaking Italian thing, but I'll get there).

Ciao
J