ITALY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 922

3. The Forum's main entrance spills you back out onto Via dei Fori Imperiali (for Tra-
jan's Column, Market, and Museum of the Imperial Forums, here ).
4. From the Arch of Titus, you can climb Palatine Hill ( here ).
▲▲▲ Dolce Vita Stroll
(See “Dolce Vita Stroll” map, here . )
This is the city's chic stroll, from Piazza del Popolo (Metro: Flaminio) down a wonderfully
traffic-free section of Via del Corso, and up Via Condotti to the Spanish Steps. It takes place
from around 17:00 to 19:00 each evening (Fri and Sat are best), except on Sunday, when it
occurs earlier in the afternoon. Leave before 18:00 if you plan to visit the Ara Pacis (Altar
of Peace), which closes at 19:00 and is closed Monday.
As you stroll, you'll see shoppers, people-watchers, and flirts on the prowl filling
this neighborhood of some of Rome's most fashionable stores (some open after siesta
16:30-19:30). While both the crowds and the shops along Via del Corso have gone downhill
recently, elegance survives in the grid of streets between here and the Spanish Steps. If you
get hungry during your stroll, see here for descriptions of neighborhood wine bars and res-
taurants.
To reach Piazza del Popolo, where the stroll starts, take Metro line A to Flaminio and
walk south to the square. Delightfully car-free, Piazza del Popolo is marked by an obelisk
that was brought to Rome by Augustus after he conquered Egypt. (It used to stand in the
Circus Maximus.) In medieval times, this area was just inside Rome's main entry (for more
background on the square, see here ) .
If starting your stroll early enough, the Baroque church of Santa Maria del Popolo is
worth popping into (Mon-Sat until 18:30, Sun until 19:30, next to gate in old wall on north
side of square). Inside, look for Raphael's Chigi Chapel (KEE-gee, second chapel on left)
and two paintings by Caravaggio (in the Cerasi Chapel, left of altar; see listing on here ) .
From Piazza del Popolo, shop your way down Via del Corso. With the proliferation of
shoppingmalls,manychainstoresliningViadelCorsoarelosingcustomersandfacinghard
times. Still, this remains a fine place to feel the pulse of Rome at twilight.
Historians side-trip right down Via Pontefici past the fascist architecture to see the
massive, rotting, round-brick Mausoleum of Augustus, topped with overgrown cypress
trees.Beyondit,nexttotheriver,isAugustus' AraPacis, enclosedwithinaprotectiveglass-
walled museum (described on here ). From the mausoleum, walk down Via Tomacelli to re-
turn to Via del Corso and the 21st century.