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When in Rome...


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Neat Places

Agostinelli Museum

Domenico Agostinelli's collection put on display for free. He has some things like Al Capone's car or a dinosaur egg, but the main attraction is... stuff. Lots and lots and lots and lots of stuff. Buttons, umbrellas, vases, busts, paintings, dolls, fake hands, helmets, globes... Old stuff everywhere, even on the ceilings! (there are some drawers with old newspapers and magazines too, I'm not sure if you're allowed to touch them however).
The museum is quite small, it's a crowded mess, in a good way. The only downside is that it's in Dragona, which is not close to the center at all.
Here's something Agostinelli said in an interview in I-forgot-which-magazine (cutted out the article :P), bad translation from Italian by me:

"Now it's a mission for me, saving as many objects as possible from destruction. You can't notice it because you're young but there has been a fracture with the pre-50's civilization, in these last 70 years peasant and artisan civilization have been wiped out. Considering that 90% of people in Italy were peasants or artisians, it's as if a hurricane had passed and erased millennia of history."

LIPU* Oasis in Lido di Ostia

"It's an Autogrill for migratory birds" - a volunteer.
This place was a illegal open-air landfill before. The LIPU volunteers had to buid the pond, the dunes, and plant all the plants!
You can rent the bird-watching hides, or visit them freely saturday morning from 9 to 13 (well, you could untill covid-19 hit. who knows when things'll go back to normal). They also organize other events, sometimes rescued birds liberations too.
So many birds to see here! You can even spot purple herons! If you're a bird-watcher it's a place to check out!
It's also near and connected to the Pier Paolo Pasolini Literary Park®, built in the place where his body was found.
Their website UK ITA, Facebook page, Instagram
(*LIPU= Lega Italiana Protezione Ucceli, Italian League for Birds Protection)

Capuchin Crypt

Real human bones used to decorate the crypt! Chock full of skulls! There's also a couple of monks that look more like mummies than skeletons. Looks much bigger in photos, still really cool place.
My only complaint is that they told us not to take pictures to respect the dead, but they sold souvenirs with photos on them.

Lake Ex SNIA/Bullicante, the lake who defeated concrete

The story in short: a company wanted to build a mall were they shouldn't. Shortly after starting the construction site, they dug a hole and water came out nonstop. They hitted an aquifer and gave birth to the lake! The site was closed. People fought to keep the lake because they were tired of being surrounded by concrete. Other attempts to build something else were made (even if it's not really allowed, it was supposed to be public green land) and the citizens barely made it in 2014
Ex Snia is now a Natural Monument, it's an oasis for many species of birds, the only natural lake inside Rome, and you can pic-nic near it :)
The website has the complete story, in italian. I'm surprised I found out about this place late!

Assalti frontali & Il Muro del Canto dedicated a song to it called "IL LAGO CHE COMBATTE" (the lake who fights) youtube link

Ostia Antica Archeological Park

I've heard people call it Rome's Pompeii. It's easy to reach (Roma-Lido train at the Magliana metro station -> Ostia Antica station -> really short walk. around 30 minutes in total) and just, so cool. Look up photos! You can freely walk in the city's ruins and get lost in them, it's big! There's so much to see I don't even know where to begin. And every time I've been there it was never crowded. There's even an anphitheater that is still in use.
My words don't do it justice. I really don't understand why this place isn't more famous. You can easely spend all day here (but there isn't much shade so if it's hot bewear).

Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome

It's a pretty nice cemetery. It's a quiet place in the middle of the city with lots of trees, and a cat colony is free to roam everywhere :3
The oldest part is like a tiny park, the newest looks a bit crowded but it's still nice.
It’s often called “protestant” or “English” cemetery but it’s full of many other religions and nationalities (I’ve seen many Orthodox-Catholic graves especially. Maybe they’re just easy to spot?).
Some famous people are buried here (Antonio Gramsci, Percy Bysshe Shelley), but the coolest grave is William Wetmore Story and Emelyn Story's, the OG Angel of Grief. William Wetmore sculpted it to commemorate his wife, and then it was copied all around the world lol

The cemetery's website and the cat colony's one for more info

Villa del Priorato di Malta's Keyhole

Literally just a keyhole through which Saint Peter's Basilica can be viewed. Doesn't seem like much but it has its effect, it's worth the time spent in the queue. If you don't want to wait too much, there's less people when it's dark (the Basilica is artificially illuminated)

St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs's Meridial Line

Kinda like a sundail but straight line on the floor, Wikipedia describes it better. Pretty neat! My best friend brought me here once.