Dreaming Of Gelato

Once a red-light district, Rome’s Monti neighborhood is now red hot. Just a short walk from the Colosseum, the trendy bohemian district is a mash up of old-world traditions sharing the limelight with funky shops, bars, and restaurants from up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Hipsters sit shoulder-to-shoulder with elder neighborhood fixtures at a Renaissance-era fountain, Monti’s unofficial gathering place in the central Piazza della Madonna.

Spagnulo loved the Monti vibe so much, she opened her third Fatamorgana (5 Via degli Zingari; +39-06-4890-6955) outpost here, on the same corner where director Mario Monicelli shot his 1958 masterpiece I Soliti Ignoti or Big Deal On Madonna Street.

For craft cocktails and live music, visit the cozy Black Market (101 Via Panisperna; +39-339-822-7541), where indie musicians line up to play unplugged sets, or enjoy a leisurely lunch at Aromaticus (134 Via Urbana; +39-06-488-1355) a daytime, health-focused café that doubles as an urban gardening shop, with plenty of aromatic plants lining the shelves to take home.

With all the influx of modern hangouts, Monti's past remains evident, especially in one of its most visited sites, the church of Santa Maria dei Monti (41 Via della Madonna dei Monti; +39-06-485-531). The ornate interior is filled with phenomenal 16th-century frescoes, and locals share the lore of the miraculous event that prompted the building of the church—a miracle attributed to a perfectly preserved icon of the Virgin Mary, which was found in the ruins of a 13th-century convent. A blind woman in the 16th century is said to have regained her sight after praying to it. After news got out of the healing, donations began pouring in for a church to be built on that very location. Today, the icon hangs over the altar.

For an interesting juxtaposition of antiquity and modernity, the Chiostro del Bramante (5 Via Arco della Pace; +39 06-6880-9035) hosts exhibitions of modern artists in a former 16th-century cloister. Following a renovation, which began in 1997, the Chiostro opened to the public, and over the last 20 years, the curators' exhibitions have elevated the venue to one of the most respected places in Rome to see national and international modern art. The architectural wonder-turned-arts complex has hosted works by artists as diverse as James Tissot, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall, M.C. Escher, and Andy Warhol.
The National Museum of XXI Century Arts, better known locally as MAXXI (4A Via Guido Reni; +39-06-320-1954), is unlike most museums in Rome: not a repurposed historic building, but built from the ground up. Italy's first national museum of contemporary art took 10 years to complete, opening in 2010, on the site of the former Montello military barracks.

The city’s best-known shopping streets, such as Via dei Condotti and Via del Corso, are where most visitors gravitate, but being the walking paradise that it is, Rome has other areas that lend copious opportunities for window shopping and buying.

Antique lovers stroll the lovely Via dei Coronari, hidden just off Piazza Navona. Once a medieval rosary market, the quiet street is dotted with high-end antique shops filled with rare books, vintage clothing, jewelry, and art.

Set between the Piazza di Spagna and the Piazza del Popolo, Via Margutta, has long been home to established and emerging artists—filmmaker Federico Fellini lived here—and still is today. Take a star turn and swing by 51 Via Margutta, where Gregory Peck's character, Joe Bradley, lived in Roman Holiday. For a creative escape, explore contemporary gallery Galleria Valentina Moncada (54 Via Margutta; +39-06-320-7956), where modern masterworks mingle with emerging artists' creations. The fashionable Il Margutta RistorArte (118 Via Margutta,; +39-06-3265-0577), one of Rome's first vegetarian restaurants, shows off its artistic cuisine amid an atmosphere of modern art.

If there's a glamorous private event in the city, it's most likely happening at Casina Valadier (Piazza Bucharest, Villa Borghese; +39-06-6992-2090), a stately 19th century villa at the top of Pincio Hill at Villa Borghese. Renowned for its incredible twilight views, it is by far one of the best vantage points from which to see the Eternal City below.

Many a marriage proposal has been offered in one of the four dining rooms in the rooftop restaurant, Vista, where the uninterrupted views of Rome's skyline provide a backdrop that never fails to elicit an enthusiastic "yes."

Once you’ve seen the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon, venture off the beaten path, away from the well-known monuments to more unexpected corners of the city.

One of the quirkiest of Rome’s neighborhoods was developed out of an architect's fantasy, which he turned into a reality, in the city's northeast Trieste district. Designed by Florentine architect Gino Coppedè, Quartiere Coppedè is a fantastical hodgepodge of design, built in the early 1900s. Buildings reflect Roman baroque and medieval mores, along with ancient Greek influences, all of which collide with the pervading art nouveau and art deco styles that were in vogue during Coppedè's time.

Block by block, you’ll find unexpected flourishes of the wit and eccentric artistry of Coppedè, especially his Fontana delle Rane or frog fountain in the middle of the piazza, and at the Palazzo of the Spider (4 Piazza Mincio), where an eight-legged arachnid caught in a gold mosaic web lurks above the building’s entrance.