Secrets of Rome revealed

Secrets of Rome revealed



Special delights discovered during a nearly three-year stay include the best gelato, pizza place, church, art gallery and rose garden.

San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome

San Lorenzo fuori le Mura may be the least well-known of Rome's great pilgrimage churches. It was built where San Lorenzo was grilled on a gridiron. (Holly Hayes)

By Susan Spano Special to the Los Angeles Times

October 31, 2010

 After living in Rome for almost three years, I moved back to the U.S. at the beginning of the summer. I packed up my apartment, gave my books to friends and left my potted plants for the next tenant.

Now someone else is standing at the window overlooking Via Baccina, its west end butted against the Roman Forum, its east end opening onto the little Piazza della Madonna dei Monti. The florist on Via dei Serpenti is teaching someone else the Italian words for "daisy" and "lily," and the woman who sleeps on the stoop next door is getting spare change from another pocketbook.

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