It was 68 and sunny in Rome today! And with my night class cancelled it was the perfect opportunity to go for a run!
I decided to ditch my usually crowded street route for a more scenic path through Villa Borghese. This worked, kinda. With probably a 100+ possible courses, it’s easy to get lost, which is exactly what I did. Now for my dad’s sake I have to let everyone know that by “lost” I really mean I just didn’t have a pre-planned path… There were a lot of people, other runners, and it was bright; TOTALLY SAFE!
I started my run from Temple Rome and proceeded to the entrance of Villa Borghese near Piazza del Popolo. It wasn’t long until I stumbled upon the overlook of Piazza del Popolo, somewhere I’ve been meaning to go for a while, but just never actually got around to, until now!
Before I knew it I was running along a sidewalk, which wasn’t what gave away the fact that somehow I exited the gardens. What gave it away was the fact that I practically ran into the Trinità dei Monti, aka the church at the top of the Spanish Steps!
Instead of continuing my run down the steps onto the streets of Rome, I decided to turn around and figure out how to get back into Villa Borghese.
After getting back onto a gravel path I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people enjoying the beautiful day. If this doesn’t prove just how much more laid back Italians are than Americans I don’t know what does! Could you imagine just taking a few hours off of work to everyday to relax in a park?!
I ran into two men on horses too, not something I can say happens on all of my runs!
Need directions to the National Gallery of Modern Art? I couldn’t give you driving directions, but I could get you there through Villa Borghese in a heartbeat!
I finished my run through the Villa Borghese dog park, the perfect place for me to come back and get some pictures for my photography project! Something else I’ve noticed about the dogs in Rome, they are so much better behaved than American dogs! Seriously, I only saw a hand full of dogs on leashes in Villa Borghese, the rest were free to run around. Not a single dog chased me, or even barked at me for that matter, they were completely uninterested!
I don’t know if I can say this was the most strenuous workout of my life as I stopped to take pictures every half mile, but if you stick to running, this is the place for you to get an awesome workout. There are a lot of people, so safety isn’t an issue, but the paths are large enough where you won’t find yourself dodging slow walking tourists.
If you’re not the kind of person into running, I would still recommend you get yourself into Villa Borghese at least once… or twice… maybe three or four times just to enjoy the scenery. You can rent a bike and even Segway (if you’re into that). But just like Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, make sure you’re out by sunset; you don’t want to find yourself lost in the largest public park in Rome (148 acres) at night!