When in Rome - (Lunedi -- la mia serata finale a Roma)

Monday evening -- my last evening in Rome. 

Dana and Tom have invited me to their home for dinner tonight.  I haven't seen them for quite a while.  They left NYC two years ago for a year-long visit to Rome.  That one year has now extended into its third year!  They live in a very old building deep in the Monte Rione section of Rome, near Trajan's Forum, so I head out to the Via Cavour to begin my walk down to their apartment.   Along the way my right hip gives out so I hail a cab.  The cabdriver insists he knows where Via di Campo Carleo is, but it seems like we are driving in circles -- I'm seeing the same landmarks over and over.  I ask him if he is certain he knows where he is going and he tells me if I don't like what he's doing I should exit his cab immediately.  I refuse because my aching hip needs us to get closer.  So I begin to give HIM directions (based on my fascination with Google maps for weeks before arriving in Rome).  We eventually get to a street that I recognize as being very close to the little street, ending in Roman ruins, called Via di Campo Carleo.  I exit the cab, give the driver half the fare, and hobble down the hill to a building I easily recognize (also from Google maps) as my destination -- (easy -- as it's rather unique:  painted yellow, around six storeys tall, has an ancient tall tower, and has stacked rooms in a bridge over a side street -- how could I miss it!).

I ring the bell for what I assume to be the topmost apartment.  Fortunately I am correct and soon hear Dana's voice on the intercom telling me to take the elevator to the 6th floor and then walk up a flight of stairs.  She buzzes me in and I find the elevator -- one of those open types (I always think they're French, for some reason) -- big enough for perhaps two French people, with lots of open ironwork and a wooden bench well-patinated by dozens of years of buffing derrieres. 

Arriving at the top I'm greeted by Dana and Tom and their 2 boys, now ages 13 and 11.

Dana and Tom

I haven't seen this family since Sam, their older son, was two years old and Michael, their younger, was soon to be born.  What a nice family they have become!  They are enjoying Rome and their travels in the Mediterranean area tremendously.  The boys have taken Italian lessons since they were toddlers so attending excellent Italian public schools is very easy for them.  Outside of school they are busy with sports, music lessons (piano, cello, and clarinet), and reading.  Every day purposeful reading is de rigeur.  They have been blessed with the same inquisitiveness and zest for learning as their parents.

I'm given a tour of their apartment.  It has many rooms on many different levels.  At the top level is the master bedroom -- in a 14th century tower.  

14th century tower with 18th century exterior embellishments and a bedroom inside!

Taking some steep narrow steps from that bedroom to the rooftop of the tower provides a priceless 360 degree view of Rome.  The Palatine, the Esquiline, and the Capitoline Hills, the Colosseum, several other ancient towers and monuments, domes everywhere including St. Peter's, and extensive areas of excavations of buildings from Imperial Rome.

Back downstairs we spend the evening on their huge west-facing terrace, blooming profusely with bougainvilleas and jasmine and affording stunning panoramas as well.  We watch the gulls swoop and dive.  The most amazing views of Rome are everywhere I turn.

Right below us are remains of Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Markets.  When it was constructed (AD 107-112), it was the last and largest of the Imperial Fora and was considered one of the most important monuments of Imperial Rome.  The giant complex was "unlike anything under the heavens."  And now, to realize in 2011, the colonnades and the western hemicycle are just feet away from this family's everyday life.

 

Just to our left, across the Boulevard Via dei Fori Imperiali (built by Mussolini at the expense of destroying much of Trajan's Forum and other sites) is the Palatine Hill.  It is thought that Rome has its origins on the Palatine.  Recent excavations have shown that people have lived on the site since approximately 1000 B.C.  According to Roman mythology, the Palatine hill was where Romulus and Remus were found by a female wolf that kept them alive, allowing Romulus to grow up and choose the site to build the city of Rome.  The Palatine, due to its close proximity to the seat of power, became "the place to live."  The very powerful and wealthy chose to build their homes there.  Eventually the emperors took over the hill completely.  (more info here)

The Palatine

Just to the left of the Palatine is the Colosseum.  The Colosseum, built in AD 79, is located at the foot of Mussolini's Via dei Fori Imperiali. This architectural masterpiece was designed to hold approximately 50,000 spectators.  Underneath the original wooden floor a series of storage rooms and passageways were added later. In this confined space, a range of animals, fighters, slaves and stagehands worked in almost total darkness.  I was able to briefly see the Colosseum up close the next morning before heading out to the airport but next time in Rome it will be first on my list of things to do and see!

The Roman Colosseum

Below is a view of the huge Victor Emmanuel Monument completed in 1911 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy with Victor Emanuel II as its emperor/king.  The northern side of the Capitoline Hill was chosen as the site.  To clear the site, many churches and ruins that stood there were first destroyed. That fact, and the mass of white marble used, make it not a popular addition to the neighborhood.. 

The Victor Emmanuel Monument

Off in the western distance is St. Peter's Dome and the setting sun.  In a few hours AD XXIII May MMXI will become part of history too.  What a spectacular way to finish up my 3 day whirl through Rome. 

By the way, in the lower right quadrant of the photo above is a building on the Via dei Fori Imperiali where Mussolini lived and used the large open window to greet the public and watch passing parades.

Dinner on the terrace with Dana, Tom, and the boys was wonderful.  Vegetables and pasta from the local markets were a treat.  It was so good to catch up on what's happening in their lives and to see the boys thriving in all they do.  Michael, the 11 year old, has decided he wants to be a pope so he can take the name Sixtus -- and be Sixtus VI.  Why not, he would live just down the via!  

After hearing that, there was not much else to do but take the following obligatory photograph and bid everyone arrivederci.  It was a very special evening that I will never forget.  Molte molte grazie, Dana and Tom.

Dana and Tom K.

When in Rome - (Lunedi -- il terzo giorno)

A beautiful, clear, blue-sky Monday morning on the Via di San Martino ai Monti! 

The Hotel Tirreno (in the distance)

After breakfast, I pull out the tourist book and decide how to spend my Monday morning.  I've got the afternoon planned at the Vatican, but my morning is free.  I decide on the Spanish Steps and the Fountain of Trevi, so I hop in a cab and head out.  

Okay, fine, I get to the Spanish Steps, get out of the cab, and take a look.  I see steps... I see tourists... I think Spanish... and that's all very nice!  But I get back in the cab and go on to Trevi.  

Maybe the "Three Coins in a Fountain" place will grab me differently.  I know once it gets in my head, that song grabs me (almost as much as does "It's a Small World" at Disneyland).  As I hum along with Dinah Shore -- "  ...which one will the fountain bless...which one..."  , we seem to be driving forever.  This Fontana di Trevi is pretty well off the beaten path; not in some big public square.  We twist and turn our way down some fairly small streets eventually finding it tucked into a clearing where a bunch of little streets come together.  

Fontana di Trevi

And it's jam-packed with tourists (like me!).  " ...make it mine...make it mine..."    I find it's difficult to back up far enough to take a full photograph.   But alas, there's the little Church of Saints Vincenzo and Anastasio nearby whose steps afford a vantage point for some photos -- and a place to sit, out of the sun for a bit.  After taking a quick look around the pretty church and viewing the fountain from every angle (all while paying tribute repeatedly to Jule Steyn, Sammy Cahn, and Frank Sinatra), I'm off on foot down one of the small streets, heading out of 1954 Hollywood and back into the present-day wonder of this Eternal City.

I find a cab and make a fairly long trip across Rome to Vatican City.  I'm greeted with the sight of several long lines -- ticket-holders, non-ticket-holders, those with reservations, those without reservations, etc.   Since I've got my ticket, I'll wait 'til closer to my scheduled 1 p.m. admission time to get into a line.  I find a place right across the street for lunch.  The cheese plate is perfect and the obligatory after-lunch-gelato comes with a memorable scolding from the Gelato Lady.  You see, I pointed to what I wanted and spoke the word "limon."  Shamefully, it seems the gelato to which I pointed was not "limon" but was "crema."  Thank you dear Gelato Lady, I've learned my lesson:  I shall not ever forget what "crema" looks like.  Actually everyone within earshot around me will probably never forget what "crema" looks like!

Time to go across the street and be within the walls of the smallest country in the world -- the Vatican.

The Vatican Museum

With all the people standing in lines outside, I'm amazed how speedy the entry to the museum is.  I just walk up to the door since everyone else with 1 p.m. tickets is already inside and I am left to start my wandering in these endless rooms unimpeded.  

Before I embark on my artwalk, I visit the gift shop, looking for something small yet meaningful for Laura and a gift for Dana and Tom who are having me to their home for dinner this evening.  While in the shop, Emma pops up in front of me and says hello.  She, Debbie, and Charlie were about to begin their guided tour of the museum.  It's the last time I will see them as tomorrow they leave for home and I go on to Vienna and Frankfurt.

I start out with paintings -- lots of paintings...of Madonnas, of the Deposition, of various saints.  My mind is a blur after an hour or so.  And I later learn my flash shows up in each and every photo of a painting.

Madonna and Bambino c. 1500 by Mariano di Austerio da Perugia

I then come upon the fantastic Faberge eggs and other Russian miniature things.  The egg below, with tiny family portraits and important events, was presented by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife Empress Alexandra in St. Petersburg on their 15th Wedding Anniversary in 1911.

The Anniversary Egg

I now enter many rooms of sculptures -- gods, saints, popes, Jesus, noblemen...

  Then we have a couple of rooms of animal sculptures.

Outside in this courtyard there is the beginning of a spring shower.  I'm following signs for the Sistine Chapel so I enter the long low building pictured below where I find this very long, very busy ceiling.  Here, thankfully, there are open windows along the way.  The thick humid air here is unlike what we have in northern California and I need air.

Then, after many left hand turns, right hand turns, up many stairs and down many other stairs, I reach the Sistine Chapel...along with, it seems, 5000 others.  Down some final steps I join this HUGE crowd, all standing shoulder to shoulder, and all looking upward. 

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

It's dark and hot and humid in there.  I notice that the recently restored colors are quite bold and the ceiling is jam-packed with scenes, and that surprises me.  But I'm about to freak out.  I manage to snap just 3 pictures and then make a beeline towards the opposite end of the space and begin to look for exits.  I'm close to having my first-ever anxiety attack.  My mind is racing, conjuring up all the danger inherent in being in this small overcrowded, unventilated space with no easily identifiable exits.  After I do find a small exit, I follow the path to get out.  It twists and turns, up and down really narrow passageways for several minutes, until I'm finally deposited at the door to the outside.  People are huddled around the door, blocking egress because it is raining very heavily now.  I squeeze my way past everyone, get out, buy an umbrella from a street vendor, and look for a cab.  Since I'm just not in the mood for more walking, either in the rainy gardens or in St. Peter's, I get a cab and go back to the hotel.  St. Peter's will have to be seen on another trip to Rome.  Right now it's time for this aging tourist to rest some hips a bit before heading down to Dana and Tom's for dinner, the account of which will appear in the next chapter of this blog.

When in Rome -- (Domenica -- il secondo giorno)

Sunday morning in Rome.  After an early breakfast at the hotel, I change rooms.  The new room is more spacious but minus the interesting view.  The room is comfortable, that's all that matters on this busman's holiday.

I'm dressed and ready to start the day.  First activity on this Sunday morning is church.  Not just any church, but an Anglican Church.  Right ... I'm in Rome, and I go to a Church of England service on Sunday morning? 

Well, my friend Dana who, with her husband and 2 sons, left New York for Rome 2 years ago in the financial shakeup, is the guest preacher this morning at All Saints Church on Via del Babuino.  I get myself a cab and am there in minutes.  It's a beautiful church, classic and yet relaxed. 

The Sanctuary of All Saints Church

I let Dana know I'm here and she introduces me to several ex-pats who worship there.  I then take a seat behind her husband and 2 sons and their friends as the service starts.   Dana's sermon is about Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and the differing personalities in Vanya's life and how in our lives we encounter a similar cast of varied characters...and how we can make changes and comfortably do things we never thought we could do.  Made me think of my life journey; how well (or not well) I've assimilated past life changes along the way and how open I might be to changes down the road.

After church, I head towards Piazza del Popolo and sit outside at a cafe and have a cappuccino (it's before noon!) and a light lunch, topped off with gelato.  I'm directly across from the twin churches of Santa Maria Miracoli and Santa Maria Montesanto, which were commissioned by Pope Alexander VII in 1658.  In the center of the Piazza is the Egyptian Obelisk that in 1589, Pope Sixtus V had moved from the Circus Maximus to the center of this square. The obelisk was originally built in 1300 BC and was taken from the Sun Temple in Heliopolis in 10 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus and erected at the Circus Maximus to commemorate the conquest of Egypt.  

Today the piazza is being readied for some kind of rock concert so it's jumping with activity and swarming with interesting people.  I wonder how Chekhov might have developed the character of some of these people and what words he would have given them!  It's the perfect place to hang out and people-watch. 

The twin Churches and the Egyptian Obelisk

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I have tickets for entry to the Galerie Borghese at 3 pm, so I head over to the Villa Borghese Gardens and do some more Sunday afternoon people-watching.

The Villa Borghese

(I see an impressionist painting lurking here)

I spend several hours in the Gardens and in the Gallery, viewing the treasures of the 16th - 18th centuries including Bernini's "David" and "Apollo and Daphne," Raphael's "The Deposition" (secretly removed from the Baglioni Chapel in Perugia in 1608). Also, the painting, "Sacred and Profane Love" by Titian, Caravaggio's "David with the Head of Goliath," and "The Deposition" by Peter Rubens.

The original sculptures and paintings in the Borghese Gallery date back to Cardinal Scipione's collection, the son of Ortensia Borghese - Paul V's sister - and of Francesco Caffarelli.  Subsequent events over the next three centuries entailing both losses and acquisition have left their mark:  Cardinal Scipione was drawn to any works of ancient, Renaissance, and contemporary art, yet was so ambitious that he promoted the creation of new sculptures and especially marble groups to rival antique works.  In 1807, Camillo Borghese sold Napoleon hundreds and hundreds of statues, busts,  bas-reliefs,  columns, and various vases, which constitute the Borghese Collection in the Louvre.  But by the 1830s these gaps seem to have been filled by new finds from recent excavations and works recuperated from the cellars and various other Borghese residences.

Now, I'm tired and hungry, so I find a cab and, as it whizzes by all sorts of public squares, roundabouts, statues, fountains, and churches, I make my way back to the Esquiline Hill to find a neighborhood trattoria where I can order a plate of uncomplicated Spaghetti Bolognese.  I want to taste native spaghetti with meat sauce.  (I found out that I like our version better--except here the Parmesan is quite fantastic). 

After supper I do some shopping, have another gelato, and then head home to the hotel and relax with my netbook for the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow -- a fountain, gelato, the Vatican, and then Dana's for dinner!

When in Rome... (Sabato -- il primo giorno)

On Saturday, May 21st, Deb, Charlie, Emma, and I board the Rome-bound 10:10 a.m. high-speed Eurostar from Florence's Santa Maria Novella Rail Station to the Stazione di Roma Termini. 

Tom and Deb

From our comfy first class seats, for an hour and a half we watch the Italian countryside smoothly whiz by. 

Arriving in Rome just before noon, I split from the group and walk to my nearby hotel.  The Tirreno is a smallish hotel on a tiny street in the Monte Rione section of town, near the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.  I chose it for its location and because it had free wireless service (I'm addicted to my new little netbook).  Soon after getting in my room -- a single, booked online weeks earlier -- I decide I will probably die of claustrophobia.  The room is actually taller than it is wide.  To get to the window, I must walk sideways through a 3 ft wide section of the room already containing a desk and chair.  But from that window there is a view that captures the charm of the neighborhood.

Instead of unpacking, I head back downstairs to the desk and ask if I could possibly have a different room. The guy at the desk says, "No problem, not today, but as soon as someone checks out in the morning you can have a very nice double room at no extra charge."

With that settled I head out to the streets of Rome to wander around.  I gravitate to the aforementioned Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore which commands a presence on the top of the Esquiline Hill.. 

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

It's my first church in Rome, so of course I am amazed by what's inside.  Only later did I find out that it is considered the most beautiful church in Rome, after St. Peter's.  The building was renovated in the 18th century and still contains the "triumphal arch" of 5th century mosaics and other medieval artwork.  This gilded coffered ceiling overwhelmed as soon as I walked in the door.

After spending hours at the Basilica, I leave and continue my wandering in the neighborhood around the hotel where there is plenty of Roman atmosphere for a first-time roamer (groan) to soak up.

In the evening, following a short nap, I head out to meet the others for dinner at La Taverna dei Fori Imperiale, located deeper in the Monte Rione neighborhood.  Streets become passageways not fit for autos.  So a circuitous route is taken to get me as close as possible to my destination.

La Taverna dei Fori Imperiale

My friend Dana (who lives here in the Monti neighborhood) recommended the restaurant, calling it her family's favorite.  I had made reservations before leaving the States and, having mentioned Dana's name when doing so, we receive royal treatment from the owners.  Everyone there knows Dana, Tom, and their two boys, Sam and Michael.  The place soon fills up and (except for our undercooked shrimps) the evening turns out to be superb.  

After a very full day, beginning at our villa in Florence and ending at a pleasant trattoria on the charming Via Madonna dei Monti in Rome, it is time indeed to collapse in my tiny room at the Tirreno.  Claudia calls us cabs and they soon arrive, dodging pedestrians while driving in reverse up the narrow street to get us.  

The schedule for "domani" looks pretty full too.