You may have noticed that I have not written in a few days. I have been without Internet service. Our friend, Lamberto, has been kind enough to put us up in a little hotel less than a block from his house in San Benedetto. When I looked for service, I saw only one signal with a password. I found out today that this is Lamberto's signal.
Click here to connect to Rome Day 5
I woke at 930 AM. I always have plenty to do in the morning- make espresso, have a bowl of cereal and catch up on my blog. Maya and Bill got up a little later. I had in my head that I would get out a little early today by myself. I changed my mind while I was still working on my photos and realizing that they all might not be ready by noon. So shortly after noon, in the heat of the day we headed off for our last look at Rome. I decided to stay will Bill and Maya for a while since they wanted to see the Piazza *with three fountains*, then the Pantheon, then the Trevi Fountain.
Maya made a good guide to bring us first to this piazza, long with three lovely fountains. I thought that Bill and Maya would just eat their Gellatos while I did a quick tour. But it was a worthwhile site (I must look up something to put some more information here(*)
The Pantheon is really a visual wonder and archetectual high point. I believe that this is one of the places that Brunelleschi calculated the ability to cover the naked Duomo in Florence. I remember early descriptions of the Pantheon where the Roman people went to pray to their favorite god. I remember that there were many statues around the inside circle, perhaps as many as 1oo dieties maybe more. Probably as crowded as it was today with tourist it was equally crowded with worshippers. Now of course instead of gods, there are saints and images from Christianity- now the Basilica Della Santa Maria ad Martyres.
Three coins in a fountain, each one longing for happiness, one wish will be granted, one heart will wear a valentine, make it mine, make it mine, make it mine. I remember these romantic words from my days as a child and of seeing the coming attractions to this movie. The most famous scene of course was filmed at the Trevi Fountain. As you will see from the photos, the fountain is jammed with tourists. I tossed 2 coins, and I realized as with the song, it is one coin toss per person, one wish per person, seems fair.
On our way there, in fact just a block away I saw a sign for an archeological site and I was determined to visit it. I said my good byes to Maya and Bill, the tracked the site down, but closed on Tuesdays. I wanted to see two things before my stay was through. The Basilica Della Santa Maria dei Vittoria houses one of the most important baroque scultpures i the world The Extasy fo Saint Theresa. Really a stunning piece of marbel and plater. It was housed in the Santa Maria Della Vittoria.
I passed this church twice without realizing where I was, then walked another 12 miles accidentally to the outskirts of Rome. I had asked for directions three times, with never a one giving me good directions as far as I could tell. A gentleman with a machine gun in hand was guarding what looked like a large military facility. In my barely passable Italian I asked: "Dov' e el Museo Etruschaci ?" He answered me in what seemed to be perfect Italian, "Lo no sai." "Where is the Etrushcan Musem?" Reply: "I dont know." What was strange after I passed him was that he was standing in front of the British Embassy and his Italian probably wasn't that good but he no doubt spoke perfect English.
I was in a walking mood, but not so much to be wanting to get lost. I passed the large Roman wall outside the city and finally took a long overdue look at my map. I was about 2 miles north of where I should have been. I walked back, asked more directions, visited three extra churches just in case looking for the Chiesa della Santa Maria dei Vittoria. Here was Beninni's most famous statue of St Theresa. in the throws of Ecstasy. A wonderful interior with wonderful other baroque statues but I was affraid to take photo. But maybe I will leave a photo I found on the Internet. It is well worth looking at. I wanted to take photos. There was a priest who sat in the corner. He may have had nothing to do with the church, but I was discouraged from snapping photos nevertheless.
Now that I finally had my bearing I decided not to look anymore for the Etruscan museum, but being nearby the Central Station, I saw the Museum of the Ancient City of Rome. It abounded in marbel portraits of famous Romans and Roman families. The Romans were the first to actually create portraits to look exactly like specific people in the society. You are welcome to travel through the museum with me as I took many photos. An enormous coin collection beginning in pre Roman times to almost the present. Many beautiful mosaics, ossoraries and decorative paintings taken from the walls of Roman houses.
I decided to take the subway toward the river, since our our apartment sits just near the river. I left myself actually about 2 miles up river- but near the river, necessitating another good walk. I thought that I was late but Bill and Maya were not in a hurry. We decided that we would have a nice meal for the evening. Decision my committee is not always the most efficient. We discussed neighborhoods, how far the walk was, how expensive the retaurants and finally settled on one- Hosteria dei Pesce, near Campo de' Fiori. With some difficulty we found the place but alas, we did not have reservations. We ate at another place nearby- Hosteria di Galletto, delicious combinations of ante-pasti - and a Grilled Galletto for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment