Arrivederci Rome!

Usually when we are joined by other people on a trip, I email them questions after the trip and make their answers into the last blog post.  

Typically, I don't participate, because faithful readers have being reading my thoughts all along.  This time, since there are only five of us, I will answer.  Plus, it's Rome after all!  My answers to my own questions will be last of the five for each.  The other answers are randomized.

Here's the questions and answers:

First question: Ranked first, second, and third, what were your three favorite activities/sights we did/went to.  Briefly, why for each one?

Julia

First: Galleria Colonna, because I wasn't expecting such a beautiful and interesting home, including a wonderful garden.

Second: Pantheon, I enjoyed being there with a guide this time and getting a more detailed understanding of the building and everything inside.

Third: The Vatican, especially getting to see some of the museum parts that aren't usually open to the public and all the art (yes, even the more "modern" art!)

Maria

Trevi Fountain – even without the water, the bridge brought you so much closer to it and what an amazing work of art.

St. Peter’s Basilica – the enormity, the beautiful art, the only church that really moved me.

Street Food Tour in Trastevere – awesome variety of food and guide.

Carol

Galleria Colonna - what an amazing and beautiful home and garden in the middle of Rome.   Loved that it as still in private hands. One of the owners was talking with some guests in the first room we went through at the start of the tours. Also, the cannon ball left in the middle of the stairs of the main gallery was awesome  - connecting the modern with history.  The French shot a cannon ball at the Italian rebels holding the palace.

Pantheon - an incredible building with such deep history.  Loved the image of rose petals floating through the Oculus.  The little bit of rain we go while there was magical.

Galleria Borghese - the Bernini sculptures were spectacular.  I was so happy to see the statue of Proserpina which I had only seen in photos prior to this, along with his version of David.  His ability to show such expression and human anatomy in marble is amazing.

Van

Street Food Tour in Trastevere – food was good; guide was good

Colonna Palace - art

Vatican – art, architecture

Glen

Walking into the Sant'Andrea della Valle church and hearing the choir and orchestra with magnificent music that makes the heart swell with joy.  I feel bad that only Julia and I were there in the late afternoon to witness that incredible sound in the beautiful Baroque church with its massive dome.  I'd would do that again any day of my life.

Galleria Colonna: An incredible, stunning palazzo full of art, impressive furniture and more.  It wasn't just an art gallery, it's a home.  There's a beautiful courtyard and a more impressive garden spilling down from the top of Quirinal Hill.  If you are going to Rome, make sure you get tickets for Galleria Colonna well in advance.

The Pantheon: As much as the Colosseum is incredible, the Pantheon is awe-inspiring.  Having a dome that not only has stood for nearly 2,000 years, but is the model for so many famous domes throughout the western world, is jaw-dropping.   

Second question: Which restaurant did you like best, and why?

Maria

Picking one is just a cruel exercise

• Aroma for the view and the food but wow the view.
• The place near the train station, that was too cold, where we went to a church before and after and it was closed for the lasagna much to my sicilian mom’s dismay who always made me lasagna on my birthday growing up.
• Antica Trattoria Angelino for the Veal Saltimbucca and vibe.

Carol

Loved Aroma for the food, the delicious cocktails and of course, the view!  Also, I look really good in a picture we took there!

Van

Pizza place in Trastevere. Ivo   (our first night) - delicious pizza.

Julia

Luciano Cucina Italiana for some of the best carbonara I've ever had, but tied with Aroma for the food, drinks, and view!

Glen

Since three of the other four answers picked more than one, I will too.  First for me is Luciano Cucina Italiana, because the dish I had was the most incredible pasta I've ever had.  Second would be all the food on the Viator Food Tour of Trastevere, because going all those different restaurants/street food places makes me happy.  Every stop was fun and tasty! 

Third question: What surprised you most about Rome?

Carol

How much I was disappointed in the Sistine Chapel.  Too crowded.  Not enough quiet to appreciate the art.  Saw in 2007 for the first time.  It was not crowded back then - I think they limited the number of people in at a time.  Instead of a special moment appreciating great art, it seemed like a lot of Instagram influencers were there to get secret pictures.  I think I was spoiled by the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.  Painted by Giotto, it is like an early Sistine Chapel.  The Chapel is managed better than the Sistine.  Only 25 people at a time, with a docent available to answer questions.  I know, I sound like such a snob.

Julia

How relatively close everything was together, at least that we were doing. Lots of walking, but nothing undoable.

Van

The pollution level.

Maria

How much language wasn’t a barrier and that I didn’t like cacio e peppe that everyone raves about.

Glen

I'm with Julia on this -- just how many places we could walk to.  And how much there still is to see! (To be fair to Carol, I wasn't blown away this time by the Sistine Chapel -- go see Scrovegni Chapel in Padua if you are ever in Northern Italy.)  Additionally, I'm with Joe Eule -- he's a good friend who had recently been to Rome (and other parts of Italy) and kept commenting to me in WhatsApp about his surprise about how inexpensive the food is.  And he's right -- I was surprised too!

Fourth question: What one place in Rome that you didn’t get to would you like to have gone?

Van

We went everywhere.

Julia

You all seemed to really enjoy Trastevere, so I guess I'll have to return and go there at some point!

Maria

Villa Farnesina and Santa Maria Basilica – both in Trastevere

Carol

The Church of Santa Maria dell Vittoria - It was closed for renovation so we didn't get to see the Bernini statue - St. Teresa in Ecstasy.  Also missed a a number of Baroque Churches along Via XX Settembre - It was a Sunday and the churches closed after services in the morning and didn't reopen until much later in the day.

Glen

I'm with Carol on this one -- I would have liked to make it the Baroque Churches along Via XX Settembre, in particular the Bernini sculpture in Santa Maria dell Vittoria.  We'll just have to go back!

As they would say in Latin. . .the blog is complevit (finished).

Domo Arigato, Mr. Gelato, Domo

After the Farnese Palace disaster, there was only one option: gelato.

Sp we went to Giolitti, a place next to our hotel (from our one night stay back at the beginning of our trip).  Maria's second cousin said it's the best gelato in Rome.  Maria never made it there, but we did on our last day, and we haven't been to enough gelato places in Rome to say he's right, but we're definitely NOT going to say he's wrong, either.

We could either order a cone or cup and take it away, or we could get something more and sit at one of their tables on the street.  It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, so when I said, "let's get sundaes and sit at a table," I could see in her eyes that Carol had her doubts, but like Johnny Cash stealing Cadillac parts, I convinced her otherwise.  I pointed out dinner wasn't till 9:30pm, so we had five hours to digest these massive sundaes.

And these were the small.

Unlike Farnese Palace, Giolitti's is definitely worth going to!

Our final dinner was excellent -- Hosteria Grappolo d'Oro, just east of Campo di Fiori.  It's another Michelin recommended restaurant, which means we got a fantastic meal for a very fair price -- nowhere near as expensive as a Michelin Star restaurant.  To put it in perspective, there are tons of restaurants that charge the same price, but don't have quite as much quality as a Michelin recommended restaurant.

A Bridge Too Farnese

Well, Carol and I saved the worst for last.  And Julia, Maria, and Van had all skipped town, so they did not have to suffer through the one hour I regret from the trip -- our tour of Farnese Palace.

It seemed like it would be amazing, but we had one of the worst tour guides, and thus one of the worst tours ever.

Back in the day, the Farnese Palazzo was called one of the four wonders of Rome, so when I scored scarce ducats for a 3pm tour, I thought I nailed it.  It was literally the only tour still available in November when I booked it in early October.

It was commissioned in 1513 by Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III, and was completed in 1597.  Michelangelo worked on parts of the building, and since 1874, it's been the French Embassy.  

Because it's the French Embassy only a very limited number of guided tours are given each week (understandably), and people are not allowed to just wander the building on their own (also understandably).

(The use of "understandably" in the above paragraph is called "foreshadowing" by writers who know what they are doing, and also by me.)

The hour started out with a scare.  We showed up at the front gate.  Two Italian police took my name, checked the list.  No problem.  And then they asked for our passports.  Problem.  The passports were safely in the apartment safe.  Then they asked for our driver's licenses.  Phew.

They saw Carol's and the male policeman commented that it's Virginia.  Then he started singing "Take me home, country roads, to the place, I belong, West Virginia," etc.  I gave him props -- his voice is awesome.  He said, "I'm Italian, and we can always do three things well -- sing, eat, and, well. . ."  Anyhow, we were in.

We joined the group as it headed to the center courtyard.  The tour is in English, allegedly.  It was hard enough to understand the guide.  But, there was an unseen workman (behind scaffolding) and it sounded like the work involved using a hammer to shatter glass into smaller pieces.  So, even if I could understand the guide's English, I couldn't hear him. 

A mom had brought her 4 and 2 year old children with her, so the kids were busy being kids, one vroom-vrooming a toy car on the gravel, and the other flitting about and making random noises.   

So, between the guide's inability to be understood, the worker hammering away, and the kids playing not quietly, I don't think I learned anything about the courtyard, much less retained it.

So then we went into the back "yard" of the palace.  We left the glass hammerer behind.  Except there was a guy operating electric pruners (or something similar), so again, retained almost nothing, except the part where the guide pointed out some of the work by Michelangelo.  

"It has to get better inside," I thought desperately, as I realized this was NOT the way to end eight great days in the Eternal City.

Also, no photos are allowed.  Typically I get peeved when photography isn't allowed, but I understand the reasoning from a security perspective (being an embassy and all).  Although, once inside, taking photos of wall/ceiling paintings, the frescoes, and sculptures would not help terrorists in their attack."

"Oh look, it's the world-famous Galleria Carracci created in eleven years until finished in 1608 by the brother Carracci.  This features frescoes of mythological subjects from Ovid's Metamorphoses.  Remember those pictures from that random blog we studied?  Now, we're in the perfect room to launch our kidnapping of the French Ambassador!  Good thing we didn't waste money on taking the tour ourselves!" said no terrorist ever.

Spoiler alert: The tour didn't get any better inside.  The kids got louder and became whiney.  The tour guide still was impossible to understand.  And now, because he had an hour to fill on what easily could be a thirty minute tour, he had to explain EVERYTHING in each room.  

Tour guides -- please point out the five most important things about each room, and move on!

Eventually, the mom and kids got kicked out by the nice lady from the French embassy who was accompanying the tour to make sure no one snuck away from the tour to steal important diplomatic cables.  (Don't think it didn't occur to me that it would be better to banned from both countries than suffer through anymore of the pretentious guide's pretentious presentation.)

(Editor: There you go again.  Double negative just three words apart.  Writer: Don't tell me you don't understand!)

(Editor: Also, was the guide really that bad?  Writer: Yes.  Carol is much nicer than I am and she also thought the guy was hard to understand and boring.  So I think I'm actually being kind to him.  Editor: No, no you are not.)

We finished in Galleria Carracci, which is pretty cool, but the guide had a need to finish boring us to death by talking about everything in the room, and things that weren't even in the room.

Yup, this was me:

Finally at 4pm, the French embassy representative said, "time's up" to the guide.  

Yup, this was Carol and I:

Farnese Palace might have been interesting if it were shorter in length, with less detail about everything in E.A.C.H. room.  Farnese Palace might have been interesting if the guide could be understood.  Farnese Palace might have been interesting if the workmen weren't working loudly.  Farnese Palace might have interesting if the kids weren't so distractingly disruptive.

But it ALL those things happened, so it wasn't interesting.  Even if I go back to Rome as I hope, I'll never go back to Farnese Palace.  

Maybe it will work out better if you, dear reader, go, but if it doesn't don't blame me.

A Mid-Day Stroll

After St. Peter in chains church, we wandered into some random churches, and then passed by Trajan's Column and the Imperial Forum on our way to lunch.  We ended up going to Angelino's for the third time on the trip -- twice for lunch and once for dinner.  

Trajan's Column with Santa

Maria di Loreto behind it.

Close-up of Trajan's Column.

Considered the grandest

column from antiquity, this

140 foot column features

a spiral of 2,500 figures

in relief, and highlighting the

emperor's successes.  

Surprisingly, any  failures

and scandals are not included

here.

The original bronze statue of

Trajan at the top has been

replaced by the Apostle Peter.

The column highlights his

defeat of Dacia (now Romania).

Part of the Imperial Forums, 

built once more space was

needed.  These were built

by emperors and included

temples, shopping malls, 

statues, monuments, and more.

The open "windows" in the

brick building to the back

of the picture were shops in

Trajan's Market.

This photo is not from Monday, but I

failed to post this Vatican selfie that

has our wonderful guide Cecilia in it.

If you are going to Rome and would

like a private guide, you couldn't do

better than Cecilia.

A Forgettable Church. And An Unforgettable Church.

I'm not sure our stop in the first church of the day was a "forgettable church" as this blog post title implies, but I don't remember the name of it, so I suppose I forgot it.

(Editor: Your blog post title doesn't just imply, it comes right out and says it's forgettable.  Writer: My point is that I forgot, not that it's the church's fault.)

Anyhow, since I don't remember the church, here's a couple of pictures from it with no write-up.

Here's conclusive proof the

forgettable church has a dome.

Cherubs and angels

are very photogenic.

So, now to the unforgettable church, San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter-in-Chains).  I had wanted to make it this church, but it was a bit off the beaten path (it's not far away, but compared to other places, it wasn't right in the middle of things).

We climbed up the Via di San Francesco di Paola staircase, and the church was right at the top.  It looks more like a loggia (Rick Steves' descriptive word, not mine) than a church.

San Pietro in Vincoli. . .doesn't

look like a church, does it?

Us on the pedestrian staircase of Via

di San Francesco di Paola.  Only one

homeless person on the staircase.

While the church is named for the chains that bound the Apostle Peter on two separate occasions, it might actually be more famous for the Michelangelo statue of Moses.  One set of the chains is said to have held Peter when he and Paul were in the afore-blogged Mamertine Prison, and the other is from when Herod jailed Peter in Jerusalem.  In the late stage days of ancient Rome, the Jerusalem chains ended up as a gift from an Eastern empress.

The chains that twice bound

Apostle Peter.  When the

chains were placed next to

each other, it is said that

they miraculously joined

together to form one set

of chains.

FOTB (Friend of the Blog) Kate Ragan emailed me in Rome the following note:

"Dear Glen,

You're probably home already, but one of my favorite things to do is to pop in and see Michaelangelo's Moses in the church of Saint Pietro in Vincoli.  Nobody's ever there and you get to just stand in awe a few feet away from a magnificent Michaelangelo."

Kate's note made the day before our last day.  Reading it, I resolved to include the church on our lists of last day stops.  And let me tell you, it was worth it. 

The piece d' resistance is the Michelangelo statue, which was supposed to be the centerpiece of the tomb of Pope Julius II.  Michelangelo was 88 when he did, and left the tomb an unfinished masterpiece.

What was done on the tomb (lots, as it turns out) is in this church.  The Moses statue depicts the moment, after meeting with God, he turns and sees the Jews worshipping a golden calf idol.  Moses glares at this people, and his body projects both physical and moral strength.  He is about to spring up out of his chair to punish the Children of Israel, the Ten Commandments tucked under his arm.  

The muscles, the beard, the glare.  All are amazing works of sculpture.  I can do a pretty good glare, but I can't grow a beard or develop muscles that defined.  Meanwhile, Michelangelo carved impressive powerful muscles, an amazing beard, and a glare befitting a father let down in the worst way by his children

It's said that if Michelangelo's Moses were standing, he would be 13 feet tall.  I haven't done the measurements, or the math, to ensure that's true, but it's believe the way Moses fills the room.

Michelangelo gave his Moses horns.  In medieval times, the Hebrew word for "rays of light" (halo) was translated incorrectly as "horns."  Michelangelo knew that wasn't right, but wanted to give the statue a sense of "terrabilita," a word coined by his contemporaries to define the mixture of terror and awe in his art.  It is applied to his sculptures, particularly the David and also his Moses.

Look "terrabilita" up -- in Wikipedia the first picture is the head of Moses.  Imagine have a word coined specifically to describe your work.  

This look is what his

contemporaries meant by

"Terribilita."  Note the 

two horns at the top of

the photo.

Oh, don't worry, there's more pictures -- different angles, different zooms -- coming of Moses in this post.  The full tomb was supposed to be five times larger than it is now.  Other parts of the project are elsewhere, such as the "Prisoners" are in Florence and "Slaves" are in the Louvre.

Front view.

The day's light constantly

changes the look of the

sculpture.  The photo below

looks much whiter than

the soft golden glow this

picture gives off.  I took

the one below after wandering

the church for a while

after taking the picture

above.

This angle is much better to see

impact of the two horns on

his head.

The church itself was founded in 440 and was built to house the chains.  While it was significantly redone in 1475, the 20 Doric columns flanking the nave are from the original church.  

Some of the Doric columns, 

nearly 1600 years old.

The central ceiling painting from around 1700 show the chains healing someone possessed by demons.  

The ceiling showing the 

chains healing a demon

possessed man.

The side naves have a number of tombs, some of which feature sculpted skeletons and grim reapers, highlighting the 17th century motto that "remember, you must die").

This Grim Reaper would be

the back of my motorcycle

gang's leather jackets, if I

ran a motorcycle gang and

if we had leather jackets.

(Little known fact: Glen used

to have a motorcycle and would

ride it to Canada and camp.  He

also had a leather jacket.)

You know you've made it

when your tomb features

carved dancing skeletons.

Clivus and Mamertine

After the King Emmanuel II Monument, we went back around it to Clivus Argentarius, a relatively short, yet important road that connected the Roman Forum with the Capitol, and then goes downhill a bit towards the Imperial Forums.

Off of it is Mamertine Prison, which is where the Romans imprisoned Apostles Peter and Paul.  Parts of it are the prison and parts are a medieval church.  It is said that a fountain sprang up inside so Peter could convert and baptize his jailers, who were later martyred for their Christian beliefs.  

During Roman times it was called "Carcer" (the root of "incarceration") and later was named "Mamertine."  

San Giuseppe dei Falegnami is the medieval church built atop the prison, which was original a pagan sacred sight before it became the only prison in ancient Rome.  Once it became a prison, it was used for prisoners slated for execution, not for common criminals.  They were either throw off a high rock or strangled within the prison.

There are two main rooms to the prison, the Upper Chamber and, below it, the Tullianum, a circular room which is Latin for "Tullianum," (Editor: Or "Glen has no idea").

Hat tip to high school buddy Mark Ganung for recommending we go there.  It's not the most awesome place to visit, but it is of interest since Peter and Paul were both prisoners.

The church above Mamertine

Prison.  Taken from Clivus

Argentarius.

Part of the Forum, taken

from Clivus Argentarius.

Part of the circular room (Tullianum)

in Mamertine Prison.

A Few Random Pictures From Rome

After the Quattro (four) Fontana (fountains) we walked down the Via del Quirinal, with brief stops in a couple of parks to look at statues of people we've never heard of, and then we came the Presidential Palace, which used to house Popes and the Kings.  Quirinal Palace is only open occasionally for tours, conducted solely in Italian, so I didn't even bother to look into doing one.

(Editor: I'm shocked.  Somehow you successfully translated Quattro Fontana but you didn't want a whole tour in Italian?   Writer: Uh, correct.  Editor: And I'm sure the people of the statues have never heard of you either.  Writer: To be fair to me, they are dead.  If they weren't, who knows, ya know?)

The photos are backwards from the order I loaded them, but that's what the evil photo spirits will do to you.  Que sera sera.

Random pic of The Spanish

Steps.  I failed to add this to

an earlier post, so here it is.

Across from Quirinal Palace

Guarding the

Presidential Palace

Some dude in Villa Carlo Alberto al

Quirinale Park.  There's a good chance

this is Carlo himself (looks it up).  And

it is. Turns out his son grew up to be

King Vittorio Emanuele, the first king

of united Italy.  Dad was no Carlos

Alberto, famed for being Brazil's captain

when they won the 1970 World Cup.

He later joined the NY Cosmos and

played with fellow Brazilian Pele,

helping the team win two NASL titles.

This is the Monument

celebrating the Bicentennial

of the Carabinieri, one of the

2,000 types of law

enforcement in Italy.  Their

bicentennial was

celebrated in 2014.  Besides

being one of the coolest

names ever for a law

enforcement  group, the

Carabinieri is the Italian

national police force,

organized as a military unit

and charged with maintaining

public security (they love

breaking up riots!) and they

assist with local police.

Here's a different angle on the

Carabinieri statue.  Their personality

really comes out in this photo, no?

This is not the branch of Italian police

who investigated the Amanda Knox

situation, so we had no worries

about getting this close to them.

This (working) Bernini fountain is

near the Capuchin monastery in

Piazza Barberini.  No relation to

Vinnie Barberino.

Called the Triton Fountain,

here is a look at the whole

statue.

If You Want The View, You're Going To Pay For It. . .But It's Worth It!

When we got to Piazza Quirinal, looked at the obelisk (didn't get a picture worth posting), looked at the president's palace, we then weren't sure what to do.  Maria looked at her phone and said we should go to the Trevi Fountain rooftop bar, so we did.

Don't say I didn't warn you, but the prices are unreal.  Is it worth it to sit on a rooftop, have an ungodly overpriced drink, and look at all the people milling around the Trevi Fountain.  

Yes, yes it is.

We started in the third of four rows of tiny tables and tiny seats.  As tables opened in front of us, we moved up, eventually to the front row.  It's not a direct view of the whole fountain, but it is fun to look down on the fountain that we could see.  Like most of the customers there who looked at the bar menu, we had one drink and left.  Still, a pretty good place to sit and relax.

Angel with Trumpet atop the

Palazzo Poli, which is the

backdrop of Trevi Fountain.

Man with horse, shot from four floors up.

Another view of the angel.

Took this full sunlight view of Trevi

Fountain another day, but forgot to post it.

Yikes!

Walking back to the apartment in the dark on their last night in Rome, Maria's foot dropped into a pothole and she had a minor hamstring tear.  Although at the time, she was in massive pain.

When Maria took the step down to go out to the patio to ice her hamstring, she screamed in pain.  I couldn't tell whether it was her screaming or the seagulls screaming as they often do near the apartment.  It was Maria.

Fortunately, our wonderful concierge, Claudia, was swinging by the apartment a few minutes after we got back.  Claudia rushed into action, found a nearby private doctor for Van to take Maria to, and off they went.  The doctor was helpful (and the visit was only $70).

They had to go to two separate pharmacies to find the prescriptions, but they were back in time to go to dinner with us.  Even though the injury was painful, the private health care was quick and positive.  Maria had to keep her walking down, but she could still go to Sicily with Van and daughters Ashley and Kate.

While they were sorting out how to

handle Maria's injury, I took this post-

sunset picture from our large patio.

(It's not like I was going to be of any

use  for an injury, and me taking one

photo didn't exactly chew up the clock

on whether Maria would ever walk

again, amirite?!)

Maria had already cancelled our 9:30 pm dinner reservations, so we went to Angelino's (the excellent restaurant very close to us).  And yes, it's an Italian place.

(Editor: In Rome, who knew!  Writer: Nothing to say.)

Dinner was excellent again.  Carol and I got ready for Monday, which would just be the two of us.  We were going to be just fine on our own, even though our daughter and friends abandoned us!  

Postscript: The Meredith's trip to Sicily went well, although sometimes Maria had to sit out more difficult walks.  Their favorite part was the peaceful driving in Palermo (wink).