Friday 19 January: Note: We are continuing our Rome blog in part two. This file was getting too big.
Thursday 18 January: It was a chillier night with a minimum of zero. We didn't notice it in our apartment. We pottered around this morning. Fran did the ironing. Stephen caught up with email. Then we checked out the local fruit and vegetable market that is all of 100 metres away. Their produce is much fresher and nicer than Carrefour's. There are some interesting looking, unknown fruits and veggies. Then we went for a rather late morning tea at Pasticceria Riccomi, also very close to us. It was quite difficult to choose which pastries to have with our coffee. They were delicious.
Then it was time to hit the town. We visited the Pantheon today. It was much, much quieter than the weekend. The Pantheon is the oldest complete building from the Roman period in Rome. It was built by Marcus Agrippa in the late first century BC but burnt down twice. It was then rebuilt by Hadrian in around 126 AD. It was originally a Roman temple and is now a Christian church. There is a portico with massive columns. Inside, the layout is circular. The dome is the largest unsupported concrete dome in existence. That's not too bad for a building getting on for 2000 years in age. The centre of the dome has quite a large opening, oculus. There are two unobtrusive holes in the floor down which water drains when it rains. There are some famous burials in the Pantheon. Painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci and two kings of Italy: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I. There is a lovely fresco of the Annunciation by da Forli from the 15th century.
After lunch we visited the Spada Gallery which comprises 4 rooms of paintings, sculpture and furniture which was part of the collection of the Spada family. The palazzo in which it is housed was built in 1549 and purchased by Cardinal Bernardino Spada in 1632. The architect Francesco Borromini was responsible for much of the renovations. The artworks are floor to ceiling and, as with many galleries, the lighting is less than perfect. There were some interesting paintings by artists such as Reni, Guercino and Gentileschi. One room was devoted to artists who followed the style of Caravaggio. There were also two rare globes from 1616; one of the earth and one of the sky. In a small courtyard is the secret garden complete with an architectural illusion. Borromini created a 9-metre long gallery that uses perspective to appear 25 metres in length. Stephen befriended a cat who appears to live in the courtyard in some luxury if the little house with soft toy is any indication. It is certainly well-fed being almost soccer ball shaped.
We had coffee and then passing a bakery, Il Fornaio, with rather attractive delicacies in the window we decided that some of them would be suitable as a change from gelato for dessert. Fran got herself an apple slice and Stephen found a very tasty pistachio tart. Maybe we will be soccer ball-shaped soon too.
Wednesday 17 January: Today was the day we chose for the Vatican Museums. Looking at Google it might just be the quietest day of the week, maybe. They open at 9am and we wanted to be there fairly early in order to spend as long as possible. They close at 6pm. The entrance was only around 2 kilometres from our apartment. We even arrived a few minutes before the museums opened and got in the queue. Various people tried to tempt us with "skip the queue guided tour tickets" telling us that the queue was such that it would take 2 1/2 hours to get in. Those tickets were double the price of the standard entry. We declined. We were in, through security and had purchased tickets 35 minutes later.
We decided to begin with the picture gallery - 12th to 18th centuries. There were 14 rooms. By far the most interesting were the paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries by artists such as da Forli, Filippo Lippi, Beato Angelico and Gozzoli. We saw one altarpiece by Giotto. There are not that many of his works anywhere. There were beautiful works by Raphael. The vibrancy of the colours was amazing. The luminous blues, reds and pinks make the Gothic and early Renaissance paintings glow. It was relatively quiet with tour groups whipping through stopping only for a few highlights.
Our next priorities were the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel. It was a bit of a walk through galleries of Greek and Roman statues and maps (we will return to them later). We entered into the apartments of San Pio V, the Sala Sobieski and Sala dell'Immacolata. Each one in their own right lovely. The number of people and tour groups increased and then we were in the four rooms decorated by Raphael and his workshop for Popes Julius II and Leo X. The frescoes cover the walls and ceilings. They were executed between 1508 and 1524. The sun was out and it shone in the best angle possible to provide illumination for the rooms. They are absolutely stunning. Half of the Hall of Constantine was hidden as there is renovation underway. The other three rooms are the Room of Heliodorus, the Room of the Segnatura and the the Room of the Fire in the Borgo. Raphael's most famous work "The School of Athens" is in the Room of the Segnatura. We spent quite some time looking at the rooms.
Leaving the Raphael rooms we passed through some of the 30+ small rooms of contemporary art located in the Borgia apartments. We would return later. Then it was into the Sistine Chapel. It takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere (pontiff from 1471 to 1484). The chapel was everything we expected and so much more. It is big (40 x 13 metres) and the ceiling that Michelangelo painted (1508-1512) is a long way up (20 metres at the highest point). We tend to think of chapels as small spaces. A lot of technical skill went into the work ensuring accuracy of foreshortening when seen from the chapel's floor. Then there are the wall frescoes completed in 1482 by a team including such masters as Botticelli, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Ghirlandaio and Roselli. They are as wonderful as Michelangelo's ceiling. And finally, one end wall is covered by Michelangelo's "Last Judgement", painted between 1535 and 1541.
It was busy in the Sistine Chapel but there was more than enough room to move around to gaze at the wonderful art work. There were chairs along two sides for people to sit on. It was also the only area in the Vatican Museums where photography was not permitted. There were plenty of security guards on hand to enforce it.
It was lunchtime! Actually, we had done quite well as it was only around 1pm. We had decided not to take sandwiches today and had checked out the location of food providers earlier on. We settled on a slice (large) of pizza. It was a quick break. We were pleased to see that there was plenty of room and not many people eating. We sat with the sun on our backs, nice and warm inside.
The next priority was the Etruscan Museum. One of the highlights of our trip to Rome was to learn a little of the Etruscan civilisation and see some of the archaeological finds. The Etruscans lived in the area north of Rome and on the western side of the Italian peninsula from around the 8th century BC until they were eventually wiped out and/or assimilated into the Roman Republic. It was probably lucky that a few of the galleries were shut or we might not have got a lot more done. Their bronze work was beautiful, very delicate. The bronze, alabaster and travertine cinerary urns (for keeping the ashes of the deceased) were works of art in themselves. Having seen the exhibits today we are certainly looking forward to our visit to the National Etruscan Museum later on during our time in Rome.
The Vatican Etruscan Museum took longer than we expected. There was time for a quick coffee and pastry, then back to the museums. We went together to the Contemporary Art Museum and there we agreed to split up and meet outside the exit to the Vatican at closing time.
There was quite a range of works present. Just a few of the artists included were Van Gogh, Bacon, Chagall, Carrà, de Chirico, Manzù, Capogrossi, Fontana, Burri, Dali and Matisse. Most of the works were of a religious theme and the works was arranged by country. Stephen thought it was okay, but he prefers Gothic and Renaissance religious painting. Fran spent quite some time as she was interested in works by a number of the artists.
Stephen then divided rest of his time between tapestries, maps and sculpture. He started with the corridor hung with many early-16th century tapestries. One was 5 1/2 x 9 1/2 metres. Most seemed to come from Brussels and be made from cartoons provided by Raphael and/or his workshop. He was fascinated to watch someone very carefully vacuuming one tapestry.
The map hall deserves a special mention. It was commissioned in 1581 by Pope Gregory XIII. It is 120 metres long and lined on each side with very large painted maps of all the regions of the Italian peninsula. In total there are 40 maps frescoed on the walls. As well as the the maps the ceiling is covered in elaborate frescoes.
And finally for Stephen there was a little time left for the sculpture collection, or part thereof. There was both the Chiaramonti Museum, a long loggia (hallway) lined with Roman sculptures, and the Pio Clementino Museum with much more Roman scultpure.
Fran contented herself with the contemporary art and a return visit to the Sistine Chapel. We met up as agreed not far from the two army soldiers keeping warm with faces hidden under balaclavas and automatic weapons at the ready. Then it was a walk plus bus to the supermarket; shopping and home for dinner. Goodness, this holiday business is hard work. We had a great day. There was no time for the Egyptian Museum, sacred art or decorative art collections, nor the Papal carriages, nor the gardens. There is so much to see. Allegedly there are 7 kilometres of exhibits to trawl through.
The Vatican Museum website has quite a good amount of information online. There's not too much text and there are good photos of the artworks. We have linked to those pages where possible.
And while on the subject of religion... the other day we saw a number of shops selling religious robes, chalices, crosses, what looked like reliquary holders and many other items. They certainly weren't cheap. One of the robes was over 12000€. It was beautifully made and embroidered.
Now to the photos. It was quite dark and without professional equipment (and a tripod which wouldn't be allowed) photos were tricky. We contented ourselves with "happy snaps". After all you can always buy a book if you want perfect reproductions.
Tuesday 16 January: It was a little damp as we left this morning. Fran didn't take the umbrella - we are risk-takers. Anyway, we figured that we would be inside for most (all?) of the day. We were off to the Palazzo Barberini, the other half of the Galleria Nazionale d'arte Antica (along with the Palazzo Corsini). We found our way there without any problems. We are getting better at navigating Rome.
In addition to the permanent collection there were 4 other things for us to see. Three of them were included in our ticket and we were more than happy to pay for the other. It was an exhibition of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He was a 16th century artist from Milan best known for his paintings of figures in profile composed of plants and animals. We had seen one set of his "Four Seasons" in the Louvre, but this exhibition has much more. He also painted a set of "Four Elements" and his head composed of sea creatures is awesome. He spent time as a royal court painter so there were the obligatory portraits of the royals of the time.
The included exhibitions were Picasso's stage curtain measuring 10 x 16 metres for the ballet "Parade" which we mentioned yesterday. There was also a small exhibition of cartoons which are paintings made as templates for tapestries. And the final special exhibition was a painting by Filippo Lippi the "Madonna of Tarquinia" (1437) that was only discovered and attributed 100 years ago. On display were a number other works by him from around 1425-1440, including a lovely "Annunciation".
Then there was the permanent collection. Perhaps it was fortunate that 10 of the 34 galleries were shut otherwise we would have been there at closing time. We had a lovely time looking at the large range of paintings from the 13th to 17th centuries. Most of the works were by Italian artists comprising the usual range of subject matter. It was quite relaxing as there wasn't a lot of people. The school groups of ankle-biters were at the Arcimboldo exhibition.
The other highlight was the ceiling fresco "The Triumph of Divine Providence" completed in 1639 by Pietro da Cortona. It measures over 400 square metres and is an absolute treasure. There is so much detail with flying figures, landscapes and illusionistic architectures. The ceilings in many other rooms weren't too bad either.
There was time for a coffee but no church visits today! We came home, relaxed for an hour and headed off to dinner. Strangely enough we went to an Italian restaurant and ate pasta. It was very filling. How can people eat four courses - antipasto, primo piatto, secondo piatto and dolce. We managed pasta and coffee.
We are putting in links to web sites of many of the places we visit. You can click on them for more information. The ones for the churches especially have a lot of detail. Some of the pages are in Italian.
Monday 15 January: We found ourselves a museum/gallery open on a Monday and headed off. It's the Scuderie del Quirinale, the old horse stables of the Palazzo Quirinale, and the location for major art exhibitions. There are also nice views over Rome.
The current exhibition is "PICASSO. Between Cubism and Classicism: 1915-1925" was timed to coincide with the centenary of Picasso's first visit to Rome and Naples in 1917. He was following Sergei Diaghilev's company Ballets Russes with poet Jean Cocteau and composer Igor Stravinsky. It was the trip during which Picasso met and fell in love with Olga Khokhlova, the prima ballerina in the company and who became his first wife.
There were many excellent paintings on loan from quite a few major museums around the world including the Musée Picasso in Paris. The immense (10 x 16 metres) stage curtain Picasso painted for the ballet "Parade" in 1917 is too big for the Scuderie del Quirinale. We will see it tomorrow, hopefully, when we visit the Palazzo Barberini.
Apart from the theatre collaborations, there were many works that emphasised the diversity of Picasso's expansive and experimental approaches to his art making. This could be seen in the incorporation of themes of classicism, cubism, modernism, etc, as the artist worked prolifically across several genres and media simultaneously.
The works were presented over 10 rooms. It took us a while and we needed to break for lunch. It was very busy with school groups and this is the final week of the exhibition.
It was definitely afternoon tea time when we exited. Afterwards we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Wow, was that ever busy. There was plenty of police presence too, together with someone to blow a whistle at those who got too close. The fountain is big (26 metres high and 45 metres wide). It was completed in 1762. It is mostly constructed of Travertine (a type of limestone) from the Tivoli region near Rome. A major 20-month restoration was completed in late 2015, so it is very clean. No, we didn't throw any coins into the fountain although many others were.
We had time to pop into another art supply store before catching a bus back home. We are getting better with the buses having found three that are close to our apartment.
For a change in today's photo selection there's no sight of either churches or ruins.
Sunday 14 January: A cool night with a minimum of 2C. We have reverse-cycle air-conditioning and have had it on a little. With double-glazing and thick walls it stays a good temperature. Still, it was just 3C when we ventured out. We decided on one of our looking and wandering days - taking in the city mainly from the outside and maybe dropping in to the odd building. The major museums are quite busy on the weekend, so it's a good time to see other things.
We bussed it to our usual, central point of the Piazza Venezia and crossed the busy roundabout to the very large Il Vittoriano monument which seems to function as a war memorial - to the creation of a unified Italy, but also acts as a rather good lookout.
Then it was around the corner to the remains of a Roman insula (apartment block). Insulae were where the less well-off lived. The apartments were usually single rooms, often with no windows or sanitation. They were not terribly healthy, apparently prone to collapse and definitely fire risks. This one dates from the early 2nd century AD. Four floors remain. The ground floor was comprised of shops. They are now 9 metres below ground level. That gives an idea of how much Roman history is layer upon layer. This area is part of the Palatine Hill where the origins of Rome began. Much of the historical finds here were made in the first few decades of the 20th century when roads were built and old buildings (medieval and later) were demolished.
Only a couple of hundred metres further is the Teatro di Marcello (Theatre of Marcellus). It was begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus in 11 BC. It held approximately 15,000 people. Originally it comprised 3 levels, however, only two remain. The remains of the Temples of Apollo and Bellona are adjacent. We saw part of the Temple of Apollo in the Centrale Montemartini yesterday.
Exiting the Teatro di Marcello took us past the Porticus of Ottavia built in 146 BC to celebrate a military victory. It was rebuilt by Augustus in 23 BC and rededicated to his sister Octavia. As with many historical sites it has been repurposed frequently. In late antiquity and the Middle Ages it was a fish market - a fairly long way from its original purpose.
Then we crossed to the Isola Tiberina, a little island in the Tiber with church and a few other buildings. To get there we walked over the Ponte Fabricio, the oldest surviving Roman bridge, built in 62 BC. On the island we dropped in to the Church of San Bartolomeo, a late 10th century church, where an evangelical service was about to finish. We didn't intrude. Lunch was calling and crossing back we walked a little further to two Roman temples. We found somewhere to sit and padded our seats. Marble is very cold in the middle of winter. Fran used gloves and Stephen perched on our Italian dictionary.
After lunch we had a look at the Temple of Portunus and the Temple of Hercules Victor. The latter is the oldest surviving marble structure in Rome. It is from the end of the 2nd century BC.
Walking back we stopped off at a couple of ruins / archaeological sites. You're never far away from them with bits and pieces lying absolutely everywhere. Then we quickly nipped into the 17th century Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli. It wasn't on our list, but we were passing and the door was open. Finally we arrived at the 16th century Fontana della Tartarughe (Tortoise Fountain). The tortoises which give name to the fountain were added almost a century later, probably by Bernini.
We came across another archaeological site, the Largo di Torre Argentina, which contains ruins of 4 temples, and noticed many cats (some quite large). It also functions as a feline sanctuary. They are fed and cared for in amongst the ruins. And just possibly they are at the same level of the food chain as the giant seagulls. There was an immature seagull with broken wing hobbling around. Two black cats sat quietly watching it. Dinner!
We passed the Gesù, the headquarters of the Jesuits, and will return another day when it is open. Then we arrived at, what is said to be, Bernini's most endearing sculpture - the Elephant statue. For some reason on its back it carries an Egyptian obelisk, dug up during some church additions. The statue is a popular tourist stopping point adjacent to the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and around the corner from the Pantheon.
After coffee we braved the crowds at the Pantheon. It was too busy and we will go back during the week when it will be quieter. It is a magnificent building. We did go to, and spent a fair amount of time in, the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The outside is being refurbished and is quite plain. Inside is a different story. It is Rome's only Gothic church, built in the late 13th century, and one of Rome's art treasure churches. There are tombs of 3 popes; Fra Angelico is buried there; there is a Michelangelo sculpture "Christ Bearing the Cross". However, the outstanding highlight would have to be Filippino Lippi's magnificent fresco of "The Assumption" in the Carafa Chapel. Like all the churches we have been into it is very, very dark. There are boxes where you can put in a Euro and lights come on for about 30 seconds on specific items. Exposure times on our cameras are 6-8 seconds!
By this time the sun had set so we made our way home. It was a very full day of sightseeing. The clouds came and went. It was a nice soft light for taking photos and no glare for the eyes. Stephen's new camera has an in-built HDR function so some of the photos are processed in that way. We had many photos to choose from. Hope you like ruins and churches! We try to be creative.
Saturday 13 January: The weather was very pleasant today. It was mostly sunny with no wind. It was chilly early on in the shade, but by lunchtime we were basking in the sun eating our panini al proscuitto (ham rolls).
The public transport was back to normal and we caught the bus most of the way to our starting point. Fran wanted to see a Hokusai exhibition which finishes tomorrow. Luckily she arrived early as there was a very long queue before midday and they were only letting people in when others exited. There were exhibited 100 works of the 19th century Japanese master of woodblock prints, including 'The Great Wave', and the 'Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji'. Hokusai portrayed 'floating' compositions and a diverse range of subjects from beautiful landscapes, nature, portraits of Kabuki actors, to animal life and semi-mythical characters. Also displayed were works by Eissen, the combination of natural elements with his figures' garments was particularly stunning.
Stephen headed off to church, the Basilica of Sant'Agostino (Saint Augustine). Like most churches in Rome it's built on the site of previous churches, which are often built on pagan temples or spots where various saints were allegedly martyred. The current Sant'Agostino dates from 1484. The Renaissance façade, one of the first in this style, was built using travertine marble said to be from the ruins of the Colosseum. Inside, the dome is beautifully decorated. There are a number of art treasures. There is a fresco of the prophet Isaiah by Raphael from 1512. Beneath that is a statue of the Madonna and Child with St Anne by Sansovino, also from 1512. Also by Sansovino is the Madonna del Parto (Madonna of Childbirth), commissioned in 1516. The high altar enshrines a Byzantine icon of the Virgin. Apparently the icon was brought from the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in 1453 when the city was conquered by the Turks. And finally, from 1605 there is a painting by Caravaggio, the Madonna dei Pellegrini (Madonna of the Pilgrims).
Stephen still had a short amount of time left before meeting Fran so he quickly found his way to the Piazza Navona with its Fountain of the Four Rivers. It's big, and made even bigger by the tall Egyptian obelisk in the centre. There's also another beautiful church on one side of the piazza, Sant'Agnese in Agone (Saint Agnes in Agony). This one is 17th century. The façade is by Borromini. There wasn't a lot of time to investigate the chapels and art works other than to note the stunning frescoes on the inside of the dome. Maybe we'll pop in another day.
We met up and made our way to a bus stop for a short ride to the Metro and then south to the Centrale Montemartini. It's a former power station that now houses many ancient sculptures and is part of the Capitoline Museums. Our tickets from those museums got us in free. After our lunch we ventured in and spent the best part of 3 hours wandering around happily. It was very quiet. There were sarcophagi and information about Roman funerary rites; mosaics; an exhibition comparing Etruscan and Egyptian gods, life and death; Pope Pius IX's papal train from 1859; and all around ancient Roman sculptures, especially in the old power plant's engine room where they were placed around the decommissioned equipment.
Afternoon tea was at the one bar/caffetteria in the neighbourhood. Then it was the Metro back into the historic centre and our first view of the Colosseum - impressive and nicely lit (it was well after sunset by now). Then a bus home to cook dinner.
We have now been here for a week. We're probably not locals yet. The time goes so quickly though. Thankfully we have three more weeks in Rome. There's so much to do. We've hardly scratched the surface and there are ruins everywhere.
Friday 12 January: Before we left home this morning we had email from our host letting us know that there was a public transport strike today. That was really nice of him, otherwise we could have been standing at the bus stop wondering why there were no buses. They like their strikes here in Italy. They are quite common. Oh well, it meant a fairly long (5 km) walk to the Galleria Borghese. It was fortunate that we had plenty of time.
We planned our route to take in some churches and set off. We still don't understand it, but there were some buses running. We saw buses and people were waiting at bus stops. Anyway, we walked. We dropped by the Vatican to check out entry to St. Peter's and also the Vatican Museums for future reference. Then it was over the Tiber to the Church of San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini. It is 16th century and built on the site of a number of earlier churches. The current façade is 18th century. There is some impressive art in the side chapels. The important 17th century Baroque architect Francesco Borromini is buried in the church. There is lovely multi-coloured marble throughout the church - floors, columns and in the art work. Some artists with work in the church include Gentileschi, Lanfranco and Filippino Lippi. There is a small museum with apparently impressive works, but we didn't have time to investigate that today.
From there it was a brisk walk, slightly uphill (except for the steep Spanish steps) to the Galleria Borghese. Stephen had cut it a little fine, but we made it in plenty of time. Only 360 people are allowed in at once and tickets are are often sold out days or weeks in advance during peak periods. We are lucky to be here in the off-peak season. There were about 250 in our time slot. You can only spend 2 hours inside, then everyone is removed before the next group enters. We were concerned about how much we would see in that time. There are two floors. The upper contains the picture galleries, the ground floor is mainly sculpture. In addition to the normal exhibits there is a large Bernini sculpture exhibition with many of his works throughout the galleries. We somehow managed to see everything in our allocated time. It would have been very easy to spend double the time admiring everything.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was a 17th century sculptor. He was the leading sculptor of his age and created the Baroque sculptural style virtually single-handed. His sculptures are astounding. It is unbelievable how he created such detail in marble. Some of the works look so lifelike.
Then there were the 12 rooms of the picture gallery. They are given over mostly to 16th and 17th century Italian artists. There were some big names and important paintings present - Fra' Bartolomeo, Ghirlandaio, Correggio, Raphael, Titian, Perugino, Botticelli, Pinturicchio, Mazzolino, Lorenzo Lotto, Domenichino, Lanfranco and Caravaggio, to name a few. It was a roll-call of Renaissance artists.
Then there were the rooms themselves. We were overawed by the Villa Farnesina yesterday. Today even more so. Jaw-dropping ceiling frescoes and incredible trompe l'oeil work (a technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions). Looking at some of our photos tonight it's impossible in places to tell what is a 2-dimensional painting and what is 3-dimensional sculpture.
We independently worked our way through all the rooms to ensure we saw everything. Then we went back to rooms where there were artworks that we wanted to spend more time with. We stayed until we were probably the last two remaining and left as they closed the doors to prepare for the next group.
We definitely needed a little sit down, a coffee and a muffin after that. Fortunately, there was an excellent café onsite. It really wasn't busy in the galleries. There were times when we had small rooms to ourselves.
Then we walked, downhill thankfully, to an art supply store where Fran bought oil pastels for a much better price than in Australia, if she can even get them there. The buses were back running by this time so we threaded through the crowds of workers heading home to a bus stop for our route and waited and waited and... Other buses turned up but not ours. We bit the bullet and walked home. We covered about 15 kilometres today, plus whatever we walked in the Galleria Borghese. Tomorrow the public transport is back to normal. We'll walk a little less hopefully.
There could be many more photos below, but it's getting late and we need to think about tomorrow's activities. Note: Parental guidance required. The photos below may contain female nudity and adult themes.
Thursday 11 January: We awoke to the sound of rain. We have windows on two sides of our apartment, both open into courtyards and we are on the 4th floor, but there are another 3-4 floors on surrounding buildings so we don't see much sky. We can't easily tell what the weather is doing. The Italian met office site isn't terribly informative either. We decided to take the brolly today.
It looked like an indoor type of day and there are more options than we have time for during our stay in Rome. There is a villa and a palazzo quite close with art and history oozing out of them. We would begin there.
After consultation with professor Google we had our bus route decided and set off. First stop, the Villa Farnesina. The building is early 16th century. It was built by the architect Baldassarre Peruzzi for the banker Agostino Chigi. It's one of the earliest Renaissance villas in Rome. The highlights are the opulent rooms with frescoes by Raphael, da Udine and Peruzzi. Hopefully the photos below demonstrate the beauty of the rooms. They were stunning, especially the loggia of Galatea and the loggia of Cupid and Psyche. They are exemplars of the Renaissance. There was also an exhibition “Raffaello and Giovanni da Udine in the Loggia of Cupid and Psiche. The Colours of Prosperity: Fruits from the Old and New World” about the fruits and vegetables and the techniques used to paint them. It was lovely and quiet in the villa; there were hardly any people.
By the time we finished it was lunchtime. The seats outside were wet - it rained whilst we were inside. Our next venue was, quite literally, across the road so we wandered over and ate our sandwiches standing overlooking a garden. We didn't linger as it was a chilly 10C. Then we went upstairs to the Palazzo Corsini. It is one part of the Galleria Nazionale d'arte Antica with about half a dozen rooms of paintings. But the rooms are packed, floor to ceiling, with artworks. The lighting, both natural and artificial, isn't the best for looking at the paintings so we needed to move around to get the best light. Information was mostly in Italian. There were some really interesting paintings by less well-known artists. We figured that it was time to leave when the lights went out in the final room just as we were finishing.
From there we headed into the Trastevere quarter and coffee. Then on to a beautiful church, the Church of St. Peter in Montorio. It's from the late 1400's and located on the site of a much older (8th century?) church. One tradition has it as the spot where St. Peter was crucified. It was very dark inside, but 6-8 second photos bring out wonderful colours and details in the apse and side chapels.
Then we wandered on to an art supply store and a second-hand bookshop. We may return to the art shop and if we need more English-language reading we know where to go. From there it was a tram plus bus ride home. We ate out tonight - Italian, of course. Our closest restaurant, Buona Forchetta, is all of 100 metres away. We both had pizza, and shared a very nice bottle of Pinot Grigio from the Torino region. Don't ever look for chicken pizza in Italy - it's a definite no-no. We knew that already from our Italian language podcasts.
It was definitely a cold, wet day. It struggled to 12C. The rain fell before we left home, while we were in the Villa Farnesina and during dinner. We carried an umbrella as insurance; it wasn't required. It was a full day, we will sleep well.
There are lots of photos from today. It was really hard to choose just a few. Favourite topics for paintings seem to be "Judith and Holofernes (or head thereof)" and "Salome and John the Baptist (or head thereof)". There are always plenty of putti (those little cherubs), mythological scenes and partially unclad females.
Wednesday 10 January: At 9am the temperature was 5C. It has slowly been dropping since yesterday afternoon. It should begin to rise soon as our predicted maximum today is 13C. When Stephen nipped around the corner to the supermarket there wasn't a cloud visible. The forecast seems to be for a mix of sun, cloud and precipitation. We will see.
Given the forecast we decided to head to Villa Borghese for a mainly indoor day and an art exhibition Fran wanted to see that finishes soon. Despite the name Villa Borghese is actually a large park. It used to be part of the Borghese estate. The Galleria Borghese is in there too - that's for another day. We had a number of things to see/do lined up and as we set off we wondered how many we could fit in. We had about 4 yesterday and managed only the one. We dreamt of marble busts last night!
It was off on the bus, in the opposite direction to yesterday, as we needed to get to a Metro station that would deposit us near the Villa Borghese. Surprisingly, Rome has only two short Metro lines. Most of the public transport is buses. Maybe it is impossible to dig underground without encountering significant Roman ruins. We found our way very easily to our destination.
Our first stop was the former orangerie (where orange trees were stored in winter) now completely rebuilt. It houses the Museo Carlo Bilotti. He was a businessman and art collector. 22 works from his private collection are on display. The core of the works are paintings by Giorgio de Chirico from the second quarter of the 20th century. De Chirico was an artist who championed a style known as "Metaphysical Painting". However, the works in this collection come from his post-metaphysical period. Stephen found them quite intriguing.
The exhibition Fran wanted to see was entitled "L'uomo e l'albergo" (The Man and the Tree) by Maurizio Pierfranceschi. These were mainly mixed media on canvas.
It wasn't even lunchtime when we finished. As we were near the Galleria Borghese we took the opportunity to nip in and find out about tickets which had to be booked in advance. We have tickets for Friday at 1pm. Visits are limited to 2 hours only and entrance regulations are quite strict. Having sorted that out, it was lunchtime. On the way to our next destination we passed the zoo and found a nice seat there in the sun to munch on our tacchino (turkey) sandwiches.
Then it was on to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (no need to translate that) and there we spent the remainder of the afternoon. The core of the collection is 19th and 20th century Italian artists, with a few foreigners thrown in. It was a varied collection with some interesting works by artists such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Amedeo Modigliani and Giorgio Morandi. There were many other Italian artists whose names we were not familiar with. Foreign artists represented included Gustav Klimt, Paul Cezanne, Van Gogh, Max Ernst, Vasily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. There was also an exhibition of colourful works by Estonian artist Konrad Mägi (1878-1925). Of course we found time for a coffee break too.
The weather certainly didn't live up to the forecast. It was sunny with a top of 14C. That felt very warm at lunchtime, although it was quite cool in the shade under trees earlier. There was no sign of rain. Tomorrow, however, there is rain forecast with a top of only 10C.
Then it was time to retrace our morning's route and head home to cook dinner. Stephen noticed that a tram stopped outside the gallery. We took that plus a bus which dropped us at the end of our street. It saved a walk in the gathering gloom down a dodgy path.
Coffee note: So far every coffee we have had has been delicious - double the strength of Australian coffee, with thick and creamy milk. A cappuccino goes for about 1.50€; a caffè macchiato costs 1€. However, in some cafés the price doubles if you sit down. Often people drink standing at the counter.
Car hire notes: We will never consider hiring a car in Rome. We have watched the motor scooters zipping in and out of the traffic. There are many, many cars which also weave in and out of other traffic. Roads often seem to be without lane markings and people drive everywhere. Most roads are one-way. We would never manage to navigate to any destination as we would continually be confused by our navigation software, which in turn would be continually recalculating the route. If we did accidentally arrive where we were going we would never find a parking space. Having said that they park absolutely anywhere, including across pedestrian crossings. We will walk and use the public transport. We think that is safer.
Tuesday 9 January: After an unusually warm day of 20C yesterday (average January maximum is 13C) today was much cooler (15C) and drizzly with low cloud. It was an indoor day, but which museum to begin with was the question. We decided upon the Capitoline Museums as they contain some of Rome's most important ancient art and sculpture. A second reason being they were only a hundred metres from where our bus terminates in the city (in Piazza Venezia). We are fortunate that we have a bus stop at the end of our street only 50 metres away.
We safely crossed the road at the Piazza Venezia to the Capitoline Museums in the centre of the city. We should explain that there are plenty of pedestrian crossings in Rome hardly any of which are controlled by lights. You simply take a deep breath, look carefully, pray and walk hoping that the vehicles have seen you and that they decide to stop. If you wait for a break or for them to stop you will never cross. It's even more interesting in the dark.
We bought our tickets and found it was the same as in Spain - we carefully mumble what we want in Italian and are answered in perfect English. According to Google people spend on average 2.5 hours in the museums, we spent 7 hours. We arrived at 10:30am and left in the dark at 5:30pm. We had a lovely day and saw so much history.
The Capitoline Museums date from 1471 when Pope Sixtus XIV donated to the people of Rome a group of bronze statues. Successive popes added to the collection, sometimes clearing out pagan images that weren't seen as appropriate for them to keep. Many of the pieces were found during excavations in and around Rome. Around the middle of the 18th century Pope Benedict XIV founded the Capitoline Picture Gallery. The museums' collections are displayed in two of the three buildings that enclose the Piazza del Campidoglio - Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo. These buildings are linked by an underground tunnel housing the Epigraphic Gallery and the Tabularium viewpoint over the Roman Forum.
The Palazzo Nuovo houses the collections of ancient sculptures. Their arrangement has remained largely unchanged since the 18th century. They include a famous collection of busts of ancient philosophers and Roman emperors. Some highlights of the collection are the statue of the Dying Gaul, the Capitoline Venus and a huge reclining male statue popularly known as "Marforio" which is a fountain dominating the courtyard.
In the Palazzo dei Conservatori the original architectural core was the Convervators' Apartment whose rooms are adorned with splendid frescoes depicting the history of Rome. The stately atmosphere of these rooms is heightened by the quality of the art works on display. Highlights here include the Capitoline She-Wolf and the Boy with the Thorn. In a large, glass-roofed hall stands the stunning ancient equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Other rooms contain artworks from the ancient gardens on the Esquiline Hill. Also in the Palazzo dei Conservatori is the Capitoline Picture Gallery with works from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.
It was a long day. We could have stayed two more hours as the museums don't close until 7:30pm. Two coffee breaks were required during our time. It was really quiet - apart from the occasional loud American tourist or two. We know many other museums will be much busier.
Again we survived the pedestrian crossing, this time in the dark and were quickly on a bus home. An easy dinner was planned and we had eaten and washed up by 7pm. Then it was time to relax, to rest our weary feet (how far do you walk in 7 hours in a museum?) and look at a large number of photos.
We will do it all again tomorrow after we choose where to go next.
Monday 8 January: We both arose a little later this morning. We are slowly moving our sleeping hours to normal. The only downside with the bed is that it has a duvet/doona and is a little warm for us. We had nothing in particular planned for the day. It was a case of getting out for a walk making the most of the warm weather. The forecast maximum was 16-17C. There is the threat of cooler, damper days to come.
We started by walking back past St. Peter's Basilica where they were dismantling the Christmas tree and presepe. Then it was down to the Tiber and north (the opposite direction to yesterday) following the river. There are many bridges across the river and plenty of traffic. It seems that every second car is a Fiat. There are many Vespas and other small motor bikes. Everyone seems to honk their horns as a matter of fact. Add in a dose of ambulances and we find ourselves having to shout to hear each other.
There are many elegant palazzi. "Palazzo" translates iterally as "palace" in English and is where the English word derives from. "Palazzi" is the plural form. However, in Italy they are simply homes, albeit very elegant ones. No two buildings are alike architecturally. And they are in different levels of repair.
We came across an art supply store so popped in for Fran to check out the prices and stock. We may be going back there.
Not much before lunchtime we arrived in the Piazza del Popolo (Square of the People). The Piazza was laid out in 1538 and used to be the site of public executions. There are large fountains on two sides and the piazza almost seems to be ringed by churches - there are at least three. In the centre is a 36 metre high Egyptian obelisk brought back by Alexander from Heliopolis and placed in the piazza in 1589.
There was time before lunch for two of the churches. The first was Santa Maria dei Miracoli built in the 17th century and consecrated in 1681. The exterior is undergoing restoration. Inside, over the high altar is the miraculous icon of the Virgin which gives the church its name. We couldn't stay very long as Mass started.
So it was across the piazza to Santa Maria del Popolo. The first church on the site was constructed in the late 11th century supposedly over the burial place of Nero. The church and associated monastery were rebuilt in the 1470's. It has been updated several times - after the 1527 sack of Rome and there was also a Baroque reconstruction by Bernini in the 1650's. The facade is undergoing restoration at the current time too. Inside is some of the best Renaissance art of any Roman churches. In the Della Rovere Chapel are frescoes by Pinturicchio. The Basso della Rovere Chapel contains frescoes from the school of Pinturicchio. Other chapels have exquisite polychrome marble work in black, green, white and red. The highlight is the Chigi Chapel, designed by Raphael. The tombs of the Chigi brothers are unusual, being tall pyramids in red marble. They were designed by Raphael and carved by Lorenzo Lotti. The chapel's altarpiece, the Nativity of the Virgin, dates from the 1530s and is a work of Sebastiano del Piombo and Il Salviati.
The church closed at 12:30 and provided us with the opportunity to break for lunch. We sat outside in the Piazza del Popolo, basking in the sun. We were the only two in short sleeves. Indeed we were probably the only people without overcoats. Admittedly, we sat on our jackets which were folded several times to keep our backsides warm on the freezing marble seats. As we sat munching on our cheese sandwiches a huge seagull swooped and grabbed a pigeon by the neck. The pigeon managed to escape. Roman seagulls are even bigger than their British cousins. They must have wingspans approaching a metre. Small dogs and possibly children would be at risk.
After surviving lunch we followed the border of the Villa Borghese park to the Spagna (Spain) metro station in order to purchase a monthly transport pass. However, they don't sell them there - in spite of what their website says. We needed to find a tobacconist or newsagent and they are everywhere. We contented ourselves with looking at the Spanish Stairs made famous in several movies, none of which we have seen. The area has many high-end fashion stores. Think of any famous Italian brand and we saw it. Most of the shops don't bother with prices on the objects in their windows. They are the sort of stores where staff are stationed to open, and probably unlock, doors to let clients in.
Our next stop was another church - San Lorenzo in Lucina. It's an unassuming 12th century Romanesque church with a pretty campanile (belltower) and columned portico. The history of the church goes back to the 4th century when it was built in/on the ruins of an insula (Roman apartment block). It has been heavily restored quite a few times - 8th, 9th and 12th centuries. Unlike many other churches this one has no side aisles. They have been converted into chapels. One of the chapels was designed and decorated by Simon Vouet (a disciple of Caravaggio) in the 1620's.
It was definitely coffee time so we stopped at the first one we came to. Then it was time to get our transport tickets. Do you think we could find anywhere selling them. We gave up, bought single tickets and caught the bus back home. Thankfully the second tobacconist we tried near our apartment had them. They are good value - 35€ for unlimited use on buses, metro, trams and trains for a calendar month (by comparison individual tickets are 1.50€). Then it was home to cook dinner, have a little gelato and relax.
Sunday 7 January: We slept very well. It's so quiet here. There is no noise at all. We awoke not much after 5am. That's fine. 9 hours sleep will do us. We are a bit excited. The sun will rise about 7:30am. We'll be ready for it.
Now we are aligned properly - writing up the day while cooking dinner after a day in the "eternal city" (as Rome is known). We took it easy as we weren't sure if we would suddenly hit the wall in the afternoon. After breakfast it was time for a shopping list and 'fare la spesa' (to go shopping) around the corner to our local supermarket. Believe it or not we spent an hour in there. There were more types of pasta than we could imagine. And cheese. Well, it was a bit like a certain Monty Python skit. There was every type of cheese other than cheddar. Goodness knows how many types of Parmesan there were.
Then it was morning tea treat time. Our hosts gave us a tray of delicious pastries from a Swiss Sicilian pasticceria. Yummy. Then it was lunchtime. Yes, we are back to eating all the time. Aren't holidays fun.
Our afternoon was a stroll along the the River Tiber (the third longest river in Italy) to simply get out and stretch our legs in the fresh air. It was cloudy and a pleasant 15C. There were lots of people out.
We started by venturing over into the Vatican City and St. Peter's Piazza and the impressive Basilica. There was a Christmas tree and large presepe (nativity scene) in the piazza. Then it was down to the river and south to the Trastevere (Tevere is Italian for Tiber; "trastevere" means "across the Tiber") district. There are many bridges over the milky green Tiber. Going as far as the Isola Tiberina we then walked to the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. It has beautiful 12th century golden mosaics in the apse. We sat and looked at them for quite some time. The original church on the site is believed to date from the 4th century and according to tradition be the first church where Mass was openly celebrated. The current church dates from 1140. Some of the building materials come from the Roman Baths of Caracalla. In the Altemps Chapel is the icon of the Madonna della Clemenza (Our Lady of Mercy). It is the most precious art treasure in the church. It is early 9th century at the latest and possibly as early as the start of the 6th century.
Then it was coffee time. A cappuccino for Fran and caffè macchiato for Stephen. They make their coffee strong here, but they were nice. Then we continued in the general direction of home over the Gianicolo Hill. There are quite a few memorials to Garibaldi and those who fought in the 1849 struggle that led to the eventual unification of Italy. There are also views to the city on the eastern side of the Tiber. We saw no high-rise buildings at all. There were many church domes.
We made it back to St. Peter's after sunset and needed to stop for some after-dark photos of the Basilica. Then it was home to make dinner. We were pleased to see green beans in the supermarket; something we never could buy in Spain.
It was an excellent stroll. One does need to watch out when walking. The footpaths are pretty rough. It will be easy to do an ankle. We saw plenty of police and military with automatic weapons at the ready. There are three or four different police forces in Italy. That's much like Spain.
Stephen has a new camera purchased for this trip. He wore out his previous one. So something new to experiment with.
Saturday 6 January: It's 4:30am (Qatar time) and we are sitting in the blissfully quiet Doha airport eating some of our remaining home made choc chip cookies from Canberra. The flight from Canberra to Adelaide was on time and maybe only just 1/2 full. The flight to Doha left 5 minutes early and was very full. It was a little A350, substantially smaller than the giant A380 planes. At just over 12 hours the flight was 2 hours shorter than advertised and we arrived an hour earlier than our tickets indicated. We both slept for 4-5 hours in bits and pieces. Not quality, but it was something. Fran watched a couple of short TV shows and we both listened to music.
We had almost 4 hours before our flight departed. However, our flight to Rome was delayed by 2 hours. That meant that we spent 7 hours in Doha airport. Oh well, nothing that we could do about it. It was a full flight to Rome, taking 5 and three-quarter hours (and less than our tickets indicated), on a A340. We stuck to music for the in-flight entertainment. We may have had an hour's sleep during the flight. We saw some lovely, snow-covered peaks flying across Italy.
We arrived in Rome, found our way through immigration, picked up our bags and walked out into Italy, where it was 17C. Yes, Stephen was wearing shorts and t-shirt. Almost everyone else had puffer jackets on. It wasn't that cold. It was really pleasant. We headed for the train station and bought tickets to the closest stop to our apartment. We had checked out the transport situation. Trains run every 30 minutes and we had only a few minutes and we made it - just. Well actually, the door closed in Fran's face, but it reopened to let her on. On the short trip we saw both sheep and Eucalypt trees. We had to change trains for the last couple of stations. We were then very, very lucky. Three young girls wanted to "help" us onto the train. As we were on the train and it was ready to leave Fran saw what looked like Stephen's wallet sitting in the doorway where one of the girls put it. Yes, it was his wallet missing the small amount of money it had contained. He quickly caught the girls on the platform and challenged them. The money was handed over and he got back on the train. They hadn't been interested in the credit cards. We were so lucky that Fran saw the wallet. Even though we knew what they were up to we hadn't been able to prevent it.
We arrived at our station (Roma S. Pietro) and found our way to our apartment in Via dell'Argilla without further incident. Admittedly, Stephen managed to lead us in completely the wrong direction from the station in spite of us having both a printed map and electronic technology. We soon sorted ourselves out passing close to St. Peter's Cathedral. It gave us the opportunity to see a little more of the neighbourhood. By this time (5pm) the sun had set and we were still a little early to meet our hosts. They turned up early too and let us in.
Giorgio and Graciella are a lovely couple. Giorgio speaks perfect English and Graciella only a little so we did most of our check-in in English with some Italian thrown in for practice. We have a very quiet 2-bedroom apartment on probably the third floor (we will count the floors some time). We have a full kitchen with gas stove. There are 4 coffee makers of various sizes. It's very comfortable inside and feels just right, very homely.
Our first priority before we dropped was some shopping. There is a good-sized Carrefour supermarket around the corner about 100 metres away. We got the basics for breakfast, came home and had some bread and honey plus a cup of tea for "dinner". Fran unpacked; Stephen connected to the Internet - priorities for both of us. Then, at 7:45pm it was time for bed. We had been up for 46-47 hours with only the sleep we managed on the plane. We were too tired to write up these notes.
Friday 5 January: It's warming up so it's a good time to be heading north for winter. With weekend temperatures in the high 30's in Canberra and 15-17C in Rome it's no contest. Admittedly, 17C is well above the normal January temperature for Rome. Our flight wasn't due to leave until 6pm so we had the whole day to get ready, clean and explain to our aviary of birds that we were going away yet again and leaving them to fend for themselves.