May 9 Santa Maria Maggiore

I decided I needed to see more churches and started out using Rick Steves' "Pilgrim's Rome" as a guide.  Once again I boarded the #64 bus to Termini and then I walked from there.  It was a little longer walk than I anticipated but through a beautiful neighborhood.  The photo above is of the main altar.  This is an old church (432 AD) and has amazing mosaics that reminded me of mosaics I had seen in Ravenna.  It was, of course, updated during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  The ceiling is coffered and gilded, and this only shows part of it.

When you go up to the main altar, you see that there are stairs to something below.  I went there and was treated to what is purported to be relics of the manger in Bethlehem:

It is hard to connect the simplicity of Jesus' birth with this opulent display.  There is also a powerful statue of Pope Pius IX in prayer before these relics:

But look at those floors!  They are throughout the church, and may date back to the 5th century AD.

This church is truly amazing.  Below is an example of the mosaics that are throughout the main sanctuary.  This particular one is in the apse and shows Jesus crowning Mary in heaven:

When I left, I hoped to go to another church, the Church of Santa Pressede.  I had forgotten that many of the churches are closed between 12 noon and 4 pm.  It was closed.  I had lunch at a great little place with lots of locals and it was great.

I walked back to Via Nazionale and did some shopping and then took "my bus" back to my apartment.

May 8--Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Today I went to a different part of town.  My friend Karen Zens, who had lived in Rome several years, had recommended the National Museum of Rome.  It is near the train terminals (Termini), and the #64 bus goes there.  I also got to see what will be my shopping district, Via Nazionale, on the way.  This museum is actually several museums, but today I just went to the part housed in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, the building above.  I didn't take any photos, but did see a guy sketching.  That looked like fun, but I hadn't brought my sketching stuff.

There are a lot of statues and fragments of statues on the ground floor of the museum.  Of particular interest was a gallery of stone heads.  They seem to be ordinary people and I learned the Romans made them to remember their ancestors and the likenesses were more important than idealizing them.  They date to 500-1 B.C.   A bronze statue of "The Boxer at Rest" shows his face as scarred and his back muscles knotted.  It is very compelling. 

One of the most well-known works is "The Discus Thrower."  It is actually a Roman copy of a Greek statue.  

This museum had a special exhibit showing examples of how, in the 19th century, copying Greek and Roman statues became common.  In fact, the idea was that if a person went on a European tour it would be expected that they would bring back a copy of a famous statue. 

There was much more, but the second floor had frescoes and mosaics from Roman family villas.  The Villa Farnesina frescoes were especially compelling and show gardens with birds and fruit trees.  Lovely!

On the way back to my apartment, I stopped to check out some of the shops.  I will return because I have more tourist sights to see in the neighborhood and some more shopping to do, too.

May 7 Vatican Museums again

I had hoped to get an early admission ticket to the Vatican Museums, but it was not to be.  I stood in line and got in after about a 15-minute wait, so that wasn't too bad.  The weather was great, so I went out on this overview of the gardens.  I then set out to go through the Museums at my own pace.  It was still crowded, so I didn't take many pictures.  I did get one, though, to bring back to the Smith family.  This is a fragment of a statue of Artemis and the Smith's sweet cat is named after her.

I spent quite a bit of time in the Octagonal Courtyard (at least, that's what I think it was called):

It was very pleasant and not too crowded there.  I mostly just wandered and took in the things I had seen last week, but didn't get time to really study.  One thing I hadn't seen on the previous visit was the staircase:

This shot doesn't even show the whole thing.  It is spectacular.  It actually is a double staircase and those going down don't encounter those going up.  I went down it and left.  

I then explored the neighborhood and had a late lunch/early dinner at a local restaurant.

May 6 Moving Day

The Road Scholar tour is closing and almost everyone is going to the airport by vans.  Jan left early for her trip back to Arizona.  I checked out at 11, but hung out in the lobby of the hotel until about 12:30 because I couldn't check into my apartment until 1. I "moved" by Uber.  In Rome, the only Ubers available are "black car"...a little more expensive than Uberx or a cab, but I felt it was a way I could trust.  At the apartment building, I met my hostess's husband Fabrizio and he gave me the keys I needed and oriented me to the neighborhood.  The apartment was nice, with a balcony that had a glimpse of the top of the dome of St. Peter's, as shown above.  The street was advertised as quiet, but it was pretty busy.  I was happy to see it was on the bus route for Bus #64, which was recommended by Rick Steves also goes by the hotel where I had been staying.

I did a little research on what I wanted to see and do and went to the local grocery store to get some "provisions."  This is my shopping bag:

I brought it home to DC with me of course after it had done it's duty in Rome.

My only disappointment in the apartment was that all of the tv channels I could find were in German!  Well, I didn't come to Rome to watch tv.  I went to bed early and got a good night's sleep.

May 5 Last Day with Road Scholars-Jewish Quarter, Borghese Gallery, Farewell Dinner

We began the day with a walk to the Jewish Quarter and that took us by the huge Victor Emmanuel Monument.  I posted a side view previously.  This is how it looks from the piazza.  We were on the way to the Jewish Quarter, where we entered a synagogue:

There are two synogogues now but, during the time of the Ghetto, there was supposed to be only one.  Because there were actually different congregations, evidently there were five.  The one above is still used today by descendents of Sephardic Jews who escaped during the Spanish Inquisition in about 1492.  The larger synagogue is in the same building and is called the Great Synagogue:

In the foreground of the Great Synagogue, you can see locked boxes where men are able to keep their papers relating to the services.  Even today, women sit in the sides or at the back.  However, women have been very important in these religious sites.  We learned that in the times of the Ghetto, when Jews were mostly confined to the Ghetto and had to wear hats and garments that identified them as Jews when they left the area, the women used second-hand textiles to make religious tapestries.  The  museum has preserved some of the most remarkable examples with brocade, velvet and elaborate embroideries.  I did not photograph those, but they were stunning.

We then went by van to the Borghese Galleries, which are truly amazing.  I couldn't get over the ceilings, much less the works of art.  Here, for example is a ceiling:

Those figures at the top of the column, which appear to be three dimensional are actually frescoes.  As you will notice, the arches have painting at the top, too.  When I say "over the top," it may be an understatement.  The ceilings are decorated throughout and there are numerous rooms.  There are so many paintings, frescoes, and statues that I cannot even begin to summarize them.  For me, the most amazing thing was a statue by Bernini of  "The Rape of Persephone."  By the way, Pluto is the one who is raping her.  What I loved the most (from an artistic standpoint) was this:

This is marble, and yet it seems that he has actually indented her flesh...and look at those hands...they are so realistic.   Just for perspective, here is a larger view of the statue.  

We returned to have a farewell dinner with our fellow Road Scholars and then tomorrow we will part ways.   I, however, will stay in Rome another week and so will have more to say.  

May 4 Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Hotel Rooftop, Rome's Legacy

The photo above is a panoramic shot from the rooftop of our hotel, Hotel Pace Helvezia.  I just wanted to see how it would look on a blog.  More on the rooftop later.

We began the day with a van ride to the Piazza Navona.  It was raining heavily, but we persevered.  This piazza is interesting because the location goes back to the first century AD and was built by the Emperor Domitian for track and field games.  Today, it maintains the same configuration, with buildings around the piazza where the bleachers had been.  I did not get a good picture because of the rain and I couldn't find any on the internet that I liked.  The piazza features Bernini's Fountain of Four Rivers  The Four Rivers were representative of the four continents known at that time--the rivers are the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube and the Rio de la Plata in South America.  I know, what about North America?  This was in 1651, well past Columbus' discovery.  I will not quibble with Bernini's vision, though, because it is an amazing fountain. Here's a picture I pulled off the internet of the fountain:

The figures are magnificent.  We then walked to the Pantheon, still in rain so I pulled another image off the internet for this blog.

I have to admit that it was far more impressive than I had imagined.  Since it began as a pagan temple, I was unprepared for the grandeur of the inner space.  Again, this is not my photo, but one I found:

Because of the rain, the center was wet and roped off.  There are actual drain holes and the floor is stone.  The oculus is always open.  In good weather, the light moves across the space.  It became a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 609.  There are many altars in the niches, but this is the central one (aha! my own photo):

Back at the hotel in the late afternoon, Jan and I went back to the rooftop garden for more pictures.

Great views, and I won't even pretend to describe what we could see.  Jan also took this fun picture of me:

We had a presentation before dinner reviewing the history of Rome and some of the things we had seen.  I have lots of notes!  That evening, we walked to the Jewish Quarter for dinner.  I just have to share the menu:
                              Fried artichoke
                              Fried Zucchini flower stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella
                              Veal slice filled with prosciutto and mozzarella with mushrooms
                               I can't remember the dessert
                               Of course, wine...red or white

It was a good day!!!

May 3 Trevi Fountain, Foro Italico, MAXXI, Neighborhood Walk

One of the truly iconic sights in Rome is the Trevi Fountain.  We waled there from the hotel.  It is pretty spectacular and coins are thrown into it over the shoulder by people hoping that will bring them back to Rome.  The city collects the money and gives it to the poor.   We then had lunch and went for a van ride along the Tiber River to the Foro Italiano, formerly known as the Foro Mussolini.

I had not heard of this Foro, but learned that it was built under the direction of Mussolini between 1928 and 1938.  The Olympic logo is from when it was used for ceremonies in the 1960 Olympic Games.  The centerpiece of this sports complex is a stadium surrounded by marble statues of men engaged in sports, such as the one below:

Below is how it looks today.  A huge parking lot was the first thing I saw.  The stadium is still used today for sports events. There is this track, a swimming pool, tennis courts and probably other sports venues.  The statues are actually not very inspiring.  Compared to those of the Renaissance, they are stiff and overly posed.

The formal entry to this complex is actually a huge marble obelisk that is a tribute to Mussolini. 

....and there are black and white mosaics between that obelisk and the rest of the complex that are tributes to Mussolini, and to fascism generally.  Below is a photo of one with of them showing the symbol of fascism:

I do wonder how these survived and why they are not found to be offensive, but I think Italians have dealt with so many difficult eras over centuries that they just don't worry too much about it.

We then went to a very modern museum called MAXXI celebrating art and architecture of the 21st century.  There were quite a few architecture displays that were innovative and then some of our group just relaxed in the lobby on some unusual lounge chairs:

We went back to the hotel and took a walk around the neighborhood before dinner.  Below is the building that dominates the cityscape.  It is the Victor Emmanuel Monument, also called the "Altar of the Nation."

This view is from the side.  It is much larger in the front. It was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1861 unification of Italy.  We did not go in it, but you couldn't avoid seeing it.

We also saw something interesting and typical of Rome.  Below is a theater that was abandoned.  People have built homes above it and are living there.  Building on top of ruins is a theme of the city!

We also walked through part of the Jewish Quarter, where we'll see more in a couple of days, and saw the ruined church in the photo below.  It is a church and was spared when most of the Quarter was destroyed, though it is pretty much ruins now.  We learned that Christian churches were in the Jewish Quarter and that Jews were forced to attend them.

May 2--Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica

I thought this would be the most inspiring day of the Road Scholars tour, but it was a disappointment.  It was way too crowded and I found the grandeur and the excesses of the Catholic Popes troubling...particularly when I realized that the "indulgences" of people paying to have sins forgiven made the excess possible.   Of course, the good news is that significant art investments were preserved.  It's a dilemma for me.  The guide was good, but I learned that I like to look at art at my own pace.  You can't do that when the guide needs to make sure everyone sees the classics.   It is also fascinating that the Vatican is an independent state with its own stamps and post offices.  I did send postcards.  I did not take pictures and so the pictures in this post were all pulled from the internet.

One of the most impressive pieces is the Apollo Belvedere. It is very graceful and he is holding a (missing) bow.  This marble statue dates to AD 120-140 and is a copy of a Greek bronze believed to have been created about 350-325 BC.  The Romans were copying Greeks during that time. 

Another impressive collection that I had not heard of before is a map gallery, above.   It shows the regions of Italy in the 16th century.   The fresco maps were interesting, but the ceiling was amazing.  There are many paintings, also in fresco, that relate to regions of Italy on that ceiling. To me, it is amazing to realize that this work was all done before Italy was unified in about 1870, so that is another twist.  Here is how a part of the ceiling looks:

Another fantastic fresco, "The School of Athens" (shown below) by Raphael, is in a set of rooms that feature work by Raphael and his assistants.  Actually, there are many amazing paintings in those rooms, but this one stood out to me.  It was done at the same time that Michelangelo was working on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael appreciated Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel and added him as the brooding person in the left-center foreground of "The School of Athens."  Here's a close-up:

The next visit was to the Sistine Chapel.  It was truly overwhelming.  This fresco is "The Last Judgement" by Michelangelo:

We had received a good description of it the night before and so I was somewhat prepared but, WOW!  Christ is sitting in judgment with his mother at his side. Without going into every figure....the the figures on the lower left are ones who have been or will be saved and the ones on the lower right are those damned to Hell.  If you are interested, get a better resolution picture of this painting....or go see it.

The ceiling was done by Michelangelo and it is intricate and huge.  I could not possibly discuss all of it with any sincerity, and so I won't.  It would be a blur and/or a very long post.  Of course, the highlight of the ceiling is the depiction of the hands of God and Adam at the creation of Adam.

I wish I could say it was worth it to see the original.  I was glad I had some small travel binoculars because the ceiling is high and it is hard to see the details.  I was glad I had some small travel binoculars and found a seat to the side to contemplate it, but it really was too much to take in at once!

We also went into St. Peter's Basilica, which is where the Pope holds Mass, though not when we were there.  It is another overwhelming sight and to say it is huge is an understatement.  Since coming home, I have read that it covers over six acres.  The plan was developed by Michelangelo, including the enormous dome.  He died before it was completed, but it is amazing.

There is a lot of art in the cathedral, including an altar designed by Bernini.  The most memorable thing for me was The Pieta, a statue by Michelangelo of Mary holding her son after the crucifixion.

I think that, even if you are not a devout Christian, this work of art can move you.  A mother grieving the treatment of her son is always sad, but she believed was also the Son of God.

This was a very long post.  I am glad I did it because I came away from the day thinking that it was horrible because of the crowds, but I did see some incredible art and architecture.

May 1 Spanish Steps, Anglo American Writers, Trastevere

On May 1, we began the day with a van ride to the Spanish Steps.  The driver let us off at the top;  it must be closed to most vehicle traffic at the bottom.  I was glad as it was easier for me to go down.  It is truly beautiful and the reason they are called Spanish Steps is because they link the church at the top with the Spanish Embassy, which is still the Spanish Embassy today though it is a few doors to the left in the picture below.  There is a fountain with a boat sculpture (la barca) at the  bottom. It is said to be the work of Pietro Bernini, father of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the son may have completed it when his father died.  The son is the famous sculptor.  Construction was 1627-1629.  The boat is meant to be a reminder of a flood in 1598 when a little boat was deposited at the foot of the Spanish Steps.

We were there early in the day, so it wasn't too crowded.  I expect it was very crowded later because May 1 is a holiday in Italy.  We then had a coffee break at the Caffe Greco.

Many famous people have hung out there and it was a favorite place, for instance, of Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemons.  Here's a bust of him that is in the caffe:

There is a long list of other famous patrons, but we were particularly interested in John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley.  They lived very close, at the bottom right of the Spanish Steps, our next stop was the Keats-Shelley house, which is now a museum dedicated to second-generation Romantic poets.  Lord Byron is also associated with that residence.  Keats died in a room that is restored to how it was then. He could hear the La Barca fountain from his bed and see the Spanish Steps. This is the view from his room:

We then independently ate lunch and explored the neighborhood.  We got together back at the hotel for a briefing on the Vatican Museums in preparation for the next day.  We also took a tram to go to dinner in the Trastevere neighborhood.   Busy, good day, and aren't the flowers on the steps lovely?