Old Leonard, a painter, a scientist and an ENGINEER!

Last night was the culmination of The Life of Leonardo da Vinci a five part Questar video series. It was a real tour de force.  I enjoyed it, and I think Cathy did too --- it was her decision to watch the last three episodes or 3 solid hours of TV (something unusual for her).  Now I have a better understanding of good--old Leonard. He was not only a painter, but a scientist and an engineer.  A sculptor like Michelangelo or Bernini, a lover like Raphaello  (although I still do not understand his relation with his pretty male companions), or a violent man like Caravaggio he was not.  As for his Mona Lisa (where does this name come from? ) or better La Gioconda he missed the opportunity to sell it, somehow he was very attached to it (her). If you delete her hair and clothes from the painting she looks very different, like someone from our time. A beautiful expression!

This morning I then decided to look for some of his inventions and I am amazed at what he accomplished. A good place to see this is Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions and if you want to guess what his different inventions are go to Leonardo's Mysterious Machinery.  And if you want to see some of his drawings (to me one of the best part of these places) visit Suzannah Hills' article in The Daily Mail. All of the above is just to convince you that we should go to the Macchine de Leonardo exposition which has been in Rome since 2009 and will close in April 30, 2015. A google map indicates we can walk there in 28 minutes from our apartment.  I hope you agree with me...

Eat Rome

I bit the bullet and bought the Elizabeth Minchilli app called Eat Rome, even though it didn't have any ratings.  Few of the other Rome guides had ratings either so I guess that isn't unusual.  I'm using Eat Rome to explore the area around the apartment on Via Napoli and then I'll go further afield.  Here are a couple of reviews that sounded interesting.

Castroni is a gourmet food store that has both Italian and international products.  They have a store at Via Nazionale 71 but that particular one doesn't have a website.  The largest one is supposed to be at Via Cola di Rienzo 196/198 which is located near the Vatican, not too close to us.  However they are supposed to have a nice selection of teas so maybe I can get that double strong English tea that I picked up in Paris.

Open Colonna is the less expensive eatery of Antonello Colonna, one of Italy's best loved chefs.  It is located on top of the Palazzo degli Esposizioni on Via Milano near Via Nazionale.  Eat Rome says they have a fixed priced lunch for 15 euros but a 2014 posting on Spotted by Locals says: "There aren’t many people that know that from Tuesday to Friday there is a promotion called City Lunch only at lunch time. During City Lunch for only 16 euros (beverages not included water is € 2.50) it’s possible to eat exquisite dishes of great quality, sitting in a beautiful modern structure made of glass, but if the weather is nice there is also a balcony."  The restaurant's website is quite uninformative and I haven't run across any Italian restaurant website that lists prices.  And Minchilli's app is equally vague:  almost all the restaurants she mentions are marked with 2 or 3 euros but I can't find the price range of those ratings.  I haven't run across a 1 euro listing yet.

Unfortunately Minchilli doesn't list much near the apartment and when she gets towards Termini station she talks about stumbling over drunks to reach the door of a Chinese restaurant called Food & Beverage.  She does have some interesting listings in other parts of the city, like Chiostro del Bramante, a 15th century cloister near the Piazza Navona that has a caffeteria, although Spotted by Locals calls it a Tea Room.  The Cloisters contain a painting of the Sybils by Rafael whom we perhaps should call by his Italian name: Raffaello.

As I keep referring back to Spotted by Locals, I notice that they have an app as well.  It covers 50+ cities and is free.  Oh wait, it's not.  Just the index of the 50+ cities is!!  The Spotted by Locals Rome Guide is $3.99, just like Eat Rome was, so I'll think about it.  Most of the restaurants will probably seem expensive to us so if I can find some good places to buy cheese and bread and fruit, I'll be happy.

Nuovo Mercato Esquilino is the market by the Termini station that caters to the immigrant population, especially Indians and east Asians.  Minchilli says there are few Italian vendors here but the prices of the fresh produce can't be beat.  Spotted by Locals also has an article on it but calls it Mercato Vittorio and places it at Via Principe Amedeo, 285, instead of 184.  Is it the same one?  It sure sounds like it!  This posting from Minchilli's blog explains the reason behind the two names, Piazza Vittorio being the previous location for it.  Now the market is indoors in a large hall which perhaps extends from #184 to #285...  It's open from 6:00 to 14:00 so we should be able to get some early grocery shopping in before we go see the sights.  On the other hand, Minchilli in her app says 7 am to 3 pm but on her blog (2011) says 5 am to 3 pm.  The Rome Digest says 7:30 am to 2 pm...

Raphael the young genius

Raphael's La Fornarina

Raphael was next in the list of YouTube videos from the BBC. A tragic story but full of intrigue and gossip. It would have made a good telenovela. Very interesting, especially the connection with Michelangelo --- the bright boy versus the old hard-working man! Raphael's rooms in the Vatican would be an interesting visit. I am very interested in seeing his first work room of the Segnatura to see Michelangelo sitting in the front of it, completely out of place. I would not want to miss seeing La Fornarina in Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini among the other very interesting paintings (I really want to see if Raphael's name is in her left arm -- that is all!). But then there are his frescoes in Villa Farnesina that are also lovely.... How long are we going to be in Rome? we have enough for years there... being in Rome is like living in a museum, so much to see.

I was wondering if one could walk to these places from 55 Via Napoli and how long it would take so I saved 3 google maps (the last one takes from the Villa Farnesina to Trastevere. Here are the google maps for these visits
To the Vatican museum by metro ; to Villa Farnesina, walking and Villa Farnesini to Trastevere. The first is in metro (maybe one day) and the other walking (maybe another day when we plan to visit Trastevere.

Bernini and Caravaggio -- a night at YouTube

Well, well, last night was the night of Roman art history.  Perchance I found in YouTube, that fountain of banality, misinformation and good stuff a video by the BBC, Bernini (The Power of Art) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvDUFgjxWQ. It is almost 50 minutes long, very entertaining and extremely informative (the narrator is not as enthusiastic as the Italian in Penny's video about Bernini, just a phlegmatic Brit!). The highlight of it was the statute of Santa Teresa's ecstasy; the almost erotic expression of Teresa and the mocking face of the angel, together with all the flowing marble.  Cathy says the church  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria  is close to where we will be staying; this is a must-see for me. The video ended abruptly, not uncommon in YouTube, so following the BBC clue I found one about Caravaggio https://www.youtube.com/watchv=YDMZE_05tlQ .  A very good video, almost an hour long.  This painter Caravaggio was a revelation to me. I did not know much except for his final painting (David with the head of Goliath -- actually the painter's).

Who needs TV if you can have all of this good stuff?  I would be very interested in seeing more of Caravaggio's work --which I believe is in the Galleria Borghese (a very definite must see for me).

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Impluviums

Several years ago I had bought this popular history of a Roman day by Alberto Angela, the host of an Italian TV science series, when I was at the Oxnard Costco (surprisingly).  I decided to reread it for the trip to Rome so I picked it up at the library and I'm discovering all sorts of things that I had forgotten or perhaps had never absorbed.

For instance, at 6:00 am we visit the domus or house of a wealthy Roman and describes the impluvium in the atrium.  The impluvium is a pool of water below a large opening to the sky in the middle of the house (like a small courtyard) that allows the rainwater (and sunlight) in.  The roof around it is sloped down towards the opening so that even more rainwater is collected and the excess is stored underground in cisterns.  Because A Day in the Life... is not well illustrated, I googled impluvium and came up with a lot of images, some of the most interesting were "lavoirs" or laundries in France, as illustrated on the left, where you can see how the roof slopes down.  There are some nice illustrations of this system on the web, including one Roman villa near Barcelona Torre LLauder, where we learn that the opening in the roof is called a compluvium.  There are lots of illustrations of this system on the web, which would be a neat one to have in California, although I haven't run across any signs that they are interested.

Bernini and Borromini

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Francesco Borromini (1599-1667) were the two leading architects who contributed to the city's Baroque heritage more than any other artists in Rome. Two absolute masters, no doubt, but with very different personalities.

I googled across this very entertaining YouTube offering that not only explains some of the differences between the two, but also will help you improve your Italian (once you figure out which language he is speaking). 
Bernini VS Borromini by Christiaan Santini
 Now we will better appreciate the church San Carlino that Cathy talks about a few blogs back.

Seven Hills of Rome

Is Rome really built on seven hills?  Will it be like San Francisco...trudging up Green to the Airbnb?  Some research is in order, and the first thing I discover is that a Victorian school boy would use this mnemonic to remember the hills: 

Here it is, so that we can remember them too: 

Can Queen Victoria eat cold apple pie? 

The first letters correspond to: 
Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, and Palatine, 

I'm not clear on why the school boy needed to know this, but then I'm a product of a not-so-contemporary American education.

I discover that "The hills are not really isolated hills.  Rather they are a series of ridges eroded from a plain above the floodplain of the Tiber river.  Erosion has separated the ends of some of the ridges into freestanding heights.  It's easy to understand if you look at the contour map below.  Note also that the slopes of the hills and ridges were much steeper  in ancient times and the valley bottoms were much closer to the level of the Tiber than they are today -- both natural action and human intervention have smoothed the contours and softened the edges."

So I guess I don't have to bring my walking poles, after all.  And the next map is quite useful with the historic sites and the city walls on top of the hills.  You see we will be on the Quirinal along with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano who lives in the Quirinal Palace just down the street!  See the Baths of Diocletian.  It's too bad they're not functioning now.

This is all from a Basic Rome City Topography, not the best designed site, but there is so much to learn that I've got to start somewhere.  And you can get a larger version of the above map there.

Moving over to You Tube there is a series "Digging History," produced by the American Institute for Roman Culture.  The third segment is The Geology of Rome, and it's worth watching to learn how geology influenced the development of Rome, and the series is quite well done. If you are feeling very retentive you should probably watch all the episodes and learn lots about Roman history and its excavation.  




Sometimes, however, a lighter touch is needed.  Not too many remember Mario Lanza these days, but we do courtesy of Grandpa Bill.  Here is a link to the trailer for The Seven Hills of Rome.  And, if that's not enough, you can watch the whole thing, but it looks like you'll have to pay $2.99 or find it on TCL.

San Carlino, San Bernardo alle Terme, Santa Susanna and Two Marias

San Carlino

These are all churches within a few blocks of the apartment on Via Napoli, and all are described in The Rome Guide by Mauro Lucentini.  San Carlino or San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane is a very small church by Borromini.  Borromini was a 17th Century Italian Baroque architect and contemporary (and rival) of Bernini.  Lucentini apparently feels Borromini was a better architect than Bernini and pays a lot of attention to his works.  San Carlino is at the crossroads of the four fountains representing two rivers (Tiber and Arno) and two goddesses (Juno and Diana).  From the Quattro Fontane one can see 3 obelisks - those monumental structures that the Romans stole from the Egyptians.

San Bernardo alle Terme

San Bernardo alle Terme on Via XX Settembre (the day in 1870 that Garibaldi conquered Rome) is called that because it was built in the 16th century out of one of the halls at the corners of the Baths of Diocletian, which were enormous and covered much of this area.  Like the Pantheon, it has an oculus as its source of light.

Santa Susanna

Across the Piazza San Bernardo is Santa Susanna, a 9th century church totally rebuilt in the Renaissance that serves as the national church of the U.S. Catholic community in Rome.  Their website provides a history of Santa Susanna (also on Wikipedia) who was beheaded in her home for refusing to marry one of Emperor Diocletian's generals and for being a Christian - or rather for refusing to make an offering to Jupiter.  The church was built on the site.  The website also provides visitor information for the American Catholic coming to Rome (listing convents that you can stay at) and its website is in English with tips for the tourist.  It recommends where to dine and tells you how to dine: the Italians don't server butter or ice, coffee doesn't come with the meal, and always, always take your receipt.

Santa Teresa in Ecstasy

A more noteworthy church near the apartment is Santa Maria della Vittoria, famous for Bernini's controversial statue St. Theresa in Ecstasy, portraying Santa Teresa of Avila in the seemingly erotic ecstasy of a transcendental union with Christ.  Definitely a work we have to go see.  Nearby is the Piazza della Repubblica, where we go to catch buses and the Metro.  It is famous for the early 20th century fountain designed by a "fiery Sicilian sculptor" Mario Rutelli, famous for his amorous exploits.  The fountain features frolicking water nymphs (niads) in suggestive poses that shocked the city council.  The Piazza della Repubblica was originally an open space within the Baths of Diocletian dedicated to physical exercise and the modern buildings follow the curve of the great apse of the perimeter.

Santa Maria degli Angeli

The second Santa Maria church is the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the great hall  of the Baths that Michelangelo transformed into a church in 1561.  The entrance to the church was originally the Tepidarium or "lukewarm area" of the baths where people could adjust to the "Frigidarium" of the main hall.  The Calidarium was originally in front of the church.  The Lucentinis say that the main hall of the church "may be the best place to get an idea of the grandiosity of an Imperial Roman public interior."  The Frigidarium was the main meeting place, offering cold water dips, massaging, strolling and socializing.

Roma Termini

And did you know that the name of the nearby Termini Railway Station does not refer to a terminus but instead to the Thermae of Diocletian?  And that the Station is considered a masterpiece of modern Roman architecture and was celebrated in the 1954 Vittorio De Sica film, Stazione Termini (Indiscretion of an American Wife)?

I'm sure there are many other things to see within a few blocks of the apartment but this should keep us busy for one morning...

San Vitale

I'm to page 71 in the Lucentini Rome Guide and he does a "detour" near the Quirinal to San Vitale, which is down the steps from Via Nazionale, the cross street of our apartment on Via Napoli.  San Vitale is a church from the 400s and that is why it is below street level.  It was remodeled several times in the Middle Ages and has "magnificent wooden doors" designed by Jesuit priests in the 17th century.  "The church evokes the missionary fervor of the era through gruesome paintings of martyrdom, meant to prepare young priests for the perils of their vocation.  Moreover, only plants and insects symbolising martyrdom in Christian iconography were allowed to grow in the vast gardens of the church, which were destroyed to build Via Nazionale...Inside, 17th century frescoes and paintings mostly depict atrocious scenes of torture, such as a soldier covered with homey and exposed to the insects.."

OK, Penny, you don't need to visit this church.  We'll check it out before you get there.  It doesn't have the beautiful Byzantine Mosaics that the San Vitale in Ravenna does.

Rome Blogs

So where does one go to find interesting things to do in Rome?  Things that aren't in the tourist books, things that locals do.  You go find a blog, of course!  And because my knowledge of Italian is stumbling, it will have to be an expat blog.

Here's a post on Antica Enoteca, a wine bar off the Via del Corso, the big fashion shopping street that runs from the Piazza del Populo in the north down to the Piazza Venezia just above the Roman Forum.  The blogger goes there for some peace and quiet after the crush of the shoppers because it is cool in summer and cozy in winter.  And also because it is open when regular restaurants aren't.

Then of course there is Katie Parla's blog which centers on food (she contributes to the NY Times).  She has a Rome on a Budget category which should help us find pizzas and pasta.  She has a recent post on Where to Eat in Rome in August, because in August many restaurants are closed, but maybe we can use it as well in November.

This blog eventually led me to the recent Italian film La grande bellezza or The Great Beauty about  an "aging socialite, Jep Gambardella, who once wrote a famous novel in his twenties, only to retire into a comfortable life writing cultural columns and throwing parties in Rome. After his 65th birthday party, he walks through the ruins and city streets, encountering the various characters, reflecting on his life, his first love, and sense of unfulfillment."  It sounds like something we should see before we go and fortunately there are 22 copies in our library system (it wasn't available through Netflix streaming or Amazon Prime of course).

Another Rome blog is Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome and she also has a list of Pizza places: best pizza in rome {2013} so we should be set for cheap meals.  One she reviews is Il Leoncino by the Spanish Steps which is noteworthy for being open for lunch (not just dinner) and for its bean, sausage and onion pizza.  I've placed it on google maps and it isn't quite next to the Spanish Steps but it does have the requisite grumpy waiters and a forno in the middle of the restaurant which makes it cozy in winter, perfect for us in November!

She has lengthy reviews of other pizzerie so we should be set as far as that goes!

Revealed Rome
How did I miss this blog when I posted?  The author has a November posting on "How to Spend a Rainy Day in Rome" and she recommends going to Testaccio, where she recommends visiting the mercato and the MACRO art museum (but not EATALY).

Music in Rome?

Rome has hundreds of churches.  Is it like London with free lunchtime classical concerts in some of them?  Well, not quite...but:
iSpyRome provides a short list of some churches which offer concerts and tells us the Protestant churches that have led the way and now tickets are sold online.  Well, that tells us they are not free, doesn't it, but the list is there with links to buy.  Most tickets are 17 Euro and up.  But wait...

Teatro Nazionale

Programme: Teatro Nazionale is under the management of Teatro della Opera, the home of opera and ballet in Rome. Every Sunday from January to May and October to December they have an “aperitivo concert” at 11 AM. Tickets are only 10 Euro and can be bought on the door.
Add: Via del Viminale, 51
Tel: +390 648 1601 • Web: www.operaroma.it

CLASSICTIC.com provides a concert listing should we decide we want to spend the money....looks like a lot of opera is on offer for Nov. 10 to 18. 
 
Gregorian Chant -Let's consider visiting the Cistercian Community of Santa Susanna on Sundays.... Mass in the Church is sung in Gregorian chant at 5 PM and Vespers and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is at 6 PM.   Oh my...Santa Susanna is closed for renovations...we'll have to check when we get there, and it's the church for American Catholics in Rome.  And, yes, there is a video tour on YouTube.
Also, there is Gregorian Chant for Vespers Monday-Saturday at 7:15pm at Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino.  That gives us a wider window of opportunity.  But I think we better check all this out when we get there because wikipedia says, "The church is mainly known to the local Roman people because of the performance of Gregorian chant during the Sunday mass."

Mercati

You didn't expect me to ignore the markets, did you?

Here's a site for the Markets of Rome: MarketsofRome.com.  And if you like, there is an Italian version: Mercati di Roma.  I'm not sure what will be available in November but it is the Mediterranean so I have high hopes.

There is the Mercato Trionfale, just north of Vatican City, so we can go visit that when we get bored with the Pope.  It moved to Via Andrea Doria in 2009 and is now housed in an indoor complex which is is a 10-minute walk from Ottaviano metro station.  It is open every day but Sunday (7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Friday).  The Parla Food blog has a posting on it from February 2012 and Katie Parla has a Youtube Video on the Trionfale area as well.

Campo dei Fiori
Dennis Callan of the Hawaiian Geographical Society has a video about the early morning market at Campo dei Fiori, in case you are an early riser.

As for Supermercati, here are 5 rules for shopping in them.

Put on the protective gloves for selecting your fruits and vegetables (don't touch the vegetables in the open air mercati!)

Weigh your fruits and vegetables and label them with the price

Bag your own groceries

Bags aren't free so bring your own...

Line cutting is permitted (especially if you are a little old lady with only a few items...Like us??)

Access Italy has some more tips on supermarket shopping.

Other quirks and useful things to know are

1.  Some enormous Italian supermarkets will charge you 1 Euro for a cart.  Update: it seems the carts are chained together and you need to deposit a coin to get one loose,  Then when you return it, you get your euro back.  Aceess Italy says the cart is a carrello.  I'm assuming these are only in the large supermarkets with parking lots.
2. An etto is 100 grams or a little more than 3 ounces.  So we could say tre etti for about 10 ounces -- or maybe that is too much salami for 3 people.  Maybe due etti would be a better quantity.

Checking out the Neighborhoods

Since we're going to rent an apartment in Rome, we better learn about the neighborhoods so we'll have a better idea of where we would like to stay.  I have read a few of articles recommending the Monti neighborhood above the Colosseum:

• The Full Monti: Rome's Cool Quarter
• Rome City Guide: A Day in Monti
• In Rome, Monti is a Quiet Treasure

 And then there is Trastevere, the medieval neighborhood across the Tiber on its west "left" bank.   In Rick Steves' radio program with Susanna and Francesca, Susanna says it is her favorite place in Rome:

• A Perfect Day in Trastevere, Rome's Favourite Neighborhood (this is a good one day tour of the area)
• Dennis Callan's Trastevere video on Youtube.  It looks much more "local" than his video on Piazza Navona and the Spanish Steps, where the streets are crowded with tourists and it almost looks like Disneyland.  Dennis Callan is a member of the Hawaiian Geographical Society and takes videos of the trips they sponsor.

On the other hand, Rick Steves says he always stays around the Pantheon, to be in the middle of things.   The area up by the Spanish Steps looks nice but is also expensive.

If we wanted to spend all our time in the Vatican, Prati would be a good neighborhood, but I'm not a Catholic.  Supposedly they have the best mercato, Trionfale.

They also say that the area around the Termini train station is seedy, as is the San Lorenzo student district, but interesting to visit.  Hopefully this apartment is far enough away from the train station: Historical Center Apartment, Colosseum.  The street view of Via Napoli looks civilized enough, not too much graffiti.   I used to go cruising along the street views in Google Maps but it is much harder to do with the new version.  Does Google realize that?

If one goes to the website, SuiteDreams.it, one can see a pretty nice satellite view of the area with the buildings, which are all pretty monumental and not very old.  One can actually navigate to other areas of the city and check the layout.  The view is at an angle and better than the view in Google Maps.  Oh wait!  This is the view from the old Google maps (will this link work? -- no it doesn't!  it sends one to the new and awful google map).  Why did they ever change??!!

The 350 Churches in Rome

I'm posting this from an app on my iPhone because I left my laptop at home. I haven't used the app before so don't expect anything long and elaborate.  Since Rome has so many churches, we'll have to check out as many as possible.  During the 40 days of Lent, The Catholic Traveler says it is a tradition to visit a different church each day.  So there we have a list of 40 churches and their history.  I just have to figure out which ones I want to see!

Day Trips from Rome

Should we use Rome for a base and do some day trips?  Cathy remembered that Rick Steves' Rome listed some, so I used up my B&N gift card and bought it.  And, yes, it does:
1)  Ostia Antica is closest and a no brainer. Rick's writeup courtesy of the Smithsonian.

"The old Roman port is similar to Pompeii but a lot closer and, in some ways, more interesting.  Because Ostia was a working port town, it shows a more complete and gritty look at Roman life than weathier Pompeii."  Getting there is a snap - a 45-minute combination metro/train ride.  Since the train is part of the Metro system, it only cost one Metro ticket each wasy - 3 euros total.  Closed Mon.  8:30-4:30.  Here's
2)  Tivoli, a medieval hill town,  is at the edge of the Sabine Hills, 18 mi. east of Rome.  It's famous for two very different villas:  Hadrian's Villa, a Versailles-like seat of government, and the restored Villa d'Este, a lush 16th century residence (lots of fountains) of a cardinal in exile.  From Rome, take Metro line B to Ponte Mammolo (Rebibbia), than take the local Cotral bus to Tivoli.  That gets us to Villa d'Este, and Ricky give more complicated directions to continue to Hadrian's Villa.  Here's Rick on Tivoli.
3)  Rick Steves' last day trip is Naples and Pompeii (4 to 5 hours of train travel round trip).  He calls Naples (third largest city) Italy in the extreme - its best (pizza and Sophia Loren), and its worst (organized crime), and does a pretty good job of scaring one about pickpockets, etc.

He offers a good self-guided, 3 hour walk from the Archaeological Museum through the heart of town and back to the Centrale Station.  And recommends good pizza places. 
Naples and Pompeii are connected by a commuter train - the Ferrovia Circumvesuviana (2 trains per hour, take any train marked Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi-Villa Misteri (about 40 min).  For Pompeii, R.S. provides a self-guided tour, and a free audio tour, and a 12 euro public tour is given every hour.  Allow 2 to 3 hours to tour.  It would be a really long day!

I also found that About.com has "Top Ten Day Trips from Rome," listing the above 3 and others.  I particularly liked Orvieto - "Perched atop tufa cliffs, the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto makes an impressive sight. Inhabited since Etruscan times, Orvieto's monuments and museums cover milleniums of history. Orvieto's stunning duomo (cathedral) with its mosaic facade is one of the best medieval monuments in Italy. Click to read more.

There are plenty of shops and restaurants where you can try specialties of the Umbria region. Orvieto is a little over an hour from Rome"  And I just checked Cathy's blog drafts and she links to this crosspollinate blog on Orvieto as the perfect day trip.

Wow....how are we going to fit in the Rome exploration?

Rome, Here We Come!

For better or for worse, we've booked our dividend miles trip to Rome and we hope it doesn't rain every day.  Rome couldn't have rainier or colder weather than Pittsburgh at any rate.  So do we stay the whole time in Rome and do day trips?  Or do we try to stay in  another city?  But that means we would have to come back to Rome to fly out, although technically we could take an early train to Rome (Papi says "No!")

For the 3 of us the train would cost ($27x2)x3=162 total to Florence and back.  That's for the direct train, like the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) pictured above (talk about a mix of languages).  There are "slower" ones beginning at $13, but then one is looking at connections or longer travel times than the standard 1 hour and 32 minutes.   A trip to Naples is even shorter: 1 hour and 10 minutes but the same price.  Didn't you always want to see Mount Vesuvius?  I looked at the possibility of a day trip to L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, but there's no direct train there and the shortest trip would be more than 3 hours - it's not on the Frecciarossa line or the Frecciargento or the Frecciabianca.  Going over the Appenines is apparently a big roadblock.  Was it Rick Steves who had a list of day trips in the back of his Rome book?

Keeping Track of Books on Rome

I've taken out a bunch of guide books on Rome from CLP Main and probably should take them back but I'm listing them here so I know that the library has them.

1. Let's go Budget Rome 2012
2. Frommer's Rome 2011
3. Walking Rome (National Geographic 2012)
4. (Lonely Planet) Rome 2013
5. (Lonely Planet) Discover Rome 2014
6. Rome (Eye Witness Travel Guides) 2014

Films Set in Rome

Now that we don't have a Detective Montalbano to watch, I'm going to look around for some movies set in Rome so I can preview the sights.  Today I checked out three from the Monroeville Public Library:

1. Angels & Demons, a Tom Hanks continuation of the Da Vinci Code although Dan Brown wrote Angels and Demons before it.
2. Three Coins in the Fountain, nominated for an Academy Award in 1954 with Rossano Brazzi, a favorite of mine.  Wikipedia says "It was made in Italy during the "Hollywood on the Tiber" era."
3. Fellini's Roma 

Of course, I'll have to take out Roman Holiday again with Audrey Hepburn (Fernando's favorite) and Gregory Peck since his apartment is supposed to be on the Via Margutta, which is just south of the Piazza del Populo.  And there is a similarly titled movie called "Rome Adventure" also with Rossano Brazzi and the Monroeville Library has that one as well.

The Guardian has a list of "10 of the best films set in Rome" but most are in English.  They also have a list of "10 of the best trattorias in Rome" but it is from 2011 so we'll have to check if they still exist.  The websites of Roman restaurants do not feature menus with prices so I hope they have the menus posted outside the door.

Wikipedia also has a List of films set in Rome but again they seem to be mainly English language films.  They have another list "Category: Films set in Rome" that has a lot more Italian language films, that I can look up and see if the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has them.  They do have quite a lot.

Rick Steves' Rome

I have 9 books out on Rome (and one on Italy) but the Rick Steves books is due back at the library and there is a hold on it so I can't renew it.  So I am trying to read as much as possible before I have to return it on Tuesday.

Rick recommends downloading his audio tours to one's iPhone since they are free (really?) and also recommends the Rome Walks YouTube video on "Understanding Rome's Public Transport".  And of course one thing leads to another and I end up at Rome Walks' Dan Brown's Angels and Demons Tour.  Maybe I'll get the movie (there are loads of available copies in the libraries) as it will be faster than reading the book and I'm in it for the sights anyway.

The one thing I'm getting over and over from Rick Steves is "watch out for pickpockets", especially on the buses.  Yet Rome is one of his favorite cities and he recommends taking the buses and metro (there are only two lines built by Mussolini, the only one who's dared to dig up ancient Rome for such modernization).  Rick says to take the first or last cars on the metro because they are less crowded and so less a target for pickpockets -- unless all the tourists have read Rick Steves.  He's got more than other travel books on public transportation, listing bus routes and what they pass by.  For instance, he recommends riding Bus #64 across the city:  "Ride it for a city overview and to watch pickpockets in action."  Maybe I won't bring my big camera afterall...  Of course, that wouldn't be in my pocket.

I listened to one of Rick Steve's radio shows on Rome, the introduction with Francesca and Susanna, which was quite interesting and informative, so much so that perhaps Fernando would listen to it.   Rick Steves has a lot of other material on Rome: videos, articles and radio shows, and apparently they are all free.  Here are his TV shows on Rome.  Whoops.  Some are only promos so we have to go look for them on YouTube.  I can't even find the full "Rome: Etrernally Engaging" episode at the library.

• Rick Steve's Rome: Eternally Engaging
• Rome: Ancient Glory
• Rome: Back-Street Riches
• Rome: Baroque Brilliance

Here's his complete section on Italy: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy and if you click on the + for "Listen" you can find the radio shows on Rome:

• Rome I: Travel Guide
• Rome II: Beneath the Surface (Ancient Rome)
• Rome III: Jewish Ghetto
• Visiting St. Peter's Basilica
• Waters of Rome
• Postcards from Rome

I'll have to listen to his radio episodes on Italian cuisine and there is one on Pilgrim's Italy in case at some point we want to walk the pilgrim's trail from England to Rome...  But the point of coming to Rick Steves' website was to download his audio tours, most of which are about Roman sites, to my iPhone.  The maps I'll print out -- I still like to have paper in my hands.

Since it is so expensive to get to Europe these days, I'd like to spend at least two weeks in Italy.  Actually I was thinking of enrolling in Pitt's summer semester in Siracusa...  But then I see they have a Pitt in Rome program -- but it is $5600 not including airfare!!  And then there is always the Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri with centers in Rome and Florence.  Do you think there are language programs for seniors?  Or maybe we could do a week in Rome and then a week at an AgroTurismo home in the country -- although then we'd probably have to rent a car and Fernando doesn't like to drive in foreign countries -- we'll have to wait to go with Juan to do that.  Or maybe we could do a week in Naples and go to Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Oh!  and look what Rick Steves sells: A Guidebook Page Binder, so you can tear out the pages from the his guidebook that you are using one day and clamp them together in the binder, then the next day replace them with another set so you don't have to lug the entire book around.  But why not just get the electronic version from Amazon and put it on your iPhone?

I know.  Not everyone has an iPhone...  Think of all the print guidebooks you could buy for one month of iPhone service.

Reading Rome

Naturally I'm checking out lots of books about Rome from the library.  The latest one is a hefty 730 page volume: The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City, written by Mauro Lucentini, an Italian journalist.  I'm on page 48 and we've barely made it through the Porta del Popolo and into the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo.  Within this church are so many paintings, mosaics and sculptures by famous Italians that perhaps I should take a course on Italian art first, although I think Jen still has her books from her Italian art history courses.  Maybe I can just look at the pictures...

And guess what??  This 730 page Rome Guide is available on the Kindle!  So we could do the walks from our iPhones, since the book consists of walks through Rome describing the history behind everything.  But who really wants to walk through Rome with their nose in an iPhone?  Although we might look like natives that way...

I'm further along in Frank J. Korn's Hidden Rome, whose format of short 3-4 page chapters is just right for me.  He has spent a lot of time in Rome and pulls out a lot of history.  He has another book, A Catholic's Guide to Rome,  but our library system doesn't have a copy, although Amazon offers both a paperback and a kindle version.  I wonder if there is A Pagan's Guide to Rome.  Korn has a little chapter on "The Trattoria" and lists some of his favorites, many of which are in Trastevere and the Borgo on the west side of the Tiber.  I'm going to add them to my Google Map of Rome.  I've come to the conclusion that the new Google Maps were designed for mobile phones, where the street view doesn't look distorted as it does on my laptop.  The classic Google Map works better on computers.  I have to see how my Rome map will look on my iPhone.

Interesting Tips about Rome

Here are some facts and asides I am picking up about Rome:

1. Frommers: He warns you about the Rome traffic, always be on your guard.  "The hectic crush of urban Rome is considerably less during August, when many Romans leave town for vacation."  He also says "never ride the trains when the Romans are going to or from work, or you'll be smashed flatter than fettuccine." AND: "Rome has four daily rush hours: to work (8-9am), to home for lunch (1pm), back to work (3:30pm), and to home in the evening (6-7pm)."  Also, always be on the alert for pickpockets...
   
   
   
2. Time Magazine: In finding the perfect souvenir, he recommends buying a rosary and then taking it to a papal appearance to have it blessed when the pope blesses the crowd.  "Technically, you may get blessings only for items that would help you with your faith (no T-shirts, or designer scarves or bottles of olive oil), but according to a Jesuit friend of mine, the one exception to the rule is for Jesuits, who often hold up bottles of single-malt scotch or top-shelf vodka. They claim that such libations greatly assist their prayer and mission."
   
   
   
3.  The Time Magazine article also has some tips in Need to Know.  For instance, rent a motorino to get around and don't order cappuccinos after noon.
   
   
   
4. Frommers: "April to June and late September to October are the best months for traveling in Italy -- temperatures are usually mild and the crowds aren't quite so intense...From late October to Easter, most attractions go on shorter winter hours or are closed for renovation. Many hotels and restaurants take a month or two off between November and February..."
   
   
   
5.  Lonely Planet: April to June and September-October are the high season rates for hotels.