Rome, the Eternal City

We said goodbye to Sr. Marcelina, and took a taxi to the train station. The train from Assisi to Rome was on time. However our first class car did not have air conditioning, and the electrical outlet did not work. That is Italy, we said.

After meeting our host, and dropping our bags, we walked around the neighborhood. The Colosseum was only a short walk, so we went to admire it.  For dinner, we bought some pizza from our host's favorite place, right next door,  Our host says that it is some of the best pizza in Rome.  

On Friday we walked to the Colosseum, only to find it closed for a union meeting. We decided to walk out the Appian Way, the original Roman road, about 2000 years old.  We walked about three miles to the Catacombs of St. Stephen.  There are about seven miles of underground passageways, and up to 100,000 people buried there.   The remains of St. Peter and St. Paul were held and venerated there for about fifty years, and there are many inscriptions to them.

We took the bus back to downtown Rome.  On the bus ride, we discovered that we had walked out into the country, with fields and farms.  The Catacombs were outside the city of Rome, and still are.

In the afternoon, we walked to the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.   It was large and lavish.  The gold on the ceiling came from Ferdinand and Isabella from the first gold from the Americas.

We continued to the National Roman Museum, where we found a wide range of statues and artifacts from ancient Rome.  Every time you dig in Rome, you find ancient artifacts, so much so that the delays in the third subway line are the butt of jokes.  As usual, I liked the mosaics; Sandi liked the painted frescoes.  Some of the metalwork was amazing.

We had nice dinner at the nearby Taverna Romano, which was a very popular place.   

Saturday morning we got up and went to see the Colosseum.  We had considered a tour, and tripped over one near the entrance.  It was 13 euros per person for a tour of the Colosseum and the Forum.  The tour was good, especially the tour of the Forum, by Alexander Mariotti.  We decided to join his secrets of Rome tour in the evening.

It is interesting to realize that the Colosseum was not the largest stadium in Rome, which was the Circus Maximas, (Circo Massimo).

Selfie sticks were the tourist item of the trip, with street vendors selling them everywhere, and people using them everywhere. We toyed with making a movie of people using selfie sticks.  The funniest example occurred here, when we saw a group of nuns using a selfie stick. 

The secrets of Rome tour was interesting, and included multiple tombs of Michelangelo.   Apparently he died in Rome, and the pope wanted him buried in Rome, but the Medici's stole his body.  He is buried in Florence, in the Santa Croce church.  We also went into the basement of the Trattoria de Pallaro, where the stone work suggests that it was part of the the Roman theatre where Julius Caesar was killed.   Shakespeare says that he was killed at the Roman Senate, but he was actually killed at Pompey's theatre.  The buildings today still show the curved shape of the theatre.   We had a nice dinner at the Trattoria de Pallaro, with a cranky Italian grandmother managing the place.

On Sunday morning we went to the local church, where we watched a woman take her dog up to communion with her.

After church we went for a stroll, and wandered into a museum that was free that day, the Museo dei Fori Imperiali.  The  most interesting thing was the juxtaposition of modern sculpture with ancient ruins.  The sculptor was Pablo Atchugarry.

We walked to the Plaza Navona, with a fountain by Bernini.  We bought a small turtle hand-crafted by an oriental woman.  The plaza was a happening place, including someone who looked like he was a yogi levitating.

Bernini fountain

We stopped for lunch at the Pizzeria Monte Carlo.   The food was good and inexpensive; he wrote the receipt on the paper tablecloth!  Tax avoidance is a way of life in Italy.

We continued our walk to the to the Vatican, where we wandered around St. Peters Basilica.  It was fairly calm, and we enjoyed hearing vespers.   We took the bus home.

We had tickets to the Vatican museum on Monday morning.  We took the overcrowded subway to avoid the notorious pickpockets on the 64 bus.

The Vatican museums are overwhelming, like the Metropolitan museum of art.  So many styles and eras, starting with the Egyptians.  We both enjoyed the Sistine Chapel, where we admired the Rafael murals, but were truly impressed with the Michelangelo, who clearly took painting to the next level, with imagination and flair.

In the afternoon we went to San Giovanni Laterano, which was the seat of the Papacy for many years, and is still the pope's church in rome.   We strolled home through neighborhoods, including a park built around ancient ruins.  

After a nice pasta dinner by Sandi, we took a walk, and saw a soup kitchen and a laser light show.

On Tuesday, we took the train to the ancient Roman city of Ostia. It is a bit like Pompeii, except it was preserved by mud, not ash. The area covered by excavated ruins was very large. This was the primary port of Rome, at the mouth of the Tiber. It was definitely worth the trip.

Our trip home was uneventful, although our flight home from Europe was a bit late.   We flew Lufthansa through Frankfurt.     We got up at 3 AM Europe time, and got home after midnight Europe time.

All in all, a great trip.

Assisi

We left about 11 am for the train station. On our way out the door we met our host, Allessandro; we had previously met his spouse, Asadeh.   He was just as gracious as she was, and promised to consider carefully our comments, especially since we had stayed for six nights, while most of their guests only stay for two nights.   He explained that they have five apartments that they rent out, but they do not own them, they rent them from others.   He said that they have learned a lot about what is appealing to their visitors, and are perhaps now ready to buy a property.

The train station was busy and a bit chaotic.  Sandi waited in line at the pharmacy, and gave up, due to a long line.  We took a number to buy a train ticket from a human, but realized that the wait would be measured in hours, not minutes.  We tried again to use the ticket machine, with an attendant to help us if needed, and this time the machine worked, we were able to buy a ticket from Assisi to Rome.  I made a mistake and bought first class tickets instead of second class, but that was only a few dollars difference, and now we will get to ride the first class cars of a local (regional) train to Rome.

We waited to find out our track number, and it came up on the board about 10 minutes before departure.  As we were getting to the train, someone took our bags and hauled them on board.  Not too surprisingly, they wanted a tip.  A learning experience.

The train ride was pleasant, through the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside.  The train stopped every few minutes.   We chatted with some Australians in the adjacent seats, and exchanged travel tips.  We took a cab to the convent of St. Brigida.  The sisters have a ministry of hospitality, including similar houses in Rome and other cities.   After we dropped off our luggage, we walked up to town, taking elevators and escalators to do so.    

Our first stop was at the church of St. Chiara (St. Clare), who was the first female follower of St. Francis, and founded the order of the Poor Clares.   We happened to be there when a Spanish language mass was starting, for a group of pilgrims from Lima Peru.  We stayed for mass  The Spanish mass really made me feel at home.  Afterwords I chatted with a couple of the pilgrims, impressing Sandi with my Spanish.  This church, like most of the churches here, is in alternating pink and white marble.

We continued walking, and saw a sign for St. Damiano.  I remembered that San Damiano was where the cross spoke to Francis, telling him to "rebuild my church, which is falling into ruins."   San Damiano was a very tranquil and spiritual place, with only a handful of pilgrims.   We both liked San  Damiano very much.   However, the walk back up to town was long and steep.

The sisters served us and the other guests dinner.  The sisters have a unique habit, including white bands with red dots on their heads.   Our room is simple, like a convent room.  The wifi is only available in the sitting room downstairs.  The patio is divine, with a view of the surrounding countryside.  

On Wednesday we headed back up to town to follow the Rick Steves audio walking tour of the town, which was quite interesting, including the Roman  colliseum, and finishing in fromt of the Basilica.  After lunch, we used his audio guide to the Basilica, paying special attention to the Giotto frescoes.

The photo is of Richard with Sr. Marcelina, the Mother Superior and manager of the guest house. 

More Florence

Saturday morning we slept in, and went shopping in the very nice central mercado. 

Saturday afternoon, we visited the San Lorenzo church, one of the major churches in Florence.  Interestingly, they never installed the facade, it is still rough. This included some bronze panels by Michelangelo.

In the evening, we went to the English language mass at the Duomo. While waiting for the Saturday evening mass, we sat and people watched near the Duomo

On Sunday, we got up early and visited the Acadamia, where the original statue of Daviid is located.  We had an early admission ticket, so we were ahead of the masses.  In addition to MIchaelanglo's statue of David, there was an exhibit of art related to St. Francis.    In a separate part of the museum, there were also interesting musical instruments, including Stradivarius violins By the time we were ready to leave, the place was packed with tour groups.     

After the Acadamia, we went to the central market, where we had lunch.

Sunday evening, we went to vespers, and then to a mass with an organ.   Yes, we have been attending several masses at the Duomo, each for it's own reason.

We ended up sitting right next to the organist.   After mass we chatted with him for a few minutes.   Sandi's sister Peg is the music director for her church, so we had something in common with him.  He was a super-nice guy, and suggested that if Peg visited she could play his amazing organ.  His name is David Jackson; he has a father from Birmingham and a mother from Florence.  He has two PhDs, including one in composition.   The closing music was improvised, which made it especially impressive.   We made a video of him playing the closing music, putting it up as a private video on Youtube.   

We had a nice dinner at a restaurant off the main square, with a very nice waiter,  watching his family eat dinner, and then went to a chamber orchestra concert, including Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Mozaart's A Little Night Music.

On Monday morning, we headed for the church of the Santa Croce, another huge and impressive church, containing the tombs of Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo.  An amazing collection of people to be in one city, let alone buried in one church.

We went to our favorite panini place, for the third time; they remembered us.   

After lunch we headed for the church of Santa Maria Novelle, near the train station.  It was perhaps a bit less impressive than the other churches, but had interesting frescos.

Sandi needed to make a business call, but we easily made it back to the apartment in time.  

Tuesday we will leave at noon for Assisi.

  

Florence and Siena

We took the vaporetto to the train station, where we took the frecciargento  high speed train to Florence. It was not truly high speed on that trip, but nice. It speeds up as it gets closer to Rome. Our seat mate was a mischievous English teacher, who bantered with us, and told us that all Italians would try to cheat us.

We bumped our luggage down the bumpy sidewalks of Florence to our apartment, where Asadeh met us in the street, recognizing my photo. The apartment is a studio, and felt like a NYC apartment, but perfectly adequate, with a great  location. We can see the Duomo church from our balcony. 

We found a great panini place and walked around the amazing Duomo church. We bought tickets to the Uffuzi museum, and then walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and up a steep walkway to the Plaza Michelangelo, with a great view of the city.

We had dinner in Bevo Vino, a funky cafe near the river.

Thursday we got up early to go the Uffuzi; we had tickets for 8:15, so we were ahead of the masses.   It was a bit overwhelming.  It was amazing to think of one family with so much wealth and art.  Sandi thinks that she has a better understanding of the Renaissance.  We admired the open air statues in the Plaza Veccio.  At that point we were on art overload, so we went back to the panini place, and took an afternoon nap.  In the evening we went to mass at the Duomo. We went to bed early to get ready for a big day on Friday.

Friday was an all day tour to San Gimagnano and Sienna.  We started at San Gimignano, a hill town and a UNESCO world heritage site.  it is well preserved, and unique for the towers found on many of the houses.  The town was full of busloads of tourists, but it was possible to get off the main road and see a little on our own.  Sandi spent some time and money in the leather market, but managed to show some restraint.

For lunch, we went to a vinyard, tasting wines, olive oil, and truffle oil, which they would be happy to ship to your home.  The guy was quite a saleman.

In Siena, we had a short tour of the town, and then just spent time in the plazas people watching.  The town's peak was earlier than others, so the archtecture is Gothic.  A lot of the economy of the town is and has been based on banking, for hundreds of years.  Siena is famous for the Palio horse race in the square, with neighborhoods competing with each other.  If you want to see it, you need to book a year in advance.   

On the way back to Florence, we stopped at another smaller hill town and fortress, Monteriggoni.  Many movies have been shot there.   Monteriggoni and Sienna are on the pilgrimage route to Rome, the Via Francigena.  Like the camino a Santiago, this has undergone a resurgence of popularily.   

A long day but a good day.

Saturday we slept in, and had a liesurely breakfast.   We headed for the central market, which was very busy and somewhat upscale, but with vegetables and other market products along with fancy food.  We spent $10 to stock our larder.      

In the afternoon, we visited the San Lorenzo church, another amazing church, where Michelangelo and other great artists worked.  

We went to the English mass at the Duomo, and then sat for an hour watching people. Sandi prepared a nice pasta meal. 

More Venice

On Sunday morning we went to the nearby church, of Jeremiah and Saint Lucia. The mass was in Italian of course, so we only understood a few words. 

After mass we walked around, and discovered the body of St. Lucia in a glass case. St Lucia is from the fourth century, and is a relatively well known saint, associated with healing of eye diseases. 

After lunch, we walked a short distance to where we could see the Grand Canal, for the Historical Regatta. The water bus system was shut down for the event. After the historical regatta/parade, there were races in different classes. The women's race turned around a buoy right in front of us.  

After the race, we walked to the other side of the island to catch a boat to Murano, where we ate dinner in the same restaurant, Osteria al Duomo.  We are enjoying our boat pass. 

Monday was churches day. The most impressive was the Suola San Rocco, 8000 square feet of Tintoretto.  The nicest church building was Santa Miracoli, with bookmatched marble inside and out. 

We saw a very nice modern art piece by Jaume Piensa at San Giorgio. 

The fish market outside our door. 

 

On Tuesday we visited the Ca'Rezzona modern art and Oriental museum. The piece below is particularly pointed due to the refugee crisis. There is a beggar in the lower left, as well as razor wire. The text is 'It is not a good day to be human.'

After a good lunch in the museum cafe, we took a boat to the beach at Lido. We liked Lido, very calm this time of year. 

We tried to stop by the biennial art show, but tickets were 25 euros, and it was late. We headed home, where Sandi cooked a good dinner. 

Tomorrow we take the train to Florence.  We could have stayed another week.  

Denver to Venice

Our trip started with a 3 AM alarm, followed by a 4:10 pickup. We got on a United flight to Newark, and tried to sleep.

 In Newark, Sandi used her United Club passes. I had never been in an airline club, and was surprised with the free food and free drinks. There was good wifi, and a sense of quiet. A good call on Sandi's part.

The flight to Venice was long, but uneventful. We arrived Thursday morning, and waited 45 minutes for Sandi's bag. Apparently the Venice airport is known for slow baggage. After some confusion due to lack of signs, we found  the dock, and bought a ticket to Venice. What could be more appropriate than arriving in Venice by boat?

Elisabetta was waiting for us at the Guglie dock, and took us to a lovely apartment. We ate lunch at the cafe next door, very nice. 

We were very tired, so we took a nap after lunch.  We bought a chip and data for Richard's phone. We took a lengthy walk through the Cannaregio neighborhood, and got away from the tourist area. We had dinner near the apartment. 

Friday morning we woke up early, and took a walk to San Marco plaza. There  was already a long line for the church, so we had a nice buffet breakfast in a fancy hotel. 

Richard was fascinated by the garbage system, which was running nearby while we were eating. The garbage is collected by handcarts. The worker pulls the cart to the dock. The garbage scow has a small crane, which picks up the cart and puts it on a dumping station. The bottom of the cart drops, and the garbage is then pushed and compressed by a ram.  The crane sets the empty cart back on the dock. The garbage is picked up daily by an army of men pushing handcarts. There are handcarts everywhere, delivering everything. 

We went to the Doge palace, which was sensory and opulence overload, with huge halls filled with decoration and paintings.  Amazing.   We also visited the prison, a stark contrast. 

After that we decided that we did not want to see another museum, so we took a boat back to our apartment, stopping at the Rialto market to buy vegetables. After a nap, we got on the first boat and found  ourselves at dusk on a boat to Murano, where we had a nice dinner. The system of water buses is extensive, and we bought a week pass. 

Saturday we rode the boat to the cemetary island, where we found the graves of Stravinsky and Ezra Pound. Then we rode the boat to Burano, the island famous for lace. Burano has very colorfull houses, absurdly picturesque is what I called them. We had lunch, and then went to the lace museum. 

Sandi in Burano

It was sunny and nice in Burano, But headed back in deteriorating weather. A big storm blew in, with horizontal rain. We got wet even inside the boat.