Our Morning with the Caravaggios

IMG_3816.JPG, originally uploaded by pbartleby.

Our friend Tim recommended a Saturday morning sprint to see all the Caravaggios tucked away in the churches of Rome. Needless to say, it was a morning filled with highlights, including the Inspiration of St. Matthew at S. Luigi dei Francesi.

Follow you, follow me

Yes, we went to the free Genesis concert along with 500,000 of our closest Roman friends. But first...

After a late night with the Greek group Wednesday night, we got up fairly early and went up to the Vatican bookstore. We walked around the Borgo (neighborhood of Vatican City) and had a lovely lunch at Borgo Antico. It's Slow Food certified and the eggplant terrine is delicious. Any hungry Vatican-goers who want to avoid the overpriced trattorias should look for it on Borgo Pio.



Stayed in Thursday night and relaxed Friday. Friday night we had friends over for dinner again - grilled squid, fresh pasta and salad. Plus a new drink - coke and bitters. Then poker. Yikes, a late night.

Despite that we got up early Saturday morning and met Lukas and Tim in Campo di Fiori to see the Caravaggio's at all the churches Tim had researched. They were amazing!



We also saw some Raphael frescos - I love how the best stuff is sometimes in churches and free to the public here instead of locked in a museum (I'm looking at you, Vatican) where you'd have to pay to see it. Well, you have to pay the 10 cents to turn the lights on in the churches... Plus it was great to go along with someone else's plan for once.

After we met up with Amanda at one of the last churches, we went out to lunch of pasta and saw all the SALDI signs on the stores. That's right, it's the month-long summer shopping sale in Rome. All the shops observe and I think we're going out Tuesday to check them out. Weak dollar be damned!

We walked over to the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace) Museum on the Tiber after lunch. We had planned to check it out eventually, but the opening of the "45 years of Valentino" exhibit sealed it for me. It was so cool! I loved all the Valentino gown-decked mannequins surrounding the beautiful altar like Vestal Virgins.



The exhibit itself downstairs included all the famous gowns worn to the Oscars, more clothes and accessories though the years and, my favorite, his sketches from the 50's through next season.



This is me with the Oscar gowns (Cate Blanchett's to my right) smiling before I saw the 07-08 sketches. Hint - small bows are going to be everywhere. Hmm...maybe 45 years is long enough. The Ara itself was beautiful, surrounded with relief of Romans enjoying the years of peace Augustus brought to them. Very serene in the modern setting of the museum.

After the museum, Pat and I went to a grattachecca stand along the Tiber. Yum - shaved ice with fresh fruit syrups. Lemon-citron for me, orange for Pat.



We crossed the river and wound our way through Prati before busing home. Quick nap for Pat before class. I met him and some of his classmates after class for dinner at this LAME American-style steak place. The food sounded gross so we just ordered beers (draft, good!) and ended up getting a slice of pizza afterward instead. Good choice, since the nachos looked like they were drowned in canned cheese. But they were showing "Endless Summer" on the TVs, so that was kinda cool.

Speaking of kinda cool, we then walked through Trastevere, across the Tiber Island and went to the Circus Maximus for the Genesis concert. It was crowded, dusty, silly and awesome. Phil Collins is both a cheeseball and a great performer. We all rocked out (as much as that is possible) to the surpisingly good sound system and sang along to the hits.

This kid did not enjoy Genesis, but Pat and Dave (seen here as only a cheering arm) shared the crowd's excitement.





I couldn't believe how many people showed up - the news estimated 500,000 - based on the scooters parked nearby it seems like a low-ball figure.



Sunday we slept in a bit, skipping the weekly class trip (the Forum this week, which we've seen many times) and opting to meet friends to go out to Tivoli instead. We saw parts of Rome new to us, full of pushier suburbanites and more annoying public transportation. But we also saw this:



First we went to Hadrian's Villa and wandered the ruins before checking out the museum and the huge Egyptian-style pool.



We had fun but I had thought I'd read about fountains. Turns out I was thinking of another estate in Tivoli, so Pat and I parted ways with the group when they were heading back to Rome (a decision helped by their bus being packed with belligerent & drunken teens) and instead took the other bus into Tivoli proper.

After a bit of confusion about the location, we wandered down Medieval streets to the Villa d'Este. The admission was high and we only had an hour, but we soon forgot that once we went inside.



Huge views of the countryside, gorgeous fountains and lush (in an area where we'd witnessed 3 hill-side fires that day) gardens. Every turn made me gasp. We heard the Fountain of the Organs but sadly didn't see it in time - apparently the water pressure makes the different notes.

The gardens were filled with water and modern art, my new view of heaven. Long pools and a huge variety of fountains. Seriously, my favorite place of the trip so far.





After that we walked out into the town square again and saw the view from the Garibaldi Walk but wanted to get back to Rome before nightfall. The bus-subway-bus trip home wasn't so bad and we ended up observing our Sunday tradition of non-Italian food for dinner. This week - Indian at Jaipur in Trastevere.

We'd forgotten to eat all day so we ended up getting the Sunday dinner for 2 - samosas, tandoori chicken, lamb masala, eggplant puree, chana dal, chicken korma, beer, pistachio ice cream and milk pudding. A little of everything and man, was it tasty. Better dal than NYC, but honestly, it was just nice to taste some different spices. Plus our waiter was adorable, greeted us with champagne and gave us magazines when we left.

Despite dropping a shelf on my foot getting to bed and almost giving Pat a heart attack, our night was relaxing. And so is today. This week, tours with friends, shopping the sales, the beach and the Scavi under St. Peter's.

Another week of living, not posting

Around Sunday I realized I hadn't posted here in a week with an update. And then I realize how long it would have to be and went swimming instead. Now 3 days later I'm making time - and the update will be even longer. Feel free to skip to the photos.

Monday & Tuesday last week were spent catching up on some sleep and hosting a couple of Leah's friends here. We went out for dinner at Dar Poeta for the best pizza of my life. Seriously, it was amazing. Oh, I wandered around the Campo di Fiori and saw several art galleries. Otherwise a chill couple of days.

Wednesday Kristin R. arrived and I met her at the train station. We brought back her stuff and went shopping for our BBQ that night. Pat brought home the Greek group and we had a great time. Yes, we had to get the butcher to hand-grind several kilo's of steaks into burgers and yes, the hot dogs were so small it was 2 to a bun, but it was as American as we could manage. There was even an impromptu singing of the Star Spangled Banner by our international crew and a lively debate about global politics. How patriotic was that?

The next day Kristin got us on the tourist track and we all headed out to see the Palazzo Borghese - an art museum in the largest park in Rome. The buses weren't co-operating though and we were going to miss our appointment. So since we were already close, we went to the Capitaline Museum instead. It was like the greatest hits collection of Roman art. Mostly intact statues, famous mosaics, the original bronze of Marcus Aurelius. After that, we walked through the Forum and tried to go to a lunch place I'd read about but it was closed and since it was after 3PM we had to brave a tourist spot. The food was fine but thank goodness we checked the drink prices before ordering - 1 beer was the same as 1 of our lunches.

After that Pat headed to class and Kristin and I shopped, not getting much. We met Pat after class at al Pau for dinner. The food was delicious (especially the "linguine al pao" which had porchinis & clams) but we had to turn down gelato-man on the walk home since we were all stuffed.

Friday was another action-packed day. We again woke up really early and took the train up to Florence. We paid for speed but even the Eurostar took 1.5 hours. It was completely worth it though.

Firenze was incredible. I'm not sure how Katie and I could have hated it in 1999 (although I blame lack of sleep and crappy weather), but I think it's gorgeous now. Our preparation had been a quick read of the NYT's 36 hours in Florence and a brief web surf, but I think we did a surprising amount of fun stuff in one day.

We started by buying a map and wandering the streets, stopping in to a small church, passing the Duomo, seeing the Ponte Vecchio and heading back in to the Uffizi. We decided to eat lunch before dealing with the line. We lunched at the Osteria Belle Donne - delicious non-Roman Italian food despite a brusque waiter - then walked past Dante's house and bought fantastic jewelry nearby. Back at the Uffizi, we waited for 2 hours to get in, taking turns walking around the square. K. bought wonderful gifts at the Market of the Little Pig but I couldn't decide on a purse for myself.

Once we got into the museum, it was worth the wait. The guides said to try to make it through tthe first 12 rooms but we somehow walked through all 45. The first rooms housed gold-leaf altar paintings from the 13th century - amazing even out of context. But it was the Botticelli's that almost made me cry. I can't explain the amazing experience of seeing these paintings in person. We wandered through the rest of the rooms but I had to go back one more time. We wandered downstairs to leave and saw yet another exhibit (so much art!) but just walked through to the gift shop(s!!) and outside.


After that we were a bit dazed but energized so we crossed the river to the bar the NYT's recomended for free food with your cocktail. They weren't kidding - forget dinner, we ate a feast at the bar. On the way to another bar, we spotted a staircase and started climbing. My feet were about to fall off at this point but we made it to the top. The view was incredible.

We didn't have time for a bar after that and so we hobbled to the train station only to find out our train was delayed. Gah! We collapsed on the platform but finally made it home around 1AM. Birthday calls to the folks & bed.

Saturday I turned 30 and celebrated by sleeping in. Kristin and I went to the Colosseum and tried a friend's trick for skipping the line. It worked! You just walk up through the Forum to the entrance of the Palatine Gardens and buy the ticket there. In 10 minutes, we were done. At the Colosseum all we had to do was walk through security and we were in. I found the structure itself interesting, but mostly felt the same way viewing it from outside. After spa pedicures, Kristin's first gelato, naps and primping, we went out to dinner with John, Leah and Amanda at Dar Poeta again. It's that good. After that, drinking in the piazza - what a way to ring in my 30th birthday. By acting 19...

Sunday morning came early but we rushed to the train station Amazing Race-style (aka arguing, running and general chaos) and made the train to Formia with Pat's class. After a nice walk around the town we came to the main draw for me - the beach. I'm slightly horrified that in over a month this is only our second time at the beach. Formia is gorgeous though - clean water, uncrowded beach, soft sand. Despite a hilariously bad service at lunch (I had to wait 2 hours for my food - hahahah!), we persevered, some of us opting to skip Cicero's tomb and returning to the beach instead. Lovely.

Monday was a comedy of errors, but it worked out in the end. Kristin R. went to the Vatican and I was supposed to meet her at a bridge at 1PM. Somehow we got the bridges confused and I waited at a different one than her. I'd been shopping all morning with Amanda & another classmate's wife and we couldn't find the stores we were looking for either. A rough start to the day. Eventually we got lunch and I picking up Pat's keys from class. Luckily Kristin had found her way home and we eventually laughed about it. We bought steaks and veggies for dinner and grilled out for her last night in Rome, beginning it as she started it. We had so much fun just hanging out in the yard talking and drinking wine until very late.

Tuesday we took Kristin to the train station to get her to the airport - sorry to see her go. She's a fabulous houseguest! Pat and I wandered around the booksellers and a church, which we mistakenly thought was the one with the monk's bones, then got sandwiches and walked up to St. Peter in Chains church only to find it closed too. We did get to walk through the stairway where one Borghia killed another (Lucrezia?).

Today we had everyone over for Greek club again so I made lasagnas (one vegetarian with spinach noodles, one with sausage), salad and grilled peaches. Pat and I had attempted a trip to the Vatican this morning but gave up on the buses and went shopping instead.

The most exciting news is that we heard from the Scavi tour people today - we will get to go on one of their tours of the catacombs beneath St. Peter's next week! We'd heard July was booked but maybe there was a cancelation. Should be claustrophobic, gruesome fun.

Sunday in Formia

Formia, originally uploaded by pbartleby.

Formia was kinder to us than it was to Cicero.

We spent a beautiful Italian summer day at the beach. We swam in waters hemmed in by Gaeta on one side and mountains on the other. In a less leisurely moments, we read some Latin at Cicero's villa--now a nondescript condo--and some more at his tomb.

Probably the single nicest day we've spent in Italy... a perfect combination of study and fun.

Firenze

Loved it! K.R., Pat and I spent the day yesteday. Amazing, tiring, crazy. More to follow, but check out some of the photos for now. I'll upload the rest after a much needed pedicure & nap. A great way to spend my birthday!

From the top of Italy

Subiacio, originally uploaded by pbartleby.

Last Sunday, we visited St. Benedict's first monastery. It was in a town a little bit east of Rome called Subiacio on top of a nearby mountain. It was easy to understand what Benedict saw here.

The timing of the trip was almost literary--something about climbing a mountain on the exact midpoint of our trip to Rome.

We have a little less than a month left. It has been wonderful so far and there's no reason to think the next month won't be even better.

Friends & photos

It's been an exhausting but fun week since I last updated.

Last Wednesday for Greek club, I took the night off from cooking and everyone brought pizza instead. Thursday I met Amanda bright and early and we spent the day shopping. Bought a cute dress (I ended up wearing it at the wedding Saturday) for 30 euro. Tried on a few pairs of shoes but the only ones I liked were $$$ so I decided to wait. We had lunch at La Fiametta (sadly, no lemon pistachio pasta anymore, but a very good cannelloni), drank some chilled white wine and had so much fun out.

After shopping, I met Pat & we went over to John & Leah's for drinks. Here's the progression from day to night on their roof.





A few of our NYC friends had arrived for the wedding by then. So good to see Mike & Emily especially - they'd had the most stressful trip (lost luggage, $$$ Venice, Italian bureaucracy) and seemed happy to finally be with friends in Rome. Everyone was tired so it was a relatively early night.

Friday was the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul - the biggest holiday in Rome. Translation: everything was closed. So Reginaldus made sure our weekly Latin trip was out of town. We met early at Termini and took the train, then bus to Cicero's birthplace in Sora. Gorgeous day - river, hills, monasteries.



We even enjoyed a subsidized lunch at a restaurant decorated like Egypt but serving Italian food. Then we went to another monastery with a beautiful courtyard and a distillery.



After touring the grounds with an adorable Italian monk and seeing their private library, refectory & church, we ran across the street to their shop. We bought some coffee liquor for home & Heineken's for the bus ride back. Here's Pat with my shopping buddy Amanda.



Returning to Rome around 9PM, some classmates joined us for a late dinner in the Ghetto. Jewish-Italian food = fried goodness. Finally tried the zucchini flowers.

Saturday was the wedding. John & Leah had asked me to take some photos and I quickly became a wedding photographer (aka bossy) but everyone called it professional and seemed relieved.

The day began at the Basilica di St. Pancrazio for the ceremony - a full Latin mass celebrated by none other than Pat's teacher, Fr. Reginald Foster.



He has been such a driving influence in John and Leah's relationship so it was completely fitting - and the reason for holding the wedding in Rome in the first place. He was wonderful - funny, gruff, and moving. Plus some of Leah's friends formed a choir and sang beautifully together.

After the Mass, I assembled the families for some formal shots then we all walked through the park to the reception lunch at Ristorante Scarpone. Amazing food & wine and touching toasts. After the lunch, we all walked down to the fountain on via Garibaldi for more photos. I somehow wrangled everyone together for this shot.



After the wedding Pat and I went home to relax a bit before meeting Mike and Emily for quiet drink. We wandered around and found a cute wine bar near the piazza Navona. Then meet the group for gelato at John & Leah's place. On the way home (meaning we only spent 2 hours), we stopped into a classmate's party at his apartment on Campo di Fiori I can see why the New York Times just wrote about obnoxious tourists in the Campo at night. But the apartment was nice and we ended up having a sing-a-long with Pat on guitar. Still, an exhausting night.

Remind me to thank our wedding photographers again - it was amazing to document their day but something I really think I'd only want to do for friends.

Sunday was another early morning. We met the wedding party for a private bus to Subiacio; the monastery of St. Benedict. Another gorgeous day outside the city. The murals in the church were incredible but the setting was better up in the mountains. We walked all over, picnicked along the path and even took a hike straight up into the woods. Needless to say, most of us were sleeping during the bus ride home.



We parted ways with the group and Emily came home with us for a relaxing dinner at home. Unfortunately every grocery/bakery/butcher's shop was closed for Sunday so we ended up walking down the hill and meeting Mike for dinner in Trastevere instead. After Pat vetoed a wine bar we went to a tourist trap with very good cheap food instead. Surprisingly good choice! M & E were flying back this morning - we're sad to see them go but happy we got to spend so much time with them.

We're hosting one of Leah's cousins for the next couple of days here. But otherwise we're back to normal after a wild week of food, drink, travel and fun. I've even uploaded all the wedding photos to Flickr but still need to do a quick edit. The rest of the week should be fun too - especially since our NYC friend Kristin is arriving Wednesday. Oh, the shopping we'll do! Now that I think about it, I should probably take a nap while I can.

PS: Congratulations to Sue & Dan on the arrival of their beautiful baby Henry! He's adorable and I'm hoping her 6 hour labor is somehow contagious to former roomies. I can't wait to meet him when we return next month.