Around The World 2011 Day 24: Rome, Italy

This morning our friend Josh had to wake up very early to go to a tour of Pompeii.  We did the Pompeii thing two years ago and do not need to spend a whole day going back and forth to it when we can stay here and enjoy Roma together.

With Josh gone, and with out friend Rebecca leaving Frankfurt for Rome this evening, Barbie and I have a day to ourselves.  And since we have both spent a lot of time in Rome, today we will do something we most enjoy; the little things.  Number one on the agenda?  Laundry.  There is a small clothes washing machine in our apartment but no drier, and we have three weeks of clothes that we wore in the heat and humidity of Thailand and Laos.  You get the picture.

But first, a warning.

On the way to do our laundry, which google maps showed me on my iPhone a laundromat is only two blocks away, we came across the worst pants worn by a woman in Rome on July 22.

No joke.  Look away if you must.  These pants... they are not pants.

This is an abomination.  Look away.

There.   The worst pants worn by a woman in Rome on July 22.

I know I am a little nutty, but doing our laundry ourselves while travelling makes me feel more normal.  More at home.  And, of course, planning to do laundry twice during an eight week trip means needing one third the clothing without having to wear dirty clothes.

The rare two finger point.  Our whites are THERE; our darks are THERE.

Barbie taking our clothes out of the drier and putting them into one of the two Four Seasons Tented Camp Mahout bags that we were given.  Who knew that a a Mahout bag -- and a Mahout is an elephant rider/trainer -- would work perfectly as a travelling laundry bag.

After our laundry was done, and it was done fast and easily which is a pleasure of its own, we dropped the laundry off at the apartment and then headed out for lunch.  After lunch, a stroll to a museum.

Out local Piazza San Cosimato, looking friendly and inviting,  I know this is beating a dead horse, but the fact that development in the USA abandoned the idea of public spaces dotted around neighborhoods is a tragedy, and a likely reason that people in the USA do not feel close to their neighbors.   Walking out of your door and into a public square is quite different from getting into your car and parking in a parking lot to enter a mall or supermarket.  In the USA, we are all strangers.

I would love to be mayor of Los Angeles and introduce the public square concept.  I believe it could alleviate traffic and improve living quality in an instant.

We sat for lunch at Pizza Roma, our local favorite.  This makes it my third visit here!

Yes, of course.

This time we added proscuitto to the mushroom pizza.

The night before I watched local after local walk into this gelateria next to Pizza Roma.  There is no doubt it is going to be good.

The best we have had this trip, without a doubt.  Chocolate with orange on the left, nocciòla (hazel nut) on the right.

We plan to visit the Capitoline Museums today, on Capitoline Hill where the Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument takes up far too much space and destroyed too much of what sat there before.

Across the Tevere back into Rome, just South of the Sinogaga, sits this ruin.  A bath house, I would thing.

Palazzo Senatorio, Rome City Hall, gets photographed thousands of times per day.  It is a nice looking building, for sure, but I think it is because of the very long, very gradual stairway to it.  Place anything at the top of a stairway and people will take its picture.  In our stone age minds, anything up on a hill is more important.

The statue in front of Palazzo Senatorio is Emperor Marcus Aurelius on horseback.  I do not think it is a subtle coincidence that Vittorio Emmanuel II's staue sits on horseback next door, several times larger and higher up the hill.  We learned inside that this statue is a copy, with the orignal on display inside the museum protected from the elements.

We entered the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the main museum to the right of City Hall, got in free with our Roma Passes, and entered the courtyard where I was delighted to find the remains of a colossal statue of Constantine.

Now that is a colossal foot.

This statue once sat at the Basilica of Maxentius near the Roman Forum, just down the hill from here.

I could not resist.  A Colossal Hand Pointing Its Index Finger is THERE.

A closer demonstration of what the term colossal truly means.

Before it became a ruin of fragments, this colossal statue of Constantine featured him seated, and the statue stood 40 feet / 12 meters tall.  Seated.  That would be about as tall as a three story building, and his figure was seated.

Constantine the Great (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus), lived from 272 AD to 337 AD, and was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337.  He is often noted for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, but this was a political move based on the popularity of Christianity at the time.  More importantly, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 which proclaimed religious tolerance of all religions throughout the empire.

You have seen me list examples before.  All societies which proclaim religious tolerance blossom and grow.

Constantine also fought successfully against the Franks, Alamanni, Visigoths, and Sarmatians. Famously, he transformed the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium into a new imperial residence, Constantinople, which would be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over one thousand years. The Eastern Roman Empire lasted far longer than its Western brother.  This is why Constantine is considered the first in the line of Byzantine emperors.

Of course, I would expect that during a visit to Istanbul I would learn a different version of sorts; that Istanbul was controlled by a foreign power for a thousand years and then rose up and took control of its own destiny.  But when in Rome... think like the Romans, too.

The Capitoline Wolf.  This is the original, but there is controversy around it.  It depicts Remus and Romulus, tossed into the Tevere River when their grandfather was overthrown by his brother, suckling at the she-wolf who cared for them until a herdsman found and raised them.  This statue was alleged to be an Etruscan work of the 5th century BC.  Then it became more clear that the she-wolf dates back 2500 years while the twins were added in the late 15th century AD, probably by the sculptor Antonio Pollaiolo.

However, recent radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating has found that it was possibly manufactured in the 13th century AD; this is still contested, and while carbon dating has been performed on remnants of the casting core, the results have not yet been publicized.  Whether or not the statue and its parts are as old as they have been thought to be,  it is still the icon of Rome.  And after seeing dozens of copies and reinterpretations, Barbie and I have finally seen the original.

Always take a closer look.

In order to approximate her expression, I had to go inside and truly feel Medusa's inner turmoil.

You have seen me do many close-up of a statue with an empty space beyond them shots before.  You will see it again.

Here stands the original that once sat in the piazza outside.  Marcus Aurelius served as Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.

In 1503, Machiavelli named the five good emperors -- Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius -- stating they, "had no need of praetorian cohorts, or of countless legions to guard them, but were defended by their own good lives, the good-will of their subjects, and the attachment of the senate."  In other words, they were good leaders who did not need an iron fist.

The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon, in his work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, stated that these men, "governed by absolute power, under the guidance of wisdom and virtue."

The problem, of course, is that when good men lead by absolute power their choice of successor is critical, because as soon as less-good men get absolute power... well, let us just say that few bad men who inherit empires give them up when they are not popular and need that iron fist.

A bronze of Constantine, in scale to the colossal Constantine statue whose remnants you saw above

The following blew me away.  On Capitoline Hill tere once stood a Temple of Jupiter. It looked very much like the Parthenon, and dates to the sixth century BC.

In various parts of the Capitoline Museums you see relics of the Temple of Jupiter.  Personally, I adore that even though dominated by the Catholic church Rome does not turn its back on its old Gods.

This Asian tourist is as fashionable as they come, as she takes a picture of her husband and children.  Barbie noted that she has to walk all over Rome in Those Shoes.

I tell you, our souls demand that we take pictures on long stairways.

Mussolini gave speeches from the balcony THERE.

Rome is lucky that Mussolini was, shall we say, not terribly successful.  Had he burned a similar path that other members of the Axis, Rome would have a much darker period in its recent history.  When all is said and done, the fascist period is rarely mentioned here.

Strolling back home, we came across this lovely building on a rarely used sidestreet.  Turns out it is the Biblioteca di Storia Moderna e Contemporanea.

A fantastic courtyard, and I am sure that this library of modern and contemporary literature would be worth a visit inside someday.

Emperor Nero, whose palace was razed so that the Colosseum could be built for the people.

Our stroll brought us by this lovely fountain, which if you look closely features turtles at the top.  This is the Fontana Monumentale delle Tartarughe, 1581-1588.

A note to travelers; when you take pictures of things, take pictures of the signs and placards on and near them.  You will be glad later when you want to know what it is that you photographed.

Back in Trastevere, we made a dinner reservation for tomorrow night and happened by the Chisea Santa Maria della Scala.

Built from 1593 to 1610 to house the Madonna della Scala together with a statue of St. John of the Cross.  I have not counted the number of churches just in the Trastevere neighborhood, but my guess is between eight and twelve.  Amusingly, a friend recommended that we eat, "At the Sicilian restaurant next to the church."  Okay.  Got it.

Walking home, we passed a Nun.  Nun sighting!  The day earns a bonus six joy credits.

We returned to the apartment, and worked until Josh returned from Pompeii and Rebecca arrived from Frankfurt.  We plan to east at Miraggio, where we could not make a reservation but we have never had trouble eating there before.

An evening stroll through Trastevere, at the magic hour.  I have not taken nearly enough pictures at this hour.

Grilled calamari.  One of the most delicious dishes ever.

Sedanini al Pesto.   One of the most delicious dishes ever.

Eggplant parmigiana.  One of the most delicious dishes ever.

Pizza quattro formaggi.  One of the most delicious dishes ever.   Seriously.   The use of blue cheese pushed this over the top.

Piazza Trilussa, when the young and hip hang out to be young and hip.

We were going to walk back to the hotel along the river.

Before I knew it, Josh went down the stairs to the riverside where it is like a very long carnival of vendors, magic, and food.

Italian man on a date, making sure that his date's bottom is in the correct position.

Back home, I finally get to show you Rebecca with Barbie at our front door.  Today marks the second time that they have met, and they are best friends already.  But this happened last time, and I expected it to repeat itself.  I just wish I had gotten her picture when she first arrived.

Until tomorrow...