at least the crappy weather makes for nice photos

Taken this evening in my neighborhood. We had snow earlier today, but it quickly melted away. It's still pretty cold, though. It will be nice when spring is actually here.

rome, day 5: the end

By my final day in Rome, I was feeling like I had made this vacation one day too long. It's great to see interesting places and eat good food, but it's always better when you can share the experience with someone else. Five days is a long time to be alone, and I was feeling it by the end. Still, I decided to make the most of my last day by mixing in some new things with some old favorites.

My first stop of the day was the Piazza di Spagna, where the Spanish Steps are located. This was our first stop when we first visited Rome a few years ago, so I thought it would be interesting to go back. Before I went to the steps, I stopped at two different shops in the alley coming out of the metro to have breakfast. I started with salami pizza and then had gelato (coconut and stracciatella flavors), and really enjoyed it. It was about 10am, but so what? I was on vacation.

It was good that I went early, as I was actually able to see the steps, as opposed to 2134908712412 sitting on them, as had been the case a few years before.

The Steps:


I climbed up the steps to go inside the church (Trinita dei Monti) at the top, something we had not done when we were there before. The church was small, but very nicely appointed.





I next decided to walk through the area around the Villa Borghese. The views up the street to this area were quite nice, and included relatively unobstructed views of the Vatican City:



The Borghese area was all trees, grass and shrubs. It was nice to get something that wasn't all city and cars for a while. The weather was perfect and it was a very pleasant walk. I stopped a few times to just sit and enjoy the weather. Lots of other people had the same idea:



I made my way through the parks and down a hill to the museum of modern art. It wasn't very big, so I was only there for an hour or so, but it had a decent collection with a few famous names and many Italian names that I had never heard of before.











The weather was still nice when I got back outside, so I enjoyed the hike back to civilization (i.e., a metro station). Here's the view of the sky I saw when I exited the museum:



The metro station was by the Piazza del Popolo, so I stopped in there for a few minutes, and then headed back to the hotel to rest for a while.

I decided to go back out a few hours later, this time earlier than my previous evening excursions. I decided to head back to the Colosseum/Forum area for more photos and to see if there was anything interesting in the Circo Massimo area. The weather was good for photos, which was nice.







The Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus in Latin) is about 1km from the Colosseum, so it didn't take me long to get there. It's where chariot races used to be held, so I thought it would be interesting to see despite the fact that I had read that not much was left of it. This turned out to be true, but it was still interesting to walk where the chariots had once been.

On the track:


Standing in the middle, looking at both sides of the track:


It's too bad that none of the structures or monuments are left, but oh well. People decided at some point that, like the gladiator fights in the Colosseum, the chariot races had to be stopped.

I walked back by the Colosseum and found a sidewalk restaurant for dinner. I decided to splurge since it was my last night in town, so here's what I got:

- Platter of a few fried items, including fried risotto, a fried olive, fried potatoes, etc.
- Prosciutto/mozzarella crostini
- Penne all'arabbiatta (best I've ever had)
- Saltimbocca alla Romana (veal+prosciutto)

A very filling, very good meal. When I was done, I walked toward the Foro Traiano to get some evening photos.

Church and column at the end of the Foro:


Looking back toward the Colosseum:


Vittorio Emanuele monument:






Some of the Foro Traiano and Vittorio Emanuele:


Final view of the Colosseum:


I stayed out as late as I could without missing the metro home, and was pretty exhausted by the end. Still, it was a good day and time well spent. A very nice ending to a great trip. Rome is still one of my favorite cities in the whole world, if not my absolute favorite.

rome, day 4: un giorno in chiese

I decided to wake up early on Monday morning and go directly to the Vatican so that I could (hopefully) avoid the lines at St. Peter's Basilica. This turned out to be an excellent idea, as the basilica opens at 7am and I got there at 7:30, which meant not having to wait in any lines, contend with crowds, or feel rushed going from one place to the next. This also turned out to be the only day of my trip when it rained, so it was good that I didn't have to wait in any outside lines.

Here's what the basilica looks like as you approach it:



Here's what the square looks like front the front of the basilica:



This is what you see after you get into the basilica from the main foyer:



Notice that you can't really see all the way to the back. It really is that big.

The amount of paintings, carvings, sculptures and so forth inside is quite staggering. There's not much you can do to describe it, so I'll just let photos do most of the talking.











Candles at the front of the altar:






The linguistics nerd in me has always been fascinated by the Greek inserted amongst the Latin quotations that circle the building:



Another view of the main altar:




I spent a lot of time aside, and again, it was quiet and not crowded, so I took my time. I even stood and watched a German mass for a while just to get a feel for what the believers would do inside.

Afterward, I decided to pay a few shekels to go up to the cupola, which is the top of the basilica. It would have been much better if it hadn't been overcast, but oh well.

The main dome:


You get a nice view of the inside of the dome once you get up there, and you can even climb all the way to the very top of the dome if you like. Considering the knee and Achilles tendon problems I've had over the last couple of years, I decided to take a pass on that.

The inside of the dome:


The walkway around the dome is covered with mosaics:


Detail on a mosaic:


Looking down:


Another view of the top:


After I was done, I ran into a couple of these guys near the exit to the side of the basilica:





The Swiss Guard are the pope's personal security detail. By tradition, they must actually be Swiss. Great uniforms, too.

When I was done in the Vatican, I got back on the metro and headed over to another of Rome's famous churches, San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran). It started raining around the time that I got there, so it was pretty dead on the grounds and inside, which was nice. Laterano is much smaller than St. Peter's, but still impressive...and it should be, considering the fact that it, rather than St. Peter's, is actually the seat of the bishop of Rome, i.e., the pope (even though he rarely goes there).







The main altar:


Looking below the altar at the statue of John the Baptist:


Behind the altar:




After I was done inside, I wandered around outside to see what was in the square behind the church. I found yet another Egyptian obelisk, but not much else, so I made my way down the street to another famous church.

The path I walked to the next church:



The church:


The next church was another of Rome's most important churches, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem). According to Catholic tradition, fragments of the cross used to crucify Jesus are kept inside. It is perhaps for this reason that photos are not permitted inside. I did snap one surreptitious photo, however, since I liked the ceiling at the back of the church.



I was pretty beat after this, so I headed back to the hotel and rested and worked for the next six hours or so. When evening came, I decided to head back to the Vatican area for dinner. I found a restaurant off the main street to St. Peter's Square and had a nice dinner of risotto, veal milanese, fruit salad and some other stuff that I no longer recall. After dinner, it was tripod time in St. Peter's Square. The Vatican police apparently will throw you out if they see you using a tripod, so it's probably a good thing that I went there on a dark, rainy night.











I wasn't able to stay long, but I got some great photos. I also continued taking photos on my way back to the metro, which was fun.









I walked a ridiculous amount that day, but it was a good day. I saw lots of new things and got some great photos.