Roman Marathon 2011

Not only did the Romans welcome us with choruses, fireworks, and a free museum day -- they even held a marathon! Folks ran like hellfire and damnation all around the ancient areas and through the city. From the distance of the Capitoline museum, the yelling sounded like the audience cheering the toreadors in Carmen. Afterwards there was continuous music and performers -- we saw bellydancers and heard 1950s-ish singing. Good stuff.

The Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill abuts the Roman Forum and the Colliseum, but it seems park-like and private. There are ruins of fine homes, aqueducts, and gardens. Extant wall frescoes are amazingly delicate in design. The museum includes models of prehistoric huts.

The main Roman Forum

At this point we've been in the forum and above it from two viewpoints: the Palatine Hill and the Tabularium on the Capitoline Hill. Down inside, archeological digs keep finding new evidence of earlier and earlier settlements. It's an exciting mix of different ruins from different times. There is even the center of the world. While much is startlingly huge, the most overwhelming remains are those of the Basilica of Maxentius. One amazing bit of continued use and reuse is the 4th c. AD Temple of Romulus. It survives -- its bronze doors intact -- as part of the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano. That church has sweet sheep mosaics.

Vatican Museums

Happily, we ordered tickets to the Vatican museums online before leaving home. Even rushing and using the metro, we were late for our 8 AM date; fortunately, that didn't matter and we sailed in front of a long line. Armed with both our Blue Guide and audioguides, we enjoyed a long visit at these huge museums. A few of our favorite pieces of art were the Apollo in the Belvedere, Etruscan art such as a fine gold fibula, and the Raphael rooms including Aeneas saving Anchises. We agreed that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is terrific -- the Last Judgment, not so much. Here are pics.

Unification Day

Imagine our pleasure when we discovered that all sites and museums were free on our first day in Rome. We spent it primarily in the Roman Forum and the Imperial foraa. Kids sold umbrellas like crazy in the morning as we ducked intermittent showers. Then they pushed sunglasses in the afternoon. We ate lunch in Restaurant Ulvia looking over Trajan's column. We ate there back in 1995 on our first European trip After Kids. Buildings have been really spiffed up since then. And, much more stuff is being excavated. I know much more about what I'm looking at, so I'm enjoying the sites more. Here is a pic of the damp and the crowds in the forum and a view from our table at lunch.

Our apartment, via Quattro Cantoni 72B

This apartment resembles an artist's studio in that it's full of light, space, and art. It's high up -- a tough four flights from a tiny alley. A WWII resistance fighter is commemorated on the front. We arrived in the rain and dark; our landlord Francesco (speaks English well -- perhaps he picked it up while at MIT) was friendly and helpful. We even heard choirs singing in the night. And the sky outside our bedroom window burst with fireworks at midnight. No, it wasn't for us; it's the 150th anniversary of unification. Here are some apt pics.

To Europe -- March, April, May 2011

We left Suffield on Tuesday, March 15th. Remnants of the gargantuan snowfields were still left and the weather was brisk. Landing in London, we were shocked by the warmth. Here is a pic of the daffodills outside our hotel room at The George Hotel in London. They're lovely!