Zurich Airport

We had a smooth departure from Rome this morning. Up early for a 7am pickup. I'm glad that we arranged for a driver! It was much easier than public transportation on a Sunday morning. The flight to Paris has a plane change in Zurich so I am logging in a Switzerland stop on the traveler log. Clean airport. Used stairs to deplane, then took a bus shuttle to the airport. Quick walk, through security again, and then to the waiting area. There are very few seats by the gate but there is a larger area where you can wait.

Rome, Italy - Video - Interior of Gesu Church

This shows a lot. Be patient as it loads.  You may be able to enlarge the video to fit in the entire screen, pause to look at each section.  Enjoy. It was a beautiful place.

Rome, Italy - at Mimi & Coco's

Sooo yummy.

Mimi and Coco
Gli Antichi vinai SRL
via Del Governo vecchio 72
Tel: 0668210845 Roma

Pane (bread) 2€
Brie Pachin 9€
Ravioli Formagio 10€
Tortellini Pancheta 9€
Focaccia Bruschetta 8€
Lasagna Ragu 9€
Vellutata Spin 8€
Strac Rucola 12€
Bottiglia Vino 22€
Espresso 2,50 €

Dessert
Tortino Ciocco 5€
Brownie 5€
Torta Ricotta 5€

Rome, Italy - Sculpture inside Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma)

Religion overthrowing Heresy

Yet another incredible sculpture.  You can click on the picture do get a full screen version.  "This statue shows the Church as an angry nun hauling back with a whip and just spanking a bunch of miserable Protestants. The serpent (Luther) is being stepped upon while the angry cherub rips pages out of a heretical book.  Not too subtle."  [Rick Steves]

This is found inside of the Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma).
Click here for the website.
I took a video of the inside of the Church so that you could see how incredible it was. You can see it on another post. The outside was very plain.  But when you realize that this was a first: "The center of the Jesuit order and the best symbol of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Gesu (jay-zoo) is packed with overblown art and underappreciated history." [Rick Steves]  The Church is the model for other churches to follow. 

From the tourist perspective, there were no signs, no lines, no arrow saying "enter here".  We looked at a grey building. Kalen wanted to go in because he had read about it.  (He attended Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, which is Jesuit.) We entered a small door and were immediately overpowered by an extremely vibrant and beautiful baroque (lots of gold) interior.

Be patient with the video. It may take some extra time to load but is well worth the wait.

Rome, Italy - Video Description of Rome Walk

This was taken from the top of Vittorio Emmanuel monument. Enjoy the view!

Rome, Italy - Rome Day and Night Walk

(Note: Several people have sent emails saying that they are trying to "reply" to these email copies of the blog.  It won't work. If you want to make a comment via email, use FORWARD and send them directly to me.  Otherwise, you can log in to the blog and post them there.  Thanks for your comments!)

Good morning, Rome!! To start the day off, Kalen went to the local store to buy something for breakfast. He returned with a wonderful panetonne, “Bauli, Il Pandoro di Verona”. Following the instructions (pictures on the side of the box…glad that they considered the illiterate when designing the packaging), we put it by the radiator to warm, then put the powdered sugar in the bag and dusted it. It is a sweet bread, soft and light, no fruit inside, and is yummy with the butter and hot espresso.

 


The tour plans for the day: Stroll across the city to the Borghese Gallery and see several noted landmarks along the way…in the daylight. Then return when it is dark to see the sites when they are lit at night. We all agreed to make it a nice and easy pace, to enjoy any shops and views along the way.

Off we went! My legs felt stronger…gradual improvement every day. We decided to meet at Piazza Navona by the fountain, so Sara and Karl took off at a strong pace, shopped, while Kalen and I walked a little slower pace. In Piazza Navona, we sat by the fountain and played with the camera settings to refresh our thoughts on how we needed to work the settings to get the fountain water to flow, or freeze.

We set off on a carefully determined route towards the Pantheon. A little comment on these Roman “Streets”. To me, it looks like there are a couple of main roads, and then “alleyways” in between. Yes, there are cars and those little scooters all jammed in to parking places, but these roads are basically cobblestoned and winding passages. They look like alleys to me. Cute little shops a long the way. I stopped in a bookstore to get an “Inglese” (English) dictionary. I have a collection of English dictionaries in various languages. Basically the same as an English “Italian” dictionary, but it looks more fun on the shelf.

We stopped at the Trevi Fountain...wow

Trevi Fountain

We had lunch at a little restaurant on a side street near the Trevi Fountain.  Golden Bar is in the Piazza Dei Crociferi. We sat outside under the tented area and enjoyed Antipasto Italiana 12€ (little plate of meats and cheeses), Pizza Funghi 10€, Pizza Proscuito with Funghi 11€, Pasta e Fagioli 9€ (pasta and bean soup), Risotto Asparagi 11€ (risotto with asparagus)...and wine 14€!  Service was added to the bill for 7€ (you need to be careful about this. Sometimes it is included, sometimes not, sometimes an extra line item.)

Pasta e Fagioli

After lunch, we continued our trek across the city.  Our next stop was the Spanish Steps.  I decided to try some roasted chestnuts that smelled good. I like the smell, but when I tried them decades ago in New York...didn't like them.  When in Rome...

Spanish Steps

Chestnuts roasted on an open fire

After allowing a half hour to get badgered by street vendors trying to trick us into buying roses and misc. junk, we headed through the metro and to the Bourghese Museum.  The metro route was the quickest, and with escalators and moving sidewalks....and NO COBBLESTONES.  Oh, sorry, did I yell?  I was thrilled with it until I realized that I had to climb two flights of stairs.  Kalen had found an elevator (but it was Non Functionado or something), so I had to climb the stairs.  As I neared the last three stops, Kalen started singing the tune to Rocky...and I doubled over in laughter and struggled to make those last three steps.

We walked through the park area to the museum and it was so nice.  The exhibits were incredible, one right after another.  I had to play nice and put all of my cameras in storage before entering the museum.  I have left a link here so that you can look at the website if you want to see all that was on display.  Sara had introduced us to Michelangelo Merisi called Caravaggio so we were drooling over all of his works. Of course, Gian Lorenzo Bernini  sculpture was incredible.
Click here to see all about the museum.

We retraced our route and saw "Rome at Night". It was beautiful.  The fountains and monuments were lit and took on a whole new character.  We returned to our first Italian restaurant and enjoyed a great meal with TWO bottles of wine.  It had been a long and active day.  And for dessert...


Chocolate Souffle with strawberries

We made our way home and went quickly to bed. It was an exhausting and fun day. We saw a lot of the "named" places, and had an opportunity to enjoy the streets and shops of Rome.  Oh, I almost forgot.  I had gelatto on the return trip.  I tried tiramisu and it was so wonderful, soft and creamy.

Top of a building view of Rome, Forum, Van Gogh art exhibit

Well, another busy busy day.  It's 9:46 PM and we just walked in from a great dinner at "Mimi & Coco's".  I'll try to post.

Rome from the top of Vittorio Emmanuel Monument (I made some lovely videos for you!!)
Forum from the top of the monument
Lunch at a cafe on a midway level...outside and overlooking the city.

Lunch at Vittorio Emanuel Cafe

Capucino

Americano coffee goes well with this desert



Arch of Titus



Overlooking the Forum grounds

Kalen enjoying the tour

Arch of Septimius Severus

Forum from ground level

A great art exhibit with tons of Van Goghs...no photos...didn't even sneak one.

Dinner at Mimi and Coco's (yummy chocolate brownies for desert).  See the Mimi and Coco's post for the videos and photos.

Vatican, Sistene Chapel, St Peter's Basilica

The entire day was set aside for the Vatican visit.  It was an easy walk from the apartment on a gorgeous day.  We arrived early and entered about 9:30 am.  We toured the Vatican Museaum, enjoyed a leasurely lunch,  explored the remaining rooms at the Vatican. We had a long, long walk to the Sistine Chapel. No photos were allowed.  It was just as beautiful as all of the photos that you see.  We couldn't take the shortcut to St. Peter's Basilica, so we had to exit the building and walk around on the outside.  We toured the Basilica, took some photos.  We had timed the tour to bring us here for the 5PM Mass, so we waited in line and quietly took a seat.  No photos during Mass, but I did make an audio recording.  I am trying to figure out how to post the sound file to the blog, so it is not here yet.

Beautiful blue skies as we approached the Vatican.

View of St. Peter's from the Vatican Museaum courtyard.

Hall of statues

Lacoona - in the courtyard

Quick stop for lunch and some pizza.

Ceilings in the Papal Apartments

 

Raphael Rooms at the Palace of the Vatican
"School of Athens"

Mosaic floor

Walkway to the Sistine Chapel

This staircase was amazing to look at and to walk down.

This struck me as a very funny sign.
It sounds like it is made-up Italian.

Apartments in the area around the Vatican.

Swiss guard

Michelangelo's Pieta

Bernini columns.  We attended Mass in the
area beyond the columns but couldn't take pictures.

Looking up at the Dome.

Night river view

Fresh tomato and mozzerella at a neighborhood restaurant.

Shared a find bottle of Italian wine.

Waiter brought a little apertif to the table after the meal.

And also taught us a new word in Italian

Rome, Italy - Through the Eyes of Karl

Guest photographer and fellow traveler Karl Charbonneau has provided some of his favorite photographs from this 2010 Roman Holiday.  Enjoy the sights that his eyes (and handy dandy camera) have captured.

[Vatican] This first photograph is the award winning photograph of the spiral staircase at the Vatican.

Rome, Italy - Laundry Options

Do I use the washer/dryer or do I hand wash my clothes?  The washer and dryer are outside, attached to the little porch in the inner courtyard.  I'll have to think about this one!