Tag: italy

Rome History – part 3

by ginnyinshanghai

Piazza Navona – a public open space in Rome. It was one of several that popped up when researching our trip. Later this day we had a tour booked for The Vatican, so we had free time to wander the historic streets, grab a cappuccino & croissant and soak in the ambience of Rome.

The space was initially used in the 1st century as the Stadium of Domitians. Ancient Romans came here to watch games. Following the Fall of Western Rome, the stadium fell into ruins and was quarried for building material. Little to nothing remains of that. It was re-energized in the 15th century when the city market was transferred here.

The primary reason on this day and time to visit was for the (3) fountains. We turned the corner and this was the first thing we saw – fountain was drained and work being done.

Bummer – this was going to be a wasted trip.

Nope – only one of the three fountains was not working. This was the centerpiece of the piazza.

Called the Fountain of Four Rivers and designed in 1651 to be representative of the spread of papal authority. There was so many details wrapped up in this fountain. You could keep circling and find more things during each circumference.

The four rivers represented the Nile (Africa), the Danube (Europe), the Ganges (Asia) and the Rio de la Plata (Americas).

Loved the horse peeking out through the portal.

The group LOVES when I take photos – not. They’re good sports, most of the time.

The third fountain was in the north part of the piazza, the Fountain of Neptune.

Yes, we did some people watching while eating our croissants and cappuccino. Neptune fighting the octopus was in front of us. Hard life – people-watching, enjoying a pastry, listening to the fountain’s water and soaking in the Italian sun. I could do this for months on end.

So many things going on with these fountains. You could literally do one post on each fountain and all of the symbolism. It was hard to capture the many different components, but I did like this sea creature.

There was a building in the middle of the piazza that individuals kept going into and thus we did our own exploring. Many people come just for the three fountains and miss this worthy, hidden gem in Rome. It was fascinating reading about it. The little bit of info below only scratch the surface of its stories.

This was a 17th century Baroque church, built on the site of a much older church dedicated to St. Agnes with research indicating this was the location she was martyred.

There are so many things to look at once you enter, but your eyes move upward towards the dome in the sanctuary.

The dome was designed for individuals to look up to heaven. The fresco in the cupola depicts the Apotheosis of st. Agnes and the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. All other virtues fall under them and hinge upon them.

The alterpieces all take the form of bas-reliefs or statues rather than paintings. Below is the statue of St. Agnes when she extinguishes the flames at her feet with prayers.

This altarpiece represents the Holy Family with little St. John the Baptist, Joseph & Mary and baby Jesus. There is a lot more to this, but it started getting complicated.

The inside of the church was surrounded by marble sculptural Baroque masterpieces, dedicated to individual martyred saints. Below was one of the seven immortalized in statue.

There was a shrine inside of the church for Saint Agnes, containing her skull and a marble relief. She was martyred at 13 when she refused to marry a pagan. She was condemned to death. You can see her skull in the marble box below her statue. No lie, it was kind of creepy.

While the stories being told inside this church was gruesome, it was a beautiful church. My photos do not do justice for the beauty contained within.

I want to leave you with this small ‘fountain’ located within this piazza. I assumed it was for pets to drink and stay hydrated.

That is until you stop the downward flow and this happens……..

Nice!

Ginny

Rome history – part 2

by ginnyinshanghai

I need to get my steps in. How – the Spanish steps of course……..135 to be exact.

The steps were built to navigate a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti church, at the top.

Maybe you noticed the polizia in the photo above? There were fines for those sitting down (250 euros) and heavier fines for damaging or dirtying the steps (400 euros).

There was a competition for design in 1717 and completed in 1725. They have been restored and renovated a number of times. Travertine stone, brick, marble and plaster make up the steps.

Notice who is missing? Glad he brought along the blue jacket – he’s easier to spot.

Why the ‘spanish’ steps? At the bottom was the Spanish Embassy. I read that at certain times of the year, planned decorations line the steps. Around Christmas-time a 19th century manger is displayed on the first landing. In the spring-time, pots of azaleas can been seen. Not quite spring – yet. Dang.

Another fountain was found at the bottom. The pope commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a prior Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629.

According to legend, as the River Tiber flooded in 1598, water carried a small boat into the Piazza di Spagna. When the water receded, a boat was deposited in the center of the square, and it was this event that inspired Bernini’s creation.

Can anyone come to Rome without seeing the Coliseum? I think not.

It is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built and is still the largest standing Amphitheatre in the world, despite its age. Contruction begin in 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD. It could hold anywhere between 50K – 80K spectators at various points of history.

Entrance portals were numbered in the archway as seen below.

Yes, we were one of ‘those’ tourists, following our tour guide with a flag.

Part of our small-group tour include the underground of the coliseum. We saw a short film in an underground alcove, and it truly put you in the mindset of the gladiator’s journey coming into the coliseum. While some were fighting for sport, others were fighting for their life and freedom.

The Colosseum was built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete.  It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles.

We had a bit of our own excitement during our tour. Notice the bouncing drops?


That’s right – hail. Below are some of the pellets that collected along our walkway. We were very lucky that when it started, we were heading underground.

Although substantially ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers, the Colosseum is still a renowned symbol of Imperial Rome.

Before exiting the coliseum, our tour guide brought us to another part of the building promising us a good photo spot. Here was one of the remaining gates into the city with the Palatine Hill behind it.

Last stop for this post………Trevi Fountain ‘Taming of the Waters’

At 86 feet high and 161 feet wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous. It is located at the junction of three roads and marks the terminal point of one of the aqueducts that supplied water to Rome for 400+ years.

As was common in Baroque times, a competition was held. Originally a Floratine won but public outcry gave the commission to a Roman, Nicola Salvi, who died before it was finished.

The work begun in 1732 and was finished in 1762. Four different sculptors were hired to complete the fountain and the majority was made from Travertine quarried near Tivoli, 22 miles east of Rome.

Behind the fountain is the  Palazzo Poli, a palace in Rome, altered in the 18th century to form the backdrop. There continues a tradition of coin tossing, using your right hand over the left shoulder. Estimates are 3000 euros are thrown daily into the fountain. The money is used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome’s poor.

A few more posts are coming before we head to Florence.

Ginny

Rome History – Part 1

by ginnyinshanghai

Staying in the city center had so many advantages. Walking to historic sites was the main one. Soooooo much history in this city and you never knew when you turned a corner if you were going to find more Roman ruins – we did, a lot.

We were headed towards the Panthenon and came across this church.

In the 8th century there was an oratory on this spot, but it wasn’t until the Dominicans took final possession of the property that a church was built in 1280. It was one of the very few examples of Gothic architecture in Rome. It was in the convent adjacent to this that in 1633 Galileo adjured his scientific thesis to save his life from the condemnation of the Holy Inquisition.

It was quietly beautiful inside. Since this is considered a minor basilica, there were no hordes of tourists.

In 1628 two almost identical organs were placed above the choirs. The one in my photo was looted then set on fire. The other organ was removed and used in a basilica elsewhere in Italy. Eventually both organs were replaced in the 1900s.

Below the table on the high altar is a 15th century sarcophagus of St. Catherine of Siena, minus her skull and a finger found in a basilica in Siena. Eric is in the foreground.

Notice the statue to the left of Eric above? It caught Eric’s attention with the amount of detail.

‘Christ carrying the Cross‘

Totally was not expecting this. There was a bit of rope stanchioning this off, but truly we were within a few feet of the statue.

This ‘find’ was so unexpected, it was a highlight of our time in Rome.

Leaving the church, we were presented with the back side of our next find.

The Pantheon

The date of construction is uncertain and debated. It was built on an earlier temple on private land, fire burnt it down (several times) and the present-day building was ordered by emperor Hadrian 126 AD. In 609 AD it became a Catholic church.

It is one of the best preserved Ancient Roman buildings in large part due to continuous use throughout history. That’s not to say pieces and parts weren’t removed for other purposes or metalwork melted down for armory.

Since the Renaissance it became a fashionable burial place for painters, composers and even two kings.

The dome of course is one of most amazing feats. After 2000 years it is still the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world, at 142 feet in height and 142 feet in diameter. The thickness varies from 21 feet at the base to less than four feet around the oculus. Various materials were used as aggregate and could be travertine, terracotta tiles and pumice or tufa (volcanic rock) at the top.

The top of the oculus has never been covered allowing rainfall through the ceiling onto the floor going into floor drains to promote runoff.

The oculus and entry door are the only natural sources of light.

The history of the building pulled me in and I spent way too much time on the web going through links to find more info.

Occasionally you needed a break from history, and we found some great spots to do just that, as you’ll see in my next post.

Ginny

Italy – a new journey begins

by ginnyinshanghai

Ciao! As you might have guessed from the previous post……..we were packing with purpose. Another trip to Europe was planned and the time for departure was upon us.

Several years ago, I started a tradition for myself, if we are at least gone for 2 weeks. Adding an ‘unnatural color’ was not allowed in my workplace and it will eventually fade with continued washings. Just a bit of unexpected whimsy I like to add to my trips. As a fail-safe, I only add the color to the tips – JUST in case it doesn’t wash out quickly enough (oops 2023) and I’ll get my hair trimmed before going back to work.

Okay, let’s get back to the real story………

As with most trips, we stopped at the MCO Lounge for some refreshment.

We’ve been fortunate to grab the same 3 seats at the bar and caught up with the morning bar-tender we had met before.

It wasn’t all about the alcohol, some light refreshments were available. The protein bowl on the right was something new on the menu. LOVED the pretzel – possibly there were several ordered during our time inside. It was the perfect size for one.

There are some areas that are self-serve and they had a great coffee machine – push a button and you had a multitude of options. It was gone. Sadness. Until I found it in another corner of the lounge. Yep, that’s my cappuccino. Okay, now I’m ready to travel.

We started noticing the flight board inside the lounge was being updated with flight delays – but not ours…..yet. And then it was our flight. 😦 The lounge got r.e.a.l.l.y crowded at that time and went on a waitlist. Yikes!

The terminal wing was a total zoo. All were Delta flights and all were delayed due to lightening. Planes couldn’t land, planes couldn’t be serviced, no one could deplane so therefore we couldn’t fly out and everything stacked up.

At least our flight crew was here. That wasn’t the case for other flights.

I think everybody wanted to cheer when the flight arrived – but were too tired. Four+ hours later we headed to Atlanta for our connection.

We were so lucky (not) and got the chance to spend a night at the Atlanta Westin. No surprise, we missed our connecting flight. Crazy lines existed in Atlanta when we arrived due to all the flight delays in the South. I got on my phone trying to reach Delta, Eric got on a house phone to talk with Delta while we went through a (very) long Delta queue line to get a voucher for a hotel. Heavy sigh. Fortuitous that we didn’t check our bags – we normally do. We had our clothes and toiletries to make the stay-over a bit more comfortable. Small miracles do exist.

Good news – they re-booked our flights. Bad news – connecting through JFK New York before heading overseas. Best news – upgraded to first class for the overseas flight.

Finally headed to Europe. Interesting time-lapese video, catching some of the lights of New York before clouds blocked the view.

Eric convinced the gentleman next to me to trade seats. Adrienne was on the other side of the plane – she’s in the photo below. The flight started with a glass of prosecco. Okay – I like that.

The food was better in this section, no surprise there. My chicken was some of the best I’ve tasted. Eric liked his spinach ravioli.

Chicken with a smoked tomato sauce, Parmesan risotto, green beans and potato salad.
Spinach ravoli in white wine butter, roasted butternut squash and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Before landing in Rome, we flew over the European Alps.

Landing at Leonardo de Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (Rome’s Airport) we were still 35KM away from the city center and our apartment. The taxi ride to get there………….something special. So many cars, so many motorcycles combined with skinny streets. Parking is wherever someone finds a piece of pavement, slightly off of the street. Crazy!

Our 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment was along one of the tiny side steets. Our place was on the 4th floor up 5 flights of stairs. Or……….squeeze into the teeny, tiny elevator.

Cute window with a view of the nearby rooftops and courtyards.

Small kitchen, just enough space to store drinks & water in the fridge, bread, cheese and yogurt & fruit for breakfast.

First order of business was lunch. We’ve never gone wrong with suggestions from the owner of our lodging and today was no exception: Enoteca Corsi.

We started (and shared) the fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomato starter – oh my goodness, their mozzarella is so much better here.

My lunch selection was Cacio e Pepe: freshly-made pasta with parmesan cheese, butter and black pepper – one of Rome’s famous dishes.

Adrienne’s selection was an octopus salad.

Eric started with farro soup……….

………before the artichoke – Roman style arrived (braised and stuffed with garlic and herbs) sitting in a pool of olive oil. It looks prettier (only in my opinion) before being cooked.

Way more exciting things are coming, but we all crashed for an afternoon nap so we could keep going.

Ginny