San Demetrio Megalomartire

Here's the parish church of San Demetrio. It's Greek Catholic, and the liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is said in Greek with the readings, Creed and Our Father in Italian. As always, click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Sunday morning. All of the women sit up front, the men sit in the back. Since they are Mediterranean men, they also spill out of the front doors and tend to have a smoke during the homily. You can see that the church has a wierd Byzantine yet Baroque decor going on, and that is the result of changes by alternating Italo-Romanophile priests and Grecophile priests.

Here's the icon screen. It's different than what I've seen elsewhere, because it's not made from wood, but rather concrete (like the rest of San Demetrio) and has mosaics on it instead of painted icons. Very nicely done.

On a side altar in the church (because it's Italy). However, a very nice icon.

A side chapel, of which there were quite a few. This one is much more Roman, and has a ton of gaudy Baroque stucchi everywhere. There's the ubiquitous statue of San Francesco di Paola on the left of the altar, he's a big local saint.

And the icon of San Nilo. He was born in Rossano, which is nearby, and his hermitage was right outside of San Demetrio. He did not found the Abbey of San Nilo in Grottaferrata, it was founded by his followers after his death.

a housekeeping note

I've made some cosmetic changes to the blog, because my old image host somehow pooped out and/or changed ownership, and I don't have the old header image on my new computer -- so I made a new one! Let's all admit we were getting tired of the old one with the map...
The image is not without some symbolism and thought. I've chosen the shields (stemme) of Calabria and Rome, along with two ancient Greek-designed scuptures that reflect their respective regions. The Apollo Belvedere is a Roman marble copy of the Greek original, that was used over and over again in art, especially during the Renaissance, and has lived forever in the Vatican. On the right is one of the two Riace bronzes, found relatively recently near Reggio Calabria and are actual Greek originals.

The Best of Maria in Rome

In the interest of turning another page in this book, I've put together this post with links to some of my favorite posts and moments of the last 40 days. Hey! Forty days! Very biblical, very me not-in-a-desert!

Ahimè. I considered putting these into categories or something, but instead I've opted for a plain chronological list (the word chronological reminds me how much I like the word anachronistic -- it's right up there with dichotomy). Additionally, I've selected these based on relatively relative criteria: some are because I like the writing, the post, others because I like the memory.

• Two things I thought about today
• Two pictures
• Symphony!
• In which Maria is spiritually renewed
• Fashion
• LA CORRIDA!
• Adventure update
• Baccalà
• Via Cassia: A Dialogue
• The New Ara Pacis
• Skipping class in favor of more art
• Ostia Antica, et. al.
• When Government has a conscience

It turns out, these are 13 posts out of over 60, and only include the first period of my summer.

Stay tuned for Calabria!

Where some _____ is due

As good old G. K. Chesterton once quipped, "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." Throughout my time at John Cabot, I've been keeping track of some excellent or at times funny comments made by one of my professors, a professor I've had before who has been consistently challenging, supportive, and who is not only exceptionally knowledgable in many subjects, but who also is capable of presenting that knowledge in a productive way. I post this out of respect and with enthusiastic thanks, because I have learned much. Without anything further, here's some flava from the class:

• Discussion is the real paradigm of learning.
• while discussing x-rays of paintings and subsequent discovery of repainting by the artist: What's in a painting is like knowing what's in your hot dog. It's not terribly reassuring.
• while discussing the burning of Giordano Bruno in 1600: ... to make a short story a little longer...
• after presenting Judith Beheading Holofernes: This is what Caravaggio is more known for: the biblical slasher scene.
• on Venice: You must go. You have a gap until you fill it.
• after presenting Venus with a Satyr and Cupid: Yes, I know the little putto is out of hand, but what can you do?
  

of potential interest

I haven't been blogging much because I've been trying to get myself kind of organized for getting ready to leave. Additionally, yesterday afternoon I finished my 11 page paper for the Michelangelo class. The following is just the introduction:

Between 1538 and about 1545, Michelangelo made three drawings for his close friend and correspondent Vittoria Colonna: Christ on the Cross, a Pietà and Christ and the Woman of Samaria, the latter of which is lost. As a result, the discussion of these drawings will focus on Christ on the Cross and the Pietà drawing, both of which are mentioned by Condivi and Vasari. The drawings represent a new concept of art that Michelangelo initiated, by considering a drawing as a finished work of art, by giving the art as a gift and as a result free of the constraints and tradition of the artist/patron relationship, and finally by creating the art as a result of intellectual discourse and interaction. The way Michelangelo chose to treat the subjects, which he had already done multiple times throughout his career, are clearly a consequence of his relationship with Colonna and their shared views of reform-minded Catholicism in the very early years of the Counter-Reformation.

The paper, at least I tried, to go beyond just a study of the Michelangelo/Colonna relationship and get into the iconography of the work. However, in only 11 pages, there wasn't enough space or time... I could see this easily getting to 20 pages to explain everything well. However, there wasn't enough time to do this exceptionally well and to do more reading and research. It's a fascinating topic, because everything is so incredibly complicated.

Mostly today I just did laundry. I'm trying to go to Calabria with a minimum of dirty laundry. Tomorrow I have exams. Basically, I have 10 questions (the total number of questions for both exams put together) to prepare, each of which are expected to be written on for at least a half hour. Of course all of the questions have within them multiple questions that are more like groupings of a theme rather than just one simple question to answer.

It's also really, really hot.

I think I've got some explaining to do.

The following is in reference to my post of a few days ago titled [Maria exeunt.]. I've yet to discuss any me + my interior, and perhaps now is the time. It's not going to be exceptionally eloquent, but nor are these easy ideas.

I am not unhappy about going to San Demetrio Corone, in fact I'm actually looking forward to it quite a bit for a lot of reasons: I'm hoping I'll meet some interesting people, I'll be in a new and exotic environment, I'll be studying interesting things. However, practically speaking, it will be a much more intensive situation than my Roman situation -- instead of 6 credits in a month, I'll be doing 9.

My time in Rome has been blissfully happy. I've had time to think, to read, to renew myself after the period in which I considered myself a monster, someone who was not my self as last semester ended at SHU. Everything I've done while I've been here has been for me and at a minimum of stress. I haven't been pushing myself. To that end, there are so many people I haven't called, and therefore so many people I haven't seen. I haven't even gone into Saint Peter's since I've been here, I haven't gone to the Pantheon, I haven't seen the Rafaello show at the Borghese Gallery, I haven't gone to the Museo Nazionale d'Arte Antica at Palazzo Barberini. I list these things with a tinge of regret, yet at the same time, peace. I've needed this time to myself, and it's made me think a lot about the idea of being alone in a positive sense (not lonely) while being surrounded by millions of people.

This sojourn in Rome has not been about me going crazy, has not been about me stressing myself out unduly, has not been about anything but me renewing myself, and I'm not complaining, because I know how much I've needed this time. Just because I haven't done a lot of touring around and viewing and doing things I wanted to do, does not mean I've done nothing either. So incredibly much good has come out of this last month, in ways that are not very tangible, nor normal to other people's visits to Rome, but I know how good it has been, because I've been being quite selfish with regard to my capacity for relaxation and mild hedonism.

For so many people, Rome is a city of spiritual importance. It is for me too, but not usually or not only in the sense of Rome as the New Jerusalem, but rather as a place I can return to a a touchstone. The beginning of my current Roman period, which began in August 2000 established Rome as an important part and stage of and for my growing up process. My time here has also always been a high point for me intellectually, because here not only have I been challenged, but also encouraged, which does not oft happen in the other places I've found myself. When I am back here, I can plunge back into this warm atmosphere and renew myself.

Additionally, I can not begin to describe how good and wonderful it has been for me to be with the Orzali's. They have been my family, my sounding board, my support network, my motivators, my teachers. I've been so incredibly at home here that in a lot of ways I've reverted back to my old Roman self -- so the not going to Saint Peter's is not unusual! (Before anyone gets annoyed or starts assuming anything, it's not that I have anything against Saint Peter's, it's just that I haven't had any reason to go there, I've been in it so many times before, and it's the peak of tourist season.) It's no longer about me visiting here, it's about me living here, being at home here, about Rome being a natural environment for me to find myself in.

My point is that hopefully my time in Calabria will be a healthy continuation of the same. If it is not, that's ok, because I've had my time in Rome and I'll be back. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last, to love this city and to consider it my own.

When Government has conscience

As per usual, click to enlarge. Today when I was on the Campidoglio with my class, which has forever been the seat of Roman government, they were putting up the big banner on the steps. The banner says AUGURI DI BUON COMPLEANNO Libertà per Aung San Suu Kyi e per il suo popolo, in English BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY BIRTHDAY Freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi and for her people. Generally speaking, this falls into the category of important world events that the US media does not adequately cover. Three cheers for corporate media!

This is a wonderful gesture, and for more information about Aung San Suu Kyi, click here.

Behind Saint Peter's

Today for my Michelangelo class we had special permission to go to the south end of St. Peter's, the only part of the exterior to be finished during Michelangelo's lifetime. Additionally, since it was finished, all of the other architects had to follow his design the rest of the way around. However, we started at Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, and then stopped on the Campidoglio before going to the Vatican. Alas, I will begin with that which is behind St. Peter's, that is, past the Swiss Guards where you usually can't go without a good reason.

This is the door to the Ufficio Scavi, for going to the fascinating excavations under St. Peter's, but the square in the pavement in the foreground of the picture marks the place where the obelisk used to stand before it was moved to the middle of the piazza in 1586. It used to be the spina, or center, of the Circus of Nero. It's of interest since it really isn't otherwise marked.

Here's the dome of St. Peter's from the back, which is effectively how it would look from the front if the church hadn't been made into a basilica plan and had stayed in the Greek cross shape favored by Bramante and Michelangelo. A Greek cross (four equal sides) would have made St. Peter's into a symbolically new Hagia Sofia, for the new Constantinople, Rome.
Additionally, since the drum was completed by Michelangelo's death, they had to build the dome with the measurements he had made... Interesting, the amount of constraint Michelangelo put on the building posthumously.

Here's the south side which was definitely done before Michelangelo died and that constrained future architects -- mainly Giacomo della Porta, to continue on with more of the same.

Finally, this little church is St. Stephan Martyr of the Abyssianians. I think this might be a space where, behind the doors on the right, there is a Byzantine chapel, but I could be wrong. Obviously, it is not usually open, and it is a very ancient church. My photo of the interior did not come out well, unfortunately.

[Maria exeunt.]

Today, sadly, I bought my bus ticket for San Demetrio Corone. It's sad because I'll be leaving Rome for a month, and that makes me sad.
Additionally, the upcoming week is going to be a marathon of finishing a big paper, packing, seeing people, and leaving.

Some comments on the US-Italy World Cup match

I took both of these photos in Florence. First, the game should not have been a tie, Italy should have won 2-1 at least. The way the Italian national team plays, which is an embarrassment most of the time, the score never would have been 7-0, even though they have a calibre of players high enough to be able to accomplish it.

Next, the above sticker says VOTE FOR THE LEFT ON 9 APRIL, BERLUSCONI OUT! The game last night had three red cards, which is huge. The first was this insane elbowing by de Rossi, which was actually amazing to watch, and then two red cards for the Americans Mastroeni and Pope.

Generally though it also seemed to me that the Italians couldn't take the game for themselves, the Americans had control of the style of play. This is unfortunate. I'd also like to see a game where my azzurri don't have to be such primadonnas and can generally stay on the field without being carried off. The second someone gets hurt, there's too much drama, always.

I am looking forward to the game against the Czech Republic, because they're a good team, and it should be interesting. Italy just has to tie with them in order to make it to the next round.

Florence and some mild adventure

Alas, Florence, the city with which I have a like/hate relationship. The good news is that I had some very good periods of window shopping, and only bought a pair of shoes and a small utilitarian bag, nothing else and both on sale. Both were of the non-leather variety due to my budget, not my taste!
On Friday morning, I got the train at Termini at 8:30am, which is a miracle because I didn't get the bus on the Cassia until 7:20am, and I got to Termini at about 8am, so I made fantastic time and it was a miracle. I got to Santa Maria Novella station at about 10am, and walked the two steps over to the Duomo to meet up with my class. From there, we passed Orsanmichele, and went into the Bargello for the four Michelangelo scuptures (including the Drunken Bacchus, ), plus some Donatellos and other things the young Michelangelo would have known.
After lunch, for which I found a small grocer and bought some Tuscan salami and cheese, with bread and enough left over for dinner, I ate outside of Ognisanti, which unfortunately was closed, much to my dismay. I must say, Tuscan salami rocks. The chucks of fat make it look similar to mortadella, and not as fine looking as Milanese salami. Additionally, there are peppercorns inside to give it a kind of spicy situation. I walked over to Oltrarno and also tried to get into Santa Felicità, but it too was closed. The idea was for me to see again Pontormo's Deposition, but I tried and tried and I never was there while the church was open.
The afternoon session of my class, which is a Michelangelo monographic course, was in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Accademia. In the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, we looked at the Michelangelo-as-Nicodemus Pietà and some Donatello and Nanni di Banco early, early Renaissance sculpture, plus of course the originals of the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. We finished up at the Accademia and the Michelangelo pieces there: David, the prisoners, the so-called Saint Matthew. Someday I ought to write some of my feelings regarding Michelangelo...
Finally we finished and I went back to the train station to get some more bread with which to finish the savory meat from lunch, and then to get the bus to take me up to where I was staying. I got off the bus at Piazzale Michelangelo, asked for directions, and then got back on the bus, and after I got off and started walking a bit, I ended up at Piazzale del Poggio Imperatore. As I was walking up the via del Poggio Imperatore, I saw the Firenze sign, meaning I was getting way out of my way and I knew it. I was concerned because there wasn't anyone around to ask directions for, and it was twilight. At the optimal moment, a taxi driver turned around the bend, and I hopped in to get a ride to closer to where I needed to go. After arriving at the villa, I found a very pleasant note from my host, a friend of a friend who I have yet to meet but who I've talked to on the phone and who is very nice. He's a printmaker studying in Florence for a while. The villa is an old farmhouse that used to be the summer house of the English owner's mother-in-law. She was very nice, and we talked for a few minutes before I went back inside to have my Tuscan salami, cheese, pizzetta bianca with olives, and Tuborg. I went to bed early, because I decided to wake up early and walk in Florence without the tourists.

The building closest to the photo, right behind the olive trees and amongst the cypruses is where I stayed. Absolutely gorgeous and charming beyond belief, especially in the cool of the morning. Also, it should be mentioned that this is still considered within the city of Florence, and it is infact quite convenient to the center of the city. It's only a ½ hour walk at most to the Duomo. Using the GPS, I found it was almost 2 miles to Ponte Vecchio, and it was only that distance because of the hairpin curves to go down the hill from Piazzale Michelangelo. I had such a beautiful walk yesterday morning...

Here is Piazzale Michelangelo at about 7am. You can see the Duomo in the background, and also a wierd sculpture group featuring David plus Day, Night, Dusk, and Dawn on the four corners. Not only are these all mostly unfinished scultptures from the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo, but they were not ever meant for this sort of grouping, nor in bronze, which Michelangelo loathed, and they were defintely not done contemporaneously with the David. Nonetheless, this is what Piazzale Michelangelo looks like before the throngs of people come. I decided not to post a panorama of Florence, because not only is it an ubiquitous image, but a part of the Duomo and another tower in Florence have scaffolding all over so it's not particularly nice looking right now.

I stopped for cappuccino e cornetto in Oltrarno, and then crossed the Ponte Vecchio to head back over to the station to keep my backpack there for the day while we had our last class session. I hoped to catch Santa Felicità open, but it wasn't opening until 9, when I had to meet my class.

Here's the Arno before everything gets all crazy... Beautiful and calm.

And the Duomo with the eastern sun rising above it.

With my class, I went to the Casa Buonarotti, and to the Laurentian Library, both places that I'd never been. We also of course went to San Lorenzo and to the Medici Chapels, and then that was the end of our sessions in Florence. I went over to the station to try to get back to Rome, but I ended up having to wait for the next train because you can't go on the Eurostar trains without a reservation, that is, you have to have a confirmed seat. It didn't used to be that way... Even though I would have liked to enjoy the scenery on the way back to Rome, I mostly slept.

The Bird Flu -- oh no!

We know (as in, we are acquainted with) our chickens! They are Italian and safe.

This cracked me up when I saw it in a restaurant the other day, so I had to take a picture, because I think it's so funny. Now I can't go back there because the managers saw me taking the picture and then looked at me wierdly... At any rate, I will discuss the bird flu as seen by the Italians.
The general consensus is that, like in America, chickens are gross because of the factories they are grown in. However, it doesn't really matter because Italian chickens still taste better than the American ones.
Further, there are many Italians who think that the bird flu is one big joke invented by one George W. Bush so that he and his cronies can get even more rich, since they all have stock in the bird flu vaccine company. At the time that all of the bird flu hype began, it was during the Berlusconi government, which is "best friends" with one George W. Bush to begin with. So, birds are no threat anyway. Finally, cooked birds are very safe to eat and can not transmit bird flu.
Above all, and regardless of the politics, the fact remains that Italians are aquainted with their chickens, and that is what is important.

Ich scheine deutsch.

The overwhelming consensus is that with my reasonably angular glasses, short hair, and wardrobe, that to the average stranger I seem to be German. Overall, not bad, at least I look somewhat Euro.
Comunque, as Fulvia said, "we like almost all Americans. Really, it just so happens that no one likes Bush, not even you. So if you looked American, it would be ok, because Italians really like Americans."

This morning I rode into work with her, and it was so funny, because she says she works at San Giovanni, and it's true, she works in an extraterritorial zone of the Vatican, adjacent to the Loggia della Benedizione in the Lateran Palace built by Sixtus V. Not bad.

Ostia Antica, et. al.

This is a really image-heavy post. Forewarned is forearmed. The ones that look small I'd really recommed clicking on to enlarge, because they're very cool 360° views that it would be impossible to see with our normal selves, but if we were owls we kind of could in a way. I made them myself, and they're fresh today.

This morning, I woke up when I normally would have, and rode with Fulvia to the Ospedale Fatebenefratelli on Isola Tiberina, because it's close and on the way to Testaccio, where I was headed for the train, and also because she wanted me to see the hospital, which is interesting, old, and very historic. Her 90 year-old aunt had a heart attack yesterday, so that's why we were going. It's really cool, with a courtyard, a vending machine with urine sample cups instead of Snickers (heh heh heh), and a lot of Italians waiting for the medical bureaucracy to work for them. Still, I am in favor of socialized medicine and think it's a good idea. We had a cappuccino at the bar and parted ways. I went over to Testaccio to get some lunch to take with me for later and to get the train to Ostia Antica.

Above is a very nice section of one of the baths (there are at least two full, separate complexes) in Ostia Antica. While at Ostia, I got a few breaths of non-polluted sea air, which was nice.

This is the interior of a Roman house. Generally, I find parts of Ostia Antica moderately creepy because I'm always thinking how 2000 years ago, someone lived in this space, and that the streets were full not of German tourists avoiding the World Cup but rather people doing practical sorts of everyday things like laundry and cooking.

These wildflowers are so pretty, and they're everywhere. Speaking of, I've been thinking about how in the summer, photos take on an acidic quality that captures the sun. Today, I sat for quite a long time in the theatre at Ostia Antica, just sunning and watching people. It was a form of sun worship -- nothing taboo (I'm thinking of Ra, Helios, Jesus). I wanted to read a bit, but it was more pleasureable to listen to music, which I so rarely do, so I listened to The Velvet Underground (Who Loves the Sun?) and the only thing that lately I can handle at any time, which is the masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana (Regina Cœli, Lætare). It was after I had my delightful lunch, bought at the Testaccio market of coppa, pizzette bianche, and Beck's.
Little kids were on the stage talking to their parents who were sitting up by me, which is something that I did, so long ago, in the Greek theatre in Taormina. Now that I think of it, the kids should be sitting up at the top and the parents on the stage, so that the kids can hear instead of having to believe their parents that the sound travels so well. I also got some sun, which is a bonus.

This is the Porta San Paolo, the Piramide Metro station, the Ostiense local rail station, the Aurelian Wall and the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. It's really one of my favorite parts of Rome. It's Roman, it's kind of grimy, and it's so real. Additionally, there's a fascinating mix of ancient and very modern in the environs.

This is the Protestant Foreigner's Cemetery, on the other side of the Aurelian Wall from the above photos. Like Ostia Antica, the tourists who go there are interested in more than the normal, and since Porta San Paolo is close, but basically out of the main tourist area, they are more adventurous types. This cemetery is beautiful, quiet, and full of lovely cemetery cats (see below). Inside are Shelley, Keats, Goethe (see the pattern of whiny Romantics?), Gregory Corso, and Antonio Gramsci, along with tons of other very interesting eccentric expatriate types, most of whom so obviously loved Rome. It's a nice place to go to get your memento mori on -- quiet, with birds and cats, and shade...

Here's a tombstone in the process of being carved -- interesting sort of thing.

Here are the carver's tools... I took these photos in the absence of the stonecarver. It's almost like taking pictures of someone else's underwear drawer.

This is the tomb of Antonio Gramsci, the greatest Italian communist/theorist ever. He was horribly persecuted by Mussolini, and was released from prison within an inch of his life, and so he died outside of prison but as a result of it.

A Roman cat along the Aurelian Wall in the cemetery.

Today was such a pleasure. It's so nice to be able to sit and do little else. Additionally, I had some other pleasant moments after class, with some gelato, and after that, another filetto di baccalà. I'm happy.

A Surge in National Something

There are Italian flags everywhere, and it has nothing to do with anything political. Instead, it's got everything to do with the national religion, soccer. Last night, in a pretty one-sided game, Italy beat Ghana 2-0! Most, if not all, of the Ghanian players are professionals in Europe, but they didn't have what it takes against the Italian mojo.
I will be tifo-ing for Italy during the Italy v. USA game which is Saturday night. Hopefully by then Totti will be better, but at the same time, if he's not it's actually ok, because his ego takes up too much of the field. His replacement, Iaquinta, is actually the one who scored the second goal. They don't necessarily need him to win, but he is a very good player, even if he is a meathead-jock sort of person. He is quite possibly the most talented Italian player in existence right now. Forza Azzurri!

Sì, due o tre etti...

So today I went to the grocery store across the Ponte Sisto where I always go to get some cold cuts and fresh bread for lunch, which as I've posted before, does not normally cost me a lot. Today, I got to the grocery store and saw that the coppa I usually buy is 50% off this week until the 16th because it's nearing it's expiration date! Normally I'd think this is kind of gross, but it still tastes good and I'm not complaining. So this week it only costs €0.75!
Since I was saving all this money on meat, I thought I'd get some cheese to go along with everything. They had scamorza, but me, not being one for just scamorza when I could get something bigger and better, decided on some cacciacavallo instead! I asked for two or three etti, which I thought would be next to nothing, because it usually is, and meanwhile he gives me a huge piece and it cost more than the whole rest of the lunch combined!
I give up on the metric system.

Skipping some class in favor of more art

This morning, right after I posted the previous blog, I went across the street to the bar I don't particularly like to grab a cappuccino and bottle of water, and I saw there my Spanish teacher from Marymount and a friend of hers who is visiting the city. We started talking, and instead of me going to class right away, I went with them to the Villa Farnesina, which is right next door to John Cabot. It was so serendipitous and absolutely wonderful to spend some time with her and her friend, who was also very cool, and I didn't suffer through the Michelangelo situation... It turns out that an hour and a half of Michelangelo is managable! But seriously, as I have learned so well, it's the company that matters in such situations that can make or break it.

The Villa Farnesina is positively spectacular. The ground floor is decorated beautifully by Rafaello, but upstairs is the brilliant Salone della Perspettiva, among other things. The above picture (I didn't take it, unfortunately) is of the room depicting Cupid and Psyche (with the trials of Venus), which was tremendous, with a fantastic pantheon theme going on and positively beautiful frescoes. The recent restoration of the whole place is brilliant, and it's such a gem of Rome. Rafaello was doing things quite similar to Michelangelo at the same time Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, but with much more beautiful female figures, and at times more proto-Mannerism and poses that are very daring. The whole trompe l'oeil thing going on in the whole villa is stunning, but the room with Cupid and Psyche also has great naturalistic elements, and fascinating putti with gorgeous butterfly wings instead of feathery angel wings. Brilliant.

Monday, Monday

I got from the Cassia to Trastevere in a record one hour this morning! A reasonably pleasant cappuccino, and it would have been more pleasant if my chocolate cornetto was the flat rectangular kind rather than the more common croissant kind. Additionally, the flat rectangular kinds are filled with melted chocolate chips, which are much better contained and easier to eat than the croissant stuffed with messy, messy Nutella. The bar I go to here in Trastevere in the mornings is not the one right across the street from John Cabot, where I find the people a little not nice, but rather one farther away from everything where the only people who go there are Italian. Commuting has become infinitely more pleasant since school is over and therefore the buses are not packed with students + backpacks every morning... Just this student and her backpack, which is more comfortable for everyone involved.

Yesterday I did nothing terribly important, but had some nice talks online with Anna and my mom, and on the phone with Peggy, which is all very important keeping-in-touch. I've also devised a preliminary schedule for my time between the end of Calabria (20 July) and when I come home (3-4 August), but all of it is still highly tentative since I need to see if I can actually change my ticket the way I would like. Arguably there are some other ways of doing it, and I'll work all of it out as best I can, since I really do want to go up to Forked Lake this August, as per usual. It would be a very pleasant epilogue to the summer. Still, I need to make some phone calls later this afternoon and make sure the money is coming and when it's coming, so that I can start making these plans concrete. The whole situation is reasonably complicated by the fact that the Orzali's are like, "so you're coming back here after Calabria, right?" and I am still so unsure of everything and they understand. Finally, I must say that it is so fun to work out these hypothetical travelling situations for myself, doing things the way I want to do them, for me.

Finally, today or more likely Wednesday, I've got to go to CTS, the student travel place, to get a student ID card for travelling this summer. The discounts are too good so it's worth the €30 it costs to get it. I'm not going tomorrow, because tomorrow I've decided I will get up like at the same time that I do to come here Mondays and Wednesdays, and then I'll go to Ostia Antica with a book and picnic lunch and I will enjoy the day. As I said to Fulvia, non per vedere ma per stare; not to see it, but to be there. It costs nothing to go down there, and entry is minimal, and I'll take a lunch with me -- this is overall one of the most pleasurable and least expensive sorts of things I can do here.

Alas, ahimè, it is time to begin to prepare for the Michelangelo class. At least this is our last class in the classroom, because after this class Wednesday's is cancelled, and Friday and Saturday we're in Florence, and then next Monday and Wednesday we're out in Rome, and then that's quite unfortunately it.

Tempis fugit.

Where I Live, sort of.

Since I'm now into total-onset procrastination mode, here's this poorly done 360° of my room here, which is really Giulio's room, but for now it is my room. After this, I think I'm going to do some ironing. I'm really not wanting to do the work for these papers!
As always, click to enlarge the photo.

It's Saturday, therefore I did nothing.

Today was really pretty relaxing... I turn into a homebody on Saturdays, because I really need at least one day a week free from ATAC. However, I made reservations at a hostel in Florence and also looked up train times, and I'll get the tickets Monday after I get the intinerary from the professor. Generally, I'm not really looking forward to this, because it represents an expenditure that I'm not really happy about making -- train (which is not really cheap contrary to popular opinion, and I looked into buses, which don't exist between Rome and Florence) and hostel (although the hostel costs only half of what the round-trip train will cost, so why should I complain?). Additionally I had to spend money via Amazon for textbooks today, so I'm not feeling it.
There's always the possibility that I will freak out, go up to Bologna Saturday afternoon, and stay until Sunday afternoon... I've been wanting to get up there, and so we'll see. It would make a nice weekend excursion. Me + the radical sites of Bologna, the most Communist city in Italy! I'll have to do some research, however I've found that my general M.O. is to do a great deal of obsessive research, and then still end up making a rash decision when all is said and done. On the other hand, Florence may throw me over the edge and I'll need to return to bella Roma, my Italian home.
Today Fulvia's parents came over for lunch, which was nice and interesting and fun. They're really sweet people who still use the lei formal thing, which I don't really know how to use, and if I did probably wouldn't anyway out of principle, although it shows how well-mannered they are that they use it. They're really neat to talk to.
This evening Ilaria and Alessandra and I watched Manuale d'Amore and Mary Poppins (in Italian, which was very cute since they were both singing along) while eating pizza and beer. Exceptionally relaxing.
Tomorrow I don't know what I'll do... There's that which I want to do, which is to go to Ostia Antica with a packed lunch, and sit amongst the beautiful ruins reading and eating. There's also that which I must do, which is to put the finishing touches on my paper for Caravaggio and the Carracci, and then begin my bibiliography and outline for the Michelangelo class. If I get that done in the morning, I'll feel good about getting out in the afternoon for Santa Maria in Trastevere liturgy in the evening. Chances are I can go to Ostia on Tuesday or Wednesday, since I don't have class in the morning and I don't have to be in the city until later in the afternoon. Really, I just want to get some sun and breathe in the ancient Roman air. All of this me + the Baroque is a bit too dramatic!

(begin awwww moment) Finally, I must say how nice it is that my parents have continued to be so supportive and encouraging during this whole time, each in their own way. It's nice to feel like other people know I can pull this off and that I'm doing a good job of it, and it makes me happy, and happy to be here. (end awwww moment)

More Assorted Comments

1. I think this sore throat is related mostly to temperature change -- last year this time as I was traipsing over Tatry, I was later being fed mint tea with honey. As a result, it must have something to do with change in climate. The only annoying thing is that everyone is running around in tank tops and I still want to have a jacket on even though the weather is most conducive to tank tops.
2. I'm getting softer after all of my time in Rome. I want to help the tourists, not hinder them. It's a strange thing, but it's also kind of nice to be asked for directions and then to be able to give them very accurately.
3. On my way to JCU today, I was suprised to see Fr. Jack on the street -- it was great to see him for a bit. Amazing to see people on the street elsewhere in the world, especially here where we both feel so at home.
   
4. Today as I was eating my lunch, I was watching some people preparing for a wedding. There were some people around my age involved, and I think that their attempts to be fashionable will be an embarrassment when people look back at the wedding pictures in 20 years. The fashionable male haircut is short on top and long in the back, which is decidedly not cool and very 80s, and one of the summer problems for females is the ease with which it is possible to look trashy while also accomodating oneself for the heat. We must guard against this, lest (as my mom would say) we "wallow with the shallow."
   

The New Ara Pacis

Oh there is nothing better than a good Italian polemic. About two months ago, the new Ara Pacis building opened here in Rome, something that I've been waiting years to see in person, because it happens to be quite important historically and art historically. The architect is the American Richard Meier, which could be part of the problem -- that an American got the commission instead of an Italian, I don't know. At any rate, I went over there yesterday afternoon after leaving the Domenichino frescoes and the Caravaggio Life of Saint Matthew series at San Luigi dei Francesi, because I wanted to record for posterity the graffiti on the projected plans outside. Once I got there, I decided to go in, because it was open.

Here's the outside -- it's like a fence, and it's covered with these boards showing the project. The Romans, some in the Roman dialect, have made their opinions known, which they have been for at least the last five years. I chose the above photo because it's bold, and most of the others are written in ballpoint pen. It says "Better the architects of centuries ago". Some other things people wrote are (here translated from the Italian):

• This is the most expensive mailbox in the world.
• You are ignorant both architecturally and culturally.
• But what is the monument? A modern colosseum or that piece of Roman marble?
  
• Meier: the ruin of Roman culture.
• Maybe it will look better after it gets a little dirty.
  (It's right on the lungotevere with all kinds of traffic, it won't be long.)
• The angels of the church look at these sad buildings and they are perplexed!
• Not even Mussolini went this far! This is worse!
• This is the cemetery of the [political] left.
• Finally the courage to put modern with the ancient.

This is the first building to be built in the center of Rome like this since the fall of Fascism. As a result, I think really that part of the problem is that Romans are not used to this sort of new building thing, whereas in other places, it's very normal. Romans see Milan and Germany as being cold places because of the modern architecture, which is not a bad point, but still moderately prejudiced. I'd prefer something like this over some hideous neoclassical monstrosity. Neoclassical monstrosities are so ridiculous because in their quest for imitation, they end up over-doing something that was meant to be simple and above all, pleasing to the eye.

The only thing I didn't like was that there were some plaster copies of Imperial portrait busts right inside the door, along with a kind of weird Imperial Augustan family tree. Instead of the focus being immediately and dramatically on the Ara Pacis, the eye was distracted by tchotchkes.

Below are two views, one from the left and the other from the back looking towards the right. From the second picture, you can see the Mausoleum of Augustus, which is a rather interesting structure to have survived this well until now.


All around the Ara Pacis/Mausoleum of Augustus area on three sides (the fourth being the lungotevere) are hideous Fascist-era buildings. There are some Fascist-era buildings that are very nice, very well done. Not these. However, if one were to enter the discussion of Twentieth-Century Authoritarian Dictatorship Art and Architecture, I'd have to say I prefer the Italian situation to the disgusting misogynist and repressed Nazi/Hitler situation, mostly also because he thought of himself as an artist. On one of the buildings nearby, there's a building with a surviving inscription with the following: "The Italian people the immortal people that always find a springtime for their hope for their passion for their grandeur." There's nothing like a good dose of Authoritarian Nationalism every once and a while.

Also nearby is where Caravaggio killed Rannuccio Tomassoni. It always amazes me to think about what a genteel city Rome is now compared to what it used to be during the 1500s and 1600s, when dead bodies were floating down the Tiber and artists were killing people in duels... There was violence everywhere then, we're perhaps better at hiding it now.

However, on a happy note I will end. Modern architecture = love!

Good News for the L'Aquilani ?

The professor who teaches the Michelangelo class is a character. If this were a second or third grade parent/teacher conference, and I were the teacher, I'd say that he was dynamic. Yesterday, he was discussing Michelangelo's commission for the tomb of Pope Julius II della Rovere, from which the Moses resulted, among a few other sculptures.

Above is a design not really doing justice the original design, which was for a 36x24foot freestanding (therefore 4-sided) tomb with an oval interior featuring the sarcophagus of the megalomaniacal Julius II. The tiny picture really doesn't do it justice, but it's all I could find.

Another ridiculously small picture, but this is the tomb of San Bernardino, who died in L'Aquila. The important thing about the tomb is that it's circumambulatory, which means that it can be walked around, the relics can be seen, etc. I'm simplifying a bit, but not much.

The professor tried to make the argument that this was part of Michelangelo's inspiration for the first design of the tomb of Julius II! Why? Because it was finished by Roman craftsmen in 1507, the year Michelangelo got the commission, and one of the patrons was Sixtus IV, the uncle of Julius II, so he would have known about it.

Now, I have passed many happy days and eaten many pounds of porchetta in the market there. However, there is no way that in 1507 Michelangelo would have given a damn about a tomb in provincial L'Aquila, regardless of the great popular devotion to Bernardino. Often, I think that there's a great tendency to overanalyze art, which also can happen with literature, poetry, whatever -- and there's no need. So. This is my small bit of opinion advocating against over analyzing things, which I must remember also for myself.

Assorted Comments

1. I barely slept last night, because I'm having a cold where my throat hurts and so do my sinuses, but with minimal mucus. As a result of this, I had a very vivid dream last night where I was dreaming about this fictional painting that I was supposed to be studying. It was like Twilight Zone + The Da Vinci Code + my normal life, except also that this painting was in a church and I was sleeping beneath it. Also, this dream was without the hallucinogenic effects of Nyquil. I woke up, had some fair trade black tea + lots of fair trade honey, and then watched some tv this morning.
2. On tv this morning, I watched an original Star Trek episode, where Kirk et. al. encounter Apollo. Fascinating. Basically, Kirk is like, we can't give offerings to you, humanity is too advanced. Apollo freaks out and tries to shoot lightning bolts into them, while also taking one of the lieutenants as his consort. However, she rejects him at Kirk's behest and then Apollo freaks out some more and joins the rest of the gods. At the end, Kirk feels bad, so he says to Checkhov, Scotty et. al., "would it have been that difficult to gather a few laurel branches?" Le sigh.
3. Also on tv this morning was the fantastic contemporary Italian film Come Te Nessuno Mai. Great movie, I happen to have it and I really like it. I caught like the last half hour or 45 minutes of it.
   
4. Generally, I blame the weather on everything, including my less that 100% status. It's sunny, but still kind of cool and windy, and a sweater is too hot, but my neck still needs a scarf. Eh.
5. Later on this evening I have two more things to post, one being photos from the brand-new Ara Pacis! I went there yesterday, it was great. Much polemic and most people really don't like the building, but it was great. I wanted to post these things last night, but Blogger was down for some reason so I couldn't.
   

Via Cassia: A Dialogue

This is becoming a pattern (cf. Trastevere Standa: A Dialogue) -- an elderly woman makes some sort of complaint to no one in particular and happens to be standing or sitting right next to me, so I respond, not necessarily expecting any sort of response, and then I really get one. The following happened Sunday afternoon around 4:30pm, and took place in Italian. I present it here in English.

Older woman: What is this? They just built this new bench/shelter thing, but it doesn't do anything! When it rains, you still get splashed by the cars, and if there's rain and wind, the rain comes into the shelter anyway! They spent millions on these! Instead, they should put more buses on the road! (When I told Fulvia this story, she was like, well it's true you know.)
Other older woman: raises eyebrows a bit
Self: Well, we could all drive around on motorinos instead.
Older woman: You know, I'd be dead already if I drove a motorino. Once I was dating a man who was (emphasis mine) thirty years younger than me and I wanted to seem younger, so I rode it with him once and I nearly died of fear. Then we broke up.
Other older woman: raises eyebrows a bit, yet also looks over curiously at Older Woman
Self: Well then, we'll just have to wait for the bus. I've been waiting for a half hour already.
Older Woman: See what I mean?

listino

1. When I first got here, I was still on my American body thermometer; that is, it was always hot and muggy and gross outside, insupportable. Now, I'm back to my Italian body thermometer, which means I've got on a light jacket and gauze scarf like the other Italians. This also means that it's not quite summer here yet, and I haven't gotten much sun the last few days.
   
2. Some Alleanza Nazionale (the sucessor to Mussolini's fascist party) and Democratici Christiani (the most corrupt political party of the post-war period) from Frosinone marched through the streets a few days ago burning a copy of The Da Vinci Code. Problems with this: the second you start burning any book there's a big problem, the people who did it made themselves even more provincial than they already are, and it need not be such a big deal. However, I will give them some sort of credit for continuing a long history of Fascist tradition. Cretini.
3. Books are fantastic. Dangerous, but fantastic. It's such a pleasure to be around books. There's so much more I must read, seriously.
   
4. It's rainy today. Grrrr. Tomorrow, finally, it's supposed to be nice after like a week of bad weather.
   
5. I really enjoy that I'm so close to a DS office, because they put L'Unità on the wall outside every morning and then I can see it when I go by. In other news that you never hear in America, more Italians have died in Iraq, and Italians are getting more ticked off about their presence there. Happily enough, the president and government have a great tradition of being against imperial wars, and hopefully there will be some sort of resolution to the problem soon.

Baccalà that words can not describe

There are many things extant that are proof that God exists and wants us to be happy -- this most certainly is one of them. At this little point between Ponte Sisto and the Campo dei'Fiori, there's this place that says above the door only Filetti di Baccalà. For only €3.50, you get this massive piece of fresh, fresh, fresh baccalà that is amazingly incredibly fantastic -- just the right amount of saltiness, a perfect batter.... ahhhhh. Wow. Wow. I seriously can't express how fantastic it was.
When I got there, I said to the guys up front that I'd like one of these famous filetti (because it's like an open secret to the real Romans that this place exists) and they told me to go straight back to the kitchen and ask. And so I did, and I received, into my hands, this glorious piece of fish, wrapped in paper old-school style.
Brilliant. Brilliant.

Gratuitous Roman Cat Photo

This afternoon on the via Giulia, while I was eating little prosciutto sandwiches and sipping Tuborg.

Adventure Update

In 53 minutes and 57 seconds of movement, with 9 minutes and 52 seconds of stopped time, I went 7.02 miles on a bicycle during rush hour traffic in Rome. My max speed was 21.1 mph, which happened for probably only 2 seconds, because my moving average was 7.8 mph and my overall average was 6.6 mph. At least now my legs will be hotter than they were when I woke up this morning.

Generally speaking, the easiest and nicest part was the stretch on the bike path on viale Angelico, which did not last nearly as long as I would have liked, because it was flat, I didn't have to worry about cars or motorinos running me over, etc. I'm definitely proud of myself.

Later on this evening I'll try to post a file so that you can see my route using Google Earth.
Edit: I left that cord back in gli stati uniti, so it will have to wait, unfortunately. But use Google Earth anyway!

I'm about to have an adventure!

Yesterday evening, I went with Fulvia and Achille to meet their friend Alessandra and later, her husband, because down by Ponte Milvio there's an antiques market the first weekend of the month. Alessandra was in the market for a new dining room table, and she found a fantastic one with in tarsia and everything. Very nice.
She and her husband live over by Aventino somewhere, and she came via her electric-powered bicycle. When we left Ponte Milvio, she rode her bike up the hill and met the rest of us, who drove. Somewhere along the way, her motor battery pooped out. Alas, this evening Fulvia proposed that I ride the bike to Trastevere tomorrow instead of taking the bus, and then Alessandra can meet me in the afternoon so that she can have her bike back.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to have an adventure! There are lots of ways I can go, I've got some ideas and I'm tres excited. I will of course tell everything tomorrow. So exciting.

Lost in Translation

I was telling Fulvia about this the other day, and it was really funny because she couldn't belive it. This sign is on the ceiling in the back of an ATAC bus, the public buses in Rome. The text in Italian is nearly completely different than that in English -- the text in Italian tells you how big of a suitcase you can carry on the bus, and the text in English tells you where you can buy bus tickets.

Answers to the Movie Locations

It has been a week since I posted the first movie location photos, and I will now post the answers for the first round.

This one was tricky, because the number was not very visible, but 51 is on there. The very hot Gregory Peck gave his house number as "via Margutta 51" in one of my favorite movies, Roman Holiday.













Left: Right before Bradley takes Ann back to via Margutta.
Right: Interior of via Margutta, 51.

---

The next film was much trickier, since even I did not know exactly where it was filmed, although I had some thoughts... However, my intention was a much more recent film, and another favorite, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which was filmed mostly in Rome and other places in Italy.
This photo was taken on the right side of the Spanish Steps, and refers to the scene right after the Loquasto International Film Festival, when they come out of a grand interior and onto some steps. Unfortunately, I can't find an exact screenshot right now, although I'd like to very much -- something to come back and edit later, and do some more research on.


















Some screenshots from right before the scene I'm talking about.

LA CORRIDA

I'm blogging this nearly live, oh wow. As it's the end of the La Corrida season, they've put together a migliore e peggiore show -- the best and worst. I couldn't tape it or anything, but I've taken photos of the TV screen and will also endeavor to describe the incredibility of the photo. This is an image-heavy post, best viewed on a non-dialup connection.

Generally, La Corrida has been described to me as like the former Gong Show... However, this, like many other great aspects of Western Civilization, began in Italy -- Fulvia went to see this live once when she was a kid. The studio audience brings along noisemakers, and when someone's really bad, they noisemaker them off the stage. I also must say that this show kind of shows the worst of American culture, and the worst absorption of the worst aspects of American culture into the Italian psyche. It's always cute when someone does an Italian folk song, though. This show is amazing, so wonderful, so laugh-out-loud, so Italian.

Finally, I must say that besides San Gennaro, Maestro Pregadio should be proclaimed the second greatest Neopolitan saint.

Gerry Scotti introduced these guys in the taped section (Gerry, Maestro Pregadio and the girl Michaela who does nothing) were in taped parts this episode, since it was Migliore/Peggiore) by asking Maestro Pregadio "Maestro, hai mai visto una penguina nel giunglo? (Maestro, have you ever seen a penguin in the jungle?)" Better still, they sang "Il leone si è addormentato", better known to us as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" or "Wimoweh". The Italian version is so cute: you can read it here.


This woman "danced" to "Fever" (Fever in the morning, fever when it's late at night, etc)...

... and five minutes later she was still snapping her fingers. But she had turned around.


This guy was an accountant (with actually similarities to the one I use...) and he read poetry that he had also written -- this was the expression on his face the whole time, and the poem he read was called "Baciami (Kiss Me)". Ooof.


This couple was of interest. They both appeared to be only about 4½ feet tall, and the woman was exceptionally capable at bending over backwards, like limbo-style. The guy had a combover that beat most that I've ever seen. Note the look of horror on the Maestro's face -- you can see it even better if you click on the picture to enlarge it.


This guy played "O Sole Mio" with his nose. I'm not making this up.


This woman played "Great Balls of Fire" on the clarinet. Again, I'm not making this up.


The La Corrida show has a corps de ballet in-house. Their choreography is amazing, as is their costuming. I'm not posting the picture, but they also did a Rocky number with everyone, even the men, in red, white, and blue Daisy Dukes.
Above, they are doing the Can-Can in costumes that are Napoleon and Josephines.

Here, they are doing a tango as Cleopatra and male attendants, and there's also a serpent dancer involved. The creativity is astounding!