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A castle and a palazzo

6 Aug

We had a busy and fun weekend. While some would cower in air-conditioned comfort, we headed out to experience more of Rome. The key is to go early, come home by noon-ish, then back out at night. There’s too much to do in Rome in the summer! You can’t curl up under the covers like LibbyJean!

Saturday we always go to Campo dei Fiori, a busy busy market almost any day of the week. We love the bustle and hustle, and access to the best salumi in all of Rome: Antica Norcineria Viola. Unfortunately now closed for ferie, so we have to make do with our stockpile until he returns in September.

Beautiful vegetables and the best salumi in Rome.

We also had our usual cappucino and pastry, this time con mele e crema, near Santa Maria della Pace.

Saturday night, after dinner at our favorite little trattoria, we ventured to Castel Sant’Angelo for Notti d’Estate (Summer Nights), and a special tour including the Passetto di Borgo (secret passage allowing the Pope to escape if the Vatican was sacked — and it was), prisons, and the bathroom of Clement VII.

Castel Sant’Angelo aglow, beckoning.

The English tour, for which we had reservations, was at 22:45. We were there by 22:00, looked around a bit, and then waited for our tour to be called. At 22:50 I asked “When will the English tour start?” Madam it has already left! We never heard or saw anyone claiming to be an English tour guide…. So we joined an Italian tour and vowed to return later this summer and pick up an English version so as to get all the details. Lucky for us, tours continue into September. And with the lovely nights we have in Rome, it will be a good excuse to stay out late once again.

We were able to climb to the ramparts and look down on the Tiber River, the crowd in front of the castle, and the gorgeous moon over Rome.

Playing with water: fun for kids of all ages. There are “nasone” and other little drinking fountains like this all over Rome. Ric demonstrates his technique. Block the flow with your finger creating a stream to drink from.

It really was a gorgeous night. The river was still and Rome glowed like it was lit by torches. That’s St. Peter’s Basilica on the right in the picture.

Bridge reflected in the Tiber; Basilica San Petro on the right.

Sunday we ventured out early to see a photo exhibit at the Museo di Roma in Palazzo Braschi. While the photos were great (Italian movie stars of the 40s, 50s and 60s), the star real was Palazzo Braschi

The art is interesting, but Palazzo Braschi is the star.

Featuring many scenes of Rome as painted during the Renaissance, it is fun to see how things looked to the artists of the time. Palazzo Braschi was the perfect stage for its collection.

The massive staircase was like an Escher painting.

This captivating capital crowns one of the many red granite pillars and is typical of the amazing detail in Palazzo Braschi.

Fabulous detail throughout, this captivating capital is typical.

Residents of Rome get a reduced price, and those residents over 65 with a Carta d’Identia get in free. (There are reductions  for residents at many attractions.) We had the place almost to ourselves. Once you have seen the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline, and the Borghese, it’s nice to avoid the huge crowds and escape to one of Rome’s many lesser-known sites.

You never know who you’ll see in a museum. We thought this papal bust looked like Vincent Price.

Palazzo Braschi exits right onto Piazza Navona.

Sunday afternoon we spent at home, and after sunset, a gelato outing capped the weekend. Perfect!

Have a great week everyone!

Laurel & Ric on vacation: Part I – Verona

24 Jul

I hear you cynics out there: You took a vacation, and you live in Rome? Yes friends, we had to get away and see more of this amazing country. Plus we needed to cool off!

First stop, Verona. You know, Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. While we made the obligatory stop at “Juliet’s Balcony,” the motivation was to experience this town we’ve heard much about, and to attend an opera in the Arena, a 2000 year old structure much like Rome’s famous Colosseo. It was quite a production.

“Aida” is a huge and fascinating work. Staged in the ancient Arena in Verona, the stage was elaborate and took full advantage of the venue.

I wanted to see Aida, which is four (4!) hours long, starting at 21:15 (very late for Americans), after sundown, when the day starts to be tolerable. Ric almost threw me over the stands when I told him I thought it was three hours long. (Of course I waited to tell him until we were seated with our rather expensive tickets long since paid for.) It turned to be four hours because there are 4 acts and 3 long intermissions, totaling at least an hour, to facilitate changing the elaborate sets. There were dozens of supernumeraries but only about 5 main singing roles. The “supers” filled the stage, climbed to the highest ledges with lighted torches, and generally added to the “really big show.”  It was so riveting, even in Italian with no translation (ah, Portland Opera, you spoiled us!) that Ric stayed awake for almost all of it. (OK, I rested my eyes during some of he particularly long arias too. Just a little. During the really long ones.)

The Arena in Verona used to be twice as tall. Amazing to be able to attend an opera in a 2000-year-old structure!

The Arena begins to fill with opera-goers as the sun fades away and night descends.

In honor of Verdi and the 100th performance of “Aida” many years ago, opera goers are provided candles to simulate a time when there was no light and the opera fans provided it with candles. (Long story; Google it.)

Verona is a very nice little city settled by the Romans in the crook of a river, the Adige. Anchored by beautiful Piazza Bra (nothing to do with women’s lingerie), Verona requires nothing more of one than to stroll, savoring the architecture, the ambience, the food.

Not quite like the Willamette River, the Adige runs fast through Verona, but there are a lot of bridges, green hillsides, and charming architecture. Many bicycles, too. More than we’ve seen since Amsterdam.

In Verona you are still clearly in Italy. But move a little further north, and it’s not so clear. More to come…

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