Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Hotel Bellettini, Firenze
1731 EET

A long day full of touring and equally full of information. I shall do my best to recall here the mourning tour as the afternoon one concerned art and you really need the artwork to talk about those. So after breakfast which was provided buffet-style by the hotel, of juice, fruit cup, cake like bread, and cereal for me, we rushed to make our meeting time and place on Ponte Veechio. Our guide was Elizabetta who started us off with a concise history of Firenze, how it began as a Roman city, how the merchant family the Medici rose to the aristocracy, moving from running the city from behind the scenes to out right ruler-ship and how the family died out from infertility.

Benuenuta Cellini's bust on Ponte Veechio.

So, Ponte Veechio is the oldest bride in the city and the shops used to house fishmongers and butchers. However, when the Medici built the Vasari Corridor from Palazzo Pitti on top of the bridge’s shops to the city hall, Palazzo Veechio, and through peoples homes where necessary, they disliked the smell and replaced the butches and fisher mongers with gold- and silversmiths who have operated on the bridge ever since.

Ponte Veechio with Vasari Corridor on top.

Vasari Corridor.

Vasari Corridor entering home on way to town hall.

Progressing from the bridge to the arched walkway underneath the Vasari Corridor, we walked through Galleria degli Uffizi which was built by Cosimo I de' Medici but we would learn more about it on the second tour. Stopping in Piazza della Signoria before the city hall, which was built upon a Roman amphitheatre, the hall’s clock tower is the oldest and separate part that would serve as a prison for two prisoners and was part of an original building in the area, which the city hall was built around in stages.

Town hall in Piazza della Signoria.

Framing the entrance way are two statues, a copy of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s David and a second statue commissioned from the Medici’s court architect, a statue of Hercules and Caudeus. Elizabetta related an amusing story about how Michelangelo was commissioned for the second statue as well, but upon David’s unveiling the commission was given to the court architect (they didn’t think it possible for him to top his masterpiece). When the block of marble that was to be carved learned of this, it tried to commit suicide by throwing itself into the River Arno. Also highlighted was the statue in the loggia, in particular the bronze Peruses, which is of two cast bronze pieces using the lost wax technique.

Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa.

The next area highlighted was an interesting square church, Orsanmichele. The church began as a grain market and at one point a picture of Madonna and Child was painted in the market square and it began performing miracles so when a fire destroyed the painting they decided to erect a church. A simple thing to do because a roofs covers all Firenze market places so all that was required was filing in the spaces between the pillars and construct two more stories above to store the grain.

Orsanmichele.

Covered market space.

On the exterior, the various city guilds were invited to decorate niches. There were fourteen guilds in the city with seven major ones (such as banking, whose emblem was an eagle on a bale) and seven minor ones (e.g. butcher).

Crest of the Banking Guild, an eagle on a bale.

Two of the niches were spotlighted, done by contemporary friends and sculptors. The one of the four brothers that were martyred when they refused to sculpt pagan icons, which is preformed by an artisan and the other niche of Saint George and especially of the frieze below was done by an artist, or traditionally Gothic and innovative Renaissance styles respectively.

Four martyred brothers, Stoneworker's Guild.

Saint George, Armour Guild.

Within the Piazza San Giovanni and the Piazza del Duomo (the piazza has two names because of the two churches in it) we admired the lavish white, green, and pink stone exterior of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Uniquely in not only the bell tower to the right of the entrance, it is also not attached to the main cathedral. They started building from the front but construction was intruded by first two bank bankruptcies (Firenze had 140 banks), a flood, war, and I think a fire, followed by a plague. The people decided that God was angry with them so decided to build the largest cathedral, thus the module pattern expanded [resulting in twelve windows and four of them are ornamental due to the expansion].

Entrance of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Bronze doors to Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Cathedral exterior wall with belfry on left, first three windows is the original building size.

Cathedral wall with belfry on left, showing expanded building pattern.

Cathedral wall looking towards the Duomo.

Buildings shown that they were modified/removed as the cathedral expanded.

After building the rest of the cathedral they realised they also now had the largest hole as they did not have the skills, knowledge, or technology, to build the dome. In time, issue was solved by Filippo Brunelleschi who built the dome and also took into consideration the contraction and expansion the dome would undergo from climatic changes. Something that the fresco artists failed to take into consideration so there are three large cracks in the dome’s fresco that have been there almost from the beginning. While the dome is frescoed, uniquely and in great contrast with the ornate Gothic exterior, the interior is the simple stone and plaster of the Renaissance. The only celebrations of important personages are the two bishops buried there and two out of place frescos on the north wall of equestrian mounted soldiers that found in the Crusades, one of which is an Englishman. Also, there are only two references to the Medici, an inscription on the floor and painted in the dome’s fresco, naughtily on the same level as Christ with a group of crowned men.

Duomo of the cathedral.

Our next destination was a place where we had to make two hard decision: a) cone or cup and b) what flavour of gelato we wanted. From Le Parigine Gelateria Artigianale along Via dei Servie I believe, I selected their cinnamon flavour. It was very much a specialist ship, in appearance and gelato. [Elizabetta paid for us all so I have no price to mention.]

Le Parigine Gelateria Artigianale.

Mom being served inside Le Parigine Gelateria Artigianale.

Last destination was the Galleria dell’ Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s David. The statue is everything everyone says it is and more. Beginning from the front, Elizabetta explained the statue to us, starting with the seemingly largely proportioned hands and head. She reminded us that the statue had been commissioned to stand in an area of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore above our heads [which she’d pointed out while touring the cathedral] but upon being unveiled to the Medici, they dragged the statue from Michelangelo’s workshop to its copy’s place in front of the city hall. Uniquely, not only is David portrayed not as youth of twelve or fourteen [his usually age of depiction as described in the Bible] but as muscularly mature and perfect young man, he is also the first heroic nude statue since the Roman era.

Michelangelo’s workshop with the cathedral to the left.

So, view from the front. David’s right side is tensed as his left foot grips the ground as someone who is about to throw something does. Moving around him counter clockwise, the expression is full, with him swallowing, and fully expressed by the deep-set eyes, carved irises, and deeply furrowed brow. The behind is more perfection with the sling that he holds near his shoulder with his left hand, crosses to his right that is holding the clung stone. The forward left leg also has a vein in it, which means, as it is a weak spot, all of the statue’s weight rest on the right. Continuing around the statue it’s only here that perception is off as the left leg is significantly longer than the right—that is because it is the only angle the statue would not have been viewed from if it had been place in its original destination.

Because I was so excited about and enthused to describe David, I forgot to mention the adventure getting into the galleria. We arrived to find the queue stretching down to Piazza San Marco. The cruise ships had landed, thus as Elizabetta and our second guide Constanza would say, creating unusual and insane lines and crowds within the galleries. Before departing the Accademia, we made a point of seeing the Stradivarius for Andrew in the musical museum. I also purchased five of the most expensive postcards I have yet to buy of €1.00[$1.3186] each but what they depict are beautiful views of David. I almost hesitate to part with them because I want such images of the masterpiece and photography is forbidden in the galleria. Actually, looking at the postcards again, I think I will keep tow of the as my first souvenirs of my Italia trip as well as a David bookmark that Mom purchased for me.

We zipped back to Room 24 for twenty minutes breather and to recharge my camera battery as much as possible for our afternoon tour. During that time, we also consumed a lunch of granola bars before making our way to our 1430 tour of Galleria degli Uffizi with Constanza. Discussed while still outside the galleria is that the U-shaped building was commissioned as office buildings in the Renaissance style but the Medici ruler who ordered them built died before their completion (and the original architect) and his son who also ruled next saw them, declared them to beautiful and turned them into a galleria. That the Uffizi and Firenze in general has such an astounding collection of statues and paintings (besides having cardinals from the Medici family in Roma acting as antiquity agents) is due to the last of the Medici family. Knowing she was infertile and knowing that the duchy had to be passed on, she contracted with the inheritors that the works of the Medici collection were never to leave Firenze because of the tourists in the 18th-century document.

We moved from 12th-century artwork to 15th-century with Constanza focusing on specific paintings highlighting masters, techniques, and changing styles. The first three were altarpieces heavy in gold leaf of Madonna and Child with the oldest being from Siena and discussed stylistic difference and how the youngest piece has the first still life depiction in art: two angels holding vases with flowers.

More religious themed artwork was viewed and the progress from Gothic to Renaissance was noted and detailed. There was a brief interruption with the ceiling frescos which were done in the Grotesque style that was inspired by the discovery of the Golden House, Emperor Nero’s palace in Roma, and how that became the fashion. Also mentioned was the various busts on display in the hallways with some made of up to four different colours of marble. Which makes this the time, before I forget again, to relate some more information that Elizabetta told us about the red Egyptian marble. The reason that most of the pieces we see are round slabs is because the red was loved by the Romans and those round slabs are simply sliced pieces from Roman pillars that that the Italians quite freely used and repurposed materials from pagan architect. Also, there was an agreement between Siena and Firenze that if the later helped the former with a battle, Siena would give them two magical pillars of red Egyptian marble. Firenze helped, the battle was won, but because there is a long history of animosity between the two cities, Siena burnt the two pillars to remove the magic before giving them to Firenze. [The pillars in question are now part of the baptistery.]

We admired the art of Botticelli, in particular his Spring and Venus masterpieces executed in tempura on wood and canvas respectively. Next, to be admired was works by Leonardo which attention paid to a work he worked on in collaboration with his master. Constanza was a very interactive guide and this was one of the pictures that she asked us to identify Leonardo’s contribution but it was a tricky question (which we got right) because a second student painted the angel on the right and Leonardo the left angel. It is said that the master, after seeing his student’s works declared his career over. The next Leonardo was an unfinished work that is basically complete except for colour making it an equivalent of a black and white photograph. Viewed next was a painting by Michelangelo in vivid colours and a particular statue-style shading of folds in the clothing, a reflection of Michelangelo’s preference of sculpting as his one signed piece, the Chapella Sistina in which he wrote “Michelangelo, Sculptor.” Raphael exemplified the height of the Renaissance art with his realism and artists following, feeling perfection had been achieved by the masters began experimenting with their own styles.

When viewing a painting of a German Renaissance painter, and the first work Firenze artists had seen in oils, Constanza told us how historically, religious paintings were only displayed on Sundays and during Mass. So the German painting would go behind an altar and the wing pieces which had back and white images of Virgin Mary and an angle on the “backs” would be on view most of the time.

We peaked into the room with hundreds of miniatures and outside that room on the fresco ceiling Constanza related why there were two Medici crests, a shield with five balls, and two others. One of the shields represented the coat-of-arms of a Medici wife, who met on their weeding day and took a disliking to each other. The husband throughout the marriage kept a mistress and upon the wife’s death married his mistress, which as expected, displeased the Medici family and the newlyweds were one day stricken with a fatal “fever” on the same day, in the same place, at the same time. Rumours of poisoning abound and recent exhumation detects arsenic.

Ponte Veechio taken from the one room in the Uffizi photography is allowed, the hallway!

After Constanza left us, Mom and I toured the Cavaggio and Caravaggesque painters’ exhibit, one of which was a woman artist with the first name of Artimestria. While browsing the galleria shop we didn’t purchase anything but were amused by the magnet dress-up of David and Venus for €5.00 [$6.5931]. Very cute and playful, with David’s clothes being a suit and Hawai’i beachwear and Venus was an elaborate kimono I believe and a Wonder Woman costume.

Before I forget again, the other artists highlighted were the Lippis. The first was a friar who fell in love with a nun, they both left their orders and married, and the second Lippi was their son. One of the profile paintings, the style selected because the husband lost an eye in battle, which Constanza says, “hides the eye, but shows the nose.” For the white skinned, brow-plucked wife Constanza highlighted her sleeves, which was the only part of their clothes they changed regularly. So when the Italians say “it is a new set of sleeves” they mean that the situation has totally changed.

We admired the Roman Niobids [Niobe had fourteen children (the Niobids) and mocked Leto, who only had two children, Apollo, god of prophecy and music, and Artemis, virgin goddess of the wild. Leto did not take the insult lightly, and in retaliation, sent Apollo and Artemis to earth to slaughter all of Niobe's children] statues, some of which we saw in the national Roman museum in Roma. We also found the original sculpture of the Fontana del Porcellino, wild boar, and a piece that I am familiar with related to the story of Troy though the names elude me. [Laocoon (the priest who warned the Trojans about the wooden horse of the Greeks) and sons being devoured by serpents.] For the wild board, there is a bronze fountain statue, Fontana del Porcellino, in a market place along Via Calmalo that if you rub its snout and place a coin in its mouth and the coin falls into the grate, you will have the good luck to return to Firenze. I was lucky to be successful on my first try, but Mom had to try twice.

Fontana del Porcellino.

Fontana del Porcellino.

Supper was at Pizzeria Bar Piccadilly, a large panini of eggplant, tomato, and zucchini for myself and a pizza slice for Mom. The meal total was €7.00 [$9.2304] but because I didn’t have the exact change, he generously didn’t break a banknote so our meal was €6.70 [$8.8348].

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
0740 EET

In retrospect, looking at one of our maps, I think Basilica di San Clemente was the church recommended by the archaeologist at the Oriental museum for some of the first artwork depicting Hell so I am sorry that I did not realise that during our visit and made more of an effort to look at the 12th-century church in detail. But I suppose my interest was lost at the sight of the gilded roof that was lowered to cut off the head of Jesus in the nave scene. Also forgot to note last night: that when passing a military guard on Via San Nicola while splitting my attention between Mom’s discussion with Rachel about the origins of basilica (the Roman law courts was the architectural template of the first churches) and Jeremiah’s discussion about how the Italian military are not permitted to have a clip in the magazine although they do carry it on their person. And something I must remember to tell Femke was during our second departure from the post office was saw two military officers in cameo BDUs with two gold stars on their shoulder epaulets—which means if they are anything like American and Canadian ranks, those two men were major generals. Now I’m going to do what I did when I spotted them—squee!

Packing for Firenze.

Roma Termini, Roma
1235 EET

Roma Termini, on our platform that will take us to Firenze.

We just boarded the train to Firenze, but during the wait at the platform after our 400-metre walk to our departure platform, I finished up my second batch of postcards for Mac, Amber, Chris, Leslie, Laura, Shanna, and Femke about the Catacombe di San Callisto. This morning however after eating breakfast, packing up, checking out, and leaving our luggage at Casa di Rosy, we went to the Museo Nazionale Romano for its 0900 opening. We were a bit early so we practised t’ai chi until the museum opened and then we entered. Two tickets and one audio guide was €18.00 [$23.6584] but the ticket was for four museums all together. Mom and I toured the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, of the four, which housed on the main floor, primarily busts but also had the world-renowned bronzes the Pugile [Boxer of Quirinal] and the Principe ellenistico. On the second floor was fantastic statues primarily, such as Discobolus di Myron [the discus thrower] which is even more famous than the bronzes, a wonderfully sculpted Ermafrodito dormiente, and an absolutely awe inspiring third century sarcophagus, with such amazing expressions and details. I was required by a time concerned Mom to breeze through the third floor of frescos, stuccos, and mosaics that are beautiful and often displayed in the case of the frescos and stuccos as the “rooms” they adorned. Departing the museum, and finally getting our hands on a brochure, bade both of us realise we missed the basement level with its promised numismatics and goldsmith work such as coins and jewellery.

From the museum we went back for luggage and passing Pizza House, we went into the bakery next to it to purchase lunch; the sandwiches were €3.00 [$3.9431] each and the extravagant chocolate rum ball desserts were €2.00 [$2.6287] each. Mine was a bun with lettuce, ham, and a thick slice of what I believe was some type of cheese. Mom after eating her rum ball remarked that it was a good think we hadn’t entered the bakery the one other time we’d noticed the open. Speaking of food, supper last night was €16.09 [$21.148] at Panella, where we ate lunch on our second day in Roma, and this time we had some battered and friend zucchini and some shredded potato with ham and cheese.

Pizza House and bakery on far left.

Back to Roma Termini, Mom after finding our platform ran back for a map of Italia and also purchased on Firenze. The later map we are using to track the train’s progress but so far, no luck finding the last station, Orti.

Italia countryside from train. You would not believe how many telephone
and power poles I took pictures of trying to get good scenery shots.

Hotel Bellettini, Firenze
2033 EET

Well, I located Orti on the map when we passed through Attigliano and then proceeded to keep myself occupied during the ride from 1245 to 1637 by marking off stations we passed or stopped at. What also kept me occupied was constructing three sentences in Italiano that I am going to say to Nichola when we meet up with the family in Levanto. I changed the second sentence about three times and still wasn’t able to write it out fully because of the brevity of our phrase book with dictionary. One thing I may have discovered in the book is a grammar error with zio/a = aunt/uncle as I am almost certain that o is masculine and a is feminine. (What is this world coming too? I am not only finding errors in English novels but Italiano ones? I’m the one with a spelling disability, I shouldn’t be finding these!)

After admiring the Italian countryside, the fields of sunflowers, corn, grapes, and what we think are olive groves, as all we are certain of is that the trees were cultivated and to the east, mountainous hills with some of them picturesquely capped by Italian towns and medieval fortresses. After arriving at Firenze’s Stazione di Santa Maria Novella, we progressed the short distance to Via del Conti for our hotel, discovered the road was under construction and smelling appealingly of sewage, but all together located Hotel Bellenttini much easier and sooner than Casa di Rosy. Checking in we were shown to room twenty-four, which overlooks a private patio on the ground level, and given to the keys to the room and unattached bathroom a short (very short) distance outside our room. Once again desiring to locate our tour meeting places before the tours, we departed the hotel in search of them. A moment back to locating our hotel, Casa di Rosy was invaluable for teaching us to examine everything at the address and look up.

Firenze after crossing the street in front of Stazione di Santa Maria Novella.

Hotel Bellenttini, Room 24.

View straight out from Room 24 window.

We progressed down Via de’ Cerretani into the Piazza San Giovanni and found—THE TOURISTS. Throngs and droves of them! Mom figured it was Roma where we would find the crowds but apparently we had avoided them by scheduling our full day of ancient Roma on a Sunday, and our afternoon catacomb tour on Monday was to more tourist unknown locations. Also in the piazza with the tourists with the stunningly decorated green, white, and red stone exterior of the Cattedrald di Santa Maria del Fiore. Mom said that she’d read the cathedral is reputably the most beautiful church in Italia. We continued on our way down the Via Roma which opened onto the Pizaa della Repubblica that became via Calimala which became Via Por Santa Maria that leads onto the Ponte Veechio [Old Bridge].

THE TOURISTS.

Front building, the baptistery. Back, the Cattedrald di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Baptistery, Cattedrald di Santa Maria del Fiore, belfry.

 Along the way, we purchased our gelato of the day, and shared a €2.00 [$2.6287] bowl as the shop we ordered from didn’t have lesser-valued cones. We found the bust of Benuenuta Cellini half way across the Ponte Veechio on the west side and on the bridge were overwhelmed by the jeweller shops that line it. Moving down Lungarno Achibusieri we entered the Galleria degli Uffizi from the rear and found the statue of Galileo Galilei immediately on our left. Proceeding up the gallery, past the multitude of artists offering portraits and other statues, we found Leonardo da Vinci. I made certain to say salve as requested by Andrew and took a photo of the statue as well. From the galleria we emerged onto Piazza della Signoria where there is a multitude of larger than life statues such as Michelangelo’s David (replica), the Rape of the Sabines, Hercules fighting a centaur, and a bronze of Perseus with Medusa’s head in hand standing with one foot on her body.

Entering Galleria degli Uffizi from the River Arno.

Turning around in the Galleria degli Uffizi to look to the River Arno. Spot Mom! 

Replica of Michelangelo’s David.

Loggia with statuary. Spot Mom!

Supper, at La Martinicco on Via del Sole which was recommended by our hotel clerk Elton, was very nice. The size of the appetizer surprised us: zucchini salad for Mom and a plat with thinly sliced meat, oil, and spinach on parmesan for me, went very well with the smaller serving of rotini pasta. Five large stuffed rotini for each, mine was a mushroom and Mom’s was lemon. As delightful as the meal was, I really enjoyed sampling Mom’s to have the bite of lemon overcome the saltiness. In total the meal was €34.00 [$44.6881] which Mom felt was worth it compared to the Monte Arci linguine in Roma (for me the reverse stands true). After our meal, while still in the restaurant we began discussing her and Dad’s trip text near and after declaring Dad would never be able to do a full day tour and would be best with just morning half day tours, that if we wrote up what we learned from the various tours, Mom could guide Dad through the Colosseo and Foro Romano area herself if we wrote up everything together. So at Zia Michaela’s we are going to work on writing everything we recall down.

Via del Sole is on the far right.

La Martinicco on Via del Sole.

Monday, July 12, 2010

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
0909 EET

One thing about touring and exploring yesterday that photos and written words fail to convey, is the sheer size of the architecture. Even the ruins where only a low wall or a few colossal pillars still stand. Made of stone, they easily match the height of buildings at home and our four-story house. Some things, where most are low ruins, are in exceptional shape such as the Curia, a brick building which as its roof and restored in the Renaissance; the bronze doors of a temple dedicated to an Emperor’s deceased son named Romolo that’s lock and key work to this day; the altar of Caesar where the statesman was cremated after death which is made of tufa and offerings are still made to him. I regret when walking down the Via Sacra in the Foro Romano that I did not take a picture of Mom and my feet on the cobblestones.

Alanna in Colosseo next to pillar piece.

Big, big, big. And not even the Italians knew. See the level
of the church's door? That was the ground level with the church
was built. They decided to pull down the pillars at one point but
couldn't do it because they didn't know how big they really were.

Roman aged bronze hinges and lock are still functional.

First paved Roman road, the Via Sacra.

Last night I did not sleep quiet as soundly, mostly from the coughing fits and while I was sore and stiff climbing into this bed, this morning at breakfast I was the usual slight ache. Which can be more than expected from the sudden mass amounts of walking exercise I am getting. Thankfully besides the black mark that has rubbed onto me from where my sandal shoe was repaired from Bailey [our six month old chocolate retriever] chewing it apart and has not washed off, my feet are fine. This morning I also sorted my photos (and was able to after remembering to plug in the re-charger at 0500 approximately this morning) and wrote my five postcards.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it again, from reading one of the bilingual sings on Palatino I learned that casa is house and di is of so our bed and breakfast translates as House of Rosy. While touring the Colosseo we also learned that the word arena comes from the Latin word for sand, which was spread in the stage area of amphitheatres, hence arena instead of stage, which is what it is. There was also only one of the twenty-four to twenty-six gladiator types that were permitted to kill another after the spectators gave their verdict. Our guide Serena also recommended a website, Rome 3-D, to view the Colosseo in its complete form.

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
1947 EET

Our time after departing our room around 1030 was eventful. First, we went to Roma Termini to locate where they sold the train tickets and the metro, which we were going to use to transverse to our catacomb meeting place, also done by Dark Rome Tour Group, plus purchase postage and mail our postcards. Well, the lines were intimidating, the metro automated, and of course in Italino, and the wait time at PosteItaliano horrendous. So we decided to go to the Nazionale Romano museum which was recommended by the Oriental archaeologist as a “Roman” museum—and after walking around the building to check it out, wouldn’t you know, it’s closed on Mondays.

So we decided to return to the termini and do our business. Mom went to purchase the train tickets and I to the post office. If we had kept our old ticket number [people take numbers], I would have been called to the counter within three minutes. As it was, we had over an hour wait until our new ticket number, A215, was up on the computer billboard. During that time, Mom used the self-serve for the train tickets and fetched lunch from the Pizza House, where we had our first Italian pizza. When my number went up on the sign board the teller and I, with the assistance of another women waiting to post, purchased forty international stamps at €42.50 [$55.5267] which fortunately I had enough cash on my as they didn’t accept mastercards. Finishing there at 1307 we made our way to the metro, figured out how to use the self-serve to buy tickets at €1.00 [$1.3065] each and boarded from the Termini to Barberini. The escalator for the Barberini station is incredible in length and incline so I most willing rode it all the way to the top, instead of my usual ‘it’s a staircase and you walk on stairs’ mentality.

We arrived forty-five minutes before our catacomb tour started but it gave us time to find an interact machine and withdraw cash, €150.00 [$195.9767] in my case, and locate a gelato shop. A little more pricey than other shops at €2.50 [$3.2663] for a small cone with two flavours, my selection was their tiramisu and white chocolate. The later flavour was divine and had a liberal amount of white chocolate shavings. As for the shop name, the card and receipt have it in a different order so I will write it as the card and sign were: Mamo dream s.r.l. crema & cioccolato.

The gelato is shop between the two motorcyclists.

Piazza Barbarini with Fontano del Tritone.

Fontano del Tritone [Fountain of Triton.]

Retracing out steps to the Fontano del Tritone we meet up with our Dark Rome guides and boarded a bus which took us down Via Appia, past a fortified gate of an old defence wall, the Porta San Sebastiano [Gate of Saint Sebastian] where Roman fathers who were displeased with their newborn children could expose the infants while they were under three days of age, left the infants and the Christians would bury the infant in the nearby catacombs or adopt it if the infant lived. Our destination was the Catacombe di San Callisto, which is one of the sixty-nine catacombs of Roma and one of the few tourists are permitted to visit, built in the 3rd-century under the organisation of Canon Callisto. Callisto was elected by the previous pope to become pope, but Callisto only served for about a year before being exiled to slavery by the papacy. Within the catacombs are the Cripta dei Papi [Chapel of the Popes], which was the crypt for some of the earliest popes, a replica of a statue of Santa Ceclia the patroness of music whose martyr decapitation is shown on the statue by the line on her neck, some frescos of Jesus, the earlier crosses, and other artwork. These catacombs are also notable for the high number of infant burials due to its proximity to Porta San Sebastiano.

A fortified gate of an old defense wall.

Catacombe di San Callisto.

Some prominent things we learned from our engaging and energetic guide Jeremiah [irreverent according to Mom] was that Christians during their prosecution didn’t have secret handshake but a secret foot move of drawing a fish [the earliest sign of Christianity/Jesus] on the ground by putting their foot forward and drawing it back. Also during prosecution, they did not hide out and live in the catacombs because once away from the airshafts there is at best, only twenty-five minutes of air. As Jeremiah humorously described it; put thirty people in one of the larger cubicula, light an Indiana Jones sized torch, which would consume all the oxygen and those thirty people would pass out from oxygen deprivation.

There are two types of burial, within a loculi in the passage walls, which commonly held three poor people within and the cubicula [burial rooms containing loculi] which a wealthy family or families would have dug by the workers who were specialists acclimatized to the conditions digging through the tufa and surrounded by decomposing bodies. The burial loculi were sealed up with terra cotta or a stone slab, which was of marble if the individual or family was wealthy.

When departing the catacombs, across from the cubicula where Jeremiah did his lecture about the structure of the catacombs, were two sarcophagi which when I check on, held some skeleton remains underneath their transparent coverings. One thing about the catacombs is after they ceased being used as burial grounds, ‘barbarian’ invaders would take the bones of saints to extract ransom from the Church, the only group around during that time that really had money, the Church finally removed the important bones (but not before they had three skulls of San Pietro and enough fragments of the cross Jesus was crucified upon to make two hundred crossed) and the entrances and knowledge of the catacombs were lost until a farmer’s cow through a catacomb roof and became the Holy Cow. After purchasing postcards of what we saw as photography was not allowed, we boarded the bus to our second destination: Basilica di San Clemente.

Basilica di San Clemente.

San Clemente of the 1st-century was the fourth pope counting San Pietro. The unique thing about the basilica beyond its Byzantine art is that it has some rare layers beneath the basilica and is an outstanding example of the building and soil layer as well as unique in one of its layers. As Rachel, the other guide told the story while we were on the bus, an Irish monk living in the basilica swore he heard running water underneath the basilica, so he persisted and an archaeological excavation took place and discovered an even larger 4th-century basilica underneath, forgotten.

The Irish monk did not live to discover what the source of the running water sound was, as later excavation discovered a 1st-century Templo di Mithra [Temple of Mithras, an originally Persian god of light and truth, identified with the sun, who slew a primordial bull and fertilized the world with its blood, guardian against evil] which had been built on another 1st-century apartment complex that had been destroyed during Nero’s Fire. So the apartment had indoor sink pluming (which had become backed up over the centuries and become the source of the running water sound, but is running fine now), with partial walls with diagonal pattern as the upper portion which was closets to and supported wood, grass, and thatch roof, had burned. Also original was the chevron pattern floor.

Back within the 4th-century basilica, we examined some frescos that survived, San Clemente celebra la messa, the lowest panel, which depicts one of his miraculous escapes from Roman legionnaires by tuning into a stone pillar. The fresco is complete with speech “bubbles” and the soldier’s leader swearing nastily. It is also monumental because it is one of the earliest known frescos with Italiano in it. The second highlight in that underground 4th-century basilica was a mosaic depicting San Cirillo and San Metodio, who were involved in San Clemente’s story and San Cirillo created the Cyrillic alphabet. The two saint brothers recovered the body of San Clemente from the Black Sea and the anchor he had been tied to for his execution. San Clemente after conversion had originally been enslaved and sent to work in some mines. As royal blood, son of an active senator, and former orator of Emperor Trajan it was just bad politics to kill him—but after he converted his fellow mining slaves and mine soldiers the empire revised that decision.

Not mentioned by Jeremiah but read on one of the signs by myself in the time I separated from the group and got suitably anxious about it, a fresco of Madonna and Child was on view and had been revealed when the overlaying fresco, also of Madonna and Child, had fallen off soon after discovery to reveal the better one underneath. So being reunited with the group after some gut wrenching moments while I attempted to calm myself with thoughts of: I knew where in the city I was, could walk back to La Casa Di Rosy, and had the room keys with me; we progressed back to our third and final stop at Pizzale Barberum where our meeting fountain, Fontano del Tritone, is.

Cappucciai is home to the Cappuccino Order of friars when a monk of the Francisco Order became disgusted the “tad” materialistic nature (Francisco monks with gold rings) of the Roman Catholic Church during the Renaissance broke off and founded the order. The Church after all owns ninety percent of the red Egyptian marble, which is worth millions of euros per cubic centimetre today, with most of the material being a part of the Vatican. The Church was displeased with the criticism that was implied by the Order’s creation and even excommunicated its members before relenting and giving them “temporary” quarters in one location (some 170 years) before giving them their current church and when they moved, the monks wanted to take their brethren with them. So they did and used their bones to decorate the walls. Very artistic and symbolic, the practice was outlawed when Italy was unified under a monarch and the pope became a prisoner within the Vatican, which is why when a bone falls from a wall they are not permitted to restore or replace it. There are four thousand monks contributing to the bone art and a few uniquely mummified bodies after the art practice was outlawed as well as burials in soil from Jerusalem. And yes, the ice cappuccino is named for the monks.

Chiesa Immacolata Concezione, home to the Cappuccino friars.

Some other things learned during the cool tour (deliciously in temperature and history) is that there are over nine hundred ten churches in Roma. Retold for me, but an excellent reminder to write it down, was that the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuell II, also called “Vittoriano,” is heartily disliked by the people or Roma because it’s construction involved the destruction of a Roman apartment complex and the palace where Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni stayed while he was painting the Cappella Sistina and designing the Piazzale Compidoglio where the gilded bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus is displayed.

Also, if we had known how easy it was to use the metro we would have used it much earlier to explore the city. I regret that today is our last full day in Roma as not only is there so much I would like to see, I would like to retrace our tour paths and more leisurely savour the sights.