Rome (at last!)

The dome of Saint Peter's and the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

       This is part—the last part!— of our on-going blog about Jordan and Italy.  Find the previous blog about Sorrento here. The complete series starts here, with Jordan.

Ah, the Eternal City! (And it does seem to have taken an eternity for the blog to have gotten this far!) While this was a first-time trip for Sue and Alan, Paula and I had been to Rome a few years back, and were eager to return.

Piazza Navona and Bernini's La Fontana del Moro (Fountain of the Moor)

Again, the list of things to see and do was long, our time was short. And, it rained. And, it was crowded. (Paula speculated that the crowds were due, in part, to this being the week after Easter. Or it was spring break. Or, people just want to travel!)

View toward the forum from the Coliseum

Outside of the Coliseum. Imagine this covered in white marble...

            Coliseum and the Roman Forum—These days when traveling everything must be carefully planned, as tickets with scheduled visiting times must be bought in advance. The Coliseum and the Forum are included on the same ticket; we started with the Coliseum, and then found we had little time and no energy left for the Forum. (Too bad! On our previous trip I much preferred the Forum, dripping as it is in history rather than blood.)

Inside the Coliseum, where the action took place. Note the floor has been partially rebuilt.

            Vatican Museum—Again, we’d been there, Sue and Alan had not. If Paula and I had been traveling alone, we might have skipped a second visit. Oh, it’s filled with wonderful art works: incredible sculptures and grand paintings from unrivaled masters. Fine as a museum, but the thought that this was a personal residence of the all-powerful pope leaves me a bit grossed out. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, though…

Imagine if this were your office... or your home!

Laocoön and His Sons:  Laocoön, a Trojan priest, warned against bringing the Greek’s wooden horse into the city;
Athena & Poseidon, favoring the Greeks, sent two sea-serpents to kill him and his sons.

The tortured face of Laocoön. "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes??"
This statue was discovered on the papal grounds, so the sculptor is unknown. It dates from around 0 CE.

"Nero's Bathtub," a giant basin carved from Egyptian Porphyry, an exceptionally rare purple marble found in only one place on earth.
Difficult to make, nearly impossible to transport.
Conspicuous consumption at its peak!

We were anxious to get to the end and to the apex experience: the incomparable Sistine Chapel with its famous ceiling. It had been a long day, we were tired. But something new has been added to the tour: a section of contemporary art. While I am pleased that modern artists are getting this level of exposure, the path to the chapel seemed interminable. We passed from chamber to chamber of art that didn’t interest me, up down and around hoping each turn would bring us to the Sistine. Well, it did, eventually, but it sure was a long time coming!

We found a place to sit along the walls, listening to Rick Steves’ commentary (and the frequent booming announcement: “No photos! No videos!”). We felt wrung out. Finally, gratefully, we made our way out and down the road to home.

Then, on the way out the door, we passed this pops concert. No idea who or why,
but, since we'd be leaving in a few days, we felt it very appropriate that they played "Arriderci Roma!" 

“Coming all the way to England and not seeing a soccer match is like 

going to Rome and not going to church…”

----- Ted Lasso

OK, not in England and no soccer matches; but we certainly did go to some churches!

St. Peter's Square from the dome.

Saint Peter’s Cathedral—On our last visit to Rome we never got inside St. Pete’s: the lines were just too long. This time Sue got tickets for the tour of the dome, which required us to get there extra early. Worth it, totally worth it! Ah, not the dome tour, so much, but getting there early (7AM) meant the line was not unreasonably long. The tour of the dome came with some interesting commentary, and a lot of climbing. I don’t need to do that again… but I’m ready to revisit the cathedral! 

St. Peter's Square from the ground, as we wait in line at 7AM.

Another view of the Square from behind the railing.

Inside St. Pete's. Sue looks tiny and lost!

Bernini's magnificent canopy provides scale for the vast interion. At the lower left, people raise their hands in supplication.
No, wait—they're taking photos with their cell phones.

Stunning, stunning works of art and sculpture. Any one of the massive sculptures and paintings would have been an enormous attraction by itself. But here, it was just one more fantastic piece of art, set among many more. And… it’s big, the cathedral. So big, in fact, that it has bragging rights: laid into the marble floor are makers showing the relative size of other world-class cathedrals, to make sure we know how huge this one really is.

Inside of the dome, of particular interest since we were up inside. 
It looks so small from down here!

I learned something that blew me away: all these "paintings" were replaced long ago by mosaics to protect against dust and smoke damage.
This was originally a painting : "The Punishment of the Couple Ananias and Sapphira"  by Pomarancio, 1604. 

Detail of the above mosaic, done in 1717. It is in the Altar of the Lie, St. Peter's.

In a side chapel: The Chair of St. Peter, carved in wood in the 1st C.; set into the stunning bronze altarpiece by Bernini (and a bunch of other craftsmen) in the mid-1600s.

These marble statures are massive: compare with the real people bottom center.

And the pièce de résistance, the Pietà, carved by Michelangelo when he was 24.

Walking the streets—We took a swing past the Trevi Fountain, always magnificent. But we didn’t stay; it was jammed with people, making it no fun. We did stroll over to another part of the city, called Trastevere, just across the river… but socially, in another world.

Piazza di Saint'Egidio in the Trastevere district. 
People spend enormous time and money to faux paint walls to look like that!

Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere. Incredible mosaics!

Rick Steves likes this area, and discuss it in his books and videos. He’s found it to be more “authentic,” less touristy. Although, lately it’s lost some of its original charm as more tourists find their way there. (Thanks, Rick.) Still a charming area, though. We found a particularly nice church (there’s one every block, in Rome), the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere. Wonderful mosaics inside!

Borghese Gallery—A place we had never visited in Rome was this impressive gallery of painting and sculpture. Sue was very keen on going here.

Façade of the museum Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy

Photo by Alessio Damato; from Wikipedia. Attribution: I, Alejo2083

Reminiscent of that ceiling in the Vatican, no? I wonder why...

The Gallery originally was the private home of Scipione Borghese, whose uncle, Pope Paul V, gave him a cardinalship (and the name Borghese). Thanks to his uncle, Scipione amassed enormous power and wealth and assembled one of the largest art collections in Europe. He was particularly fond of Caravaggio, from whom he bought (and extorted) numerous works. The gallery was built in 1615 to house Scipione and his growing collections.

One of the most striking of the many great sculptures; Bernini's Abduction of Proserpina.
Proserpina was the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres; Pluto took her away to the underworld, causing the earth to dry and crops to fail, symbolizing the changing of the seasons.

Incredible drama in the faces of the abductor, Pluto, and the abductee, Proserpina.
(And this was done when Bernini was just 23!)

Getting to the Gallery was a bit of a challenge because it was far enough from the center to require a bus ride… which meant figuring out how the bus system worked: routes and where to get tickets. We made it, we saw the Gallery and its art (and got home!). After the Vatican museum we were a bit tired of the excesses of the rich and powerful and how they needed to show, over and over, how much above everyone else they were. Still, the incredible art on display made the trip well worth while.

 

Carvaggio's Saint Jerome, busy translating the bible into Latin; about 1605.
The skull, and the deep black background, brings up questions of mortality and death.

Last Supper by Jacopo Bassano.
Superficially similar to the one by DaVinci, but things seem a bit more disorganized here. And there's Jesus, in the middle, perhaps thinking, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all..."

OK, so Scipione may have a lot to answer for, but OMG the Gallery he left has incredible works of art for us to enjoy! He was a patron (and extorter) of both Caravaggio and Bernini, and his collection includes many other masters as well.

It was raining when we arrived, and almost dark when we left. We had a bus to catch to get home, so we did not want to dawdle. But yet, the Gallery is surrounded by an enormous park, which—sadly—we had no time to explore, at all.

Overall, we had a fine visit to Rome. Not enough time, too much to see, awfully crowded, and it rained. Which means, in the words of a former governor of California... We'll be back!

This statue of Byron in the park was arresting! Not sure the hat was part of the original sculpture...

We have arrived at the end of this series of blogs about our one-month trip to Jordan and Italy. The next blog will be something or other about springtime in Montpellier…

Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, the Isle of Capri, and...

 

Looking up the Amalfi Coast from the harbor of Amalfi

        This is part of our on-going blog about Jordan and Italy.  Find the parts about Sicily here. The complete series starts here, with Jordan.

During our travels over the last few years Paula and I have noticed something interesting: when it’s threatening rain, we always seem to arrive back at the house or car just before the drops fall. Any number of times we’ve been out for a little hike, we'll climb in the car, and as we drive out of the parking lot big drops start covering the windshield. Or we make it home just a few minutes before the rain falls.

In Sorrento we weren’t so lucky.

The bus ride from the airport in Naples to the coastal town of Sorrento was not unlike the ride from the Palermo airport into the city: along the coast, looking out at the water as the bus wound along the shore. We had a longer walk, though. We trudged through the modern city, dodging cars and other pedestrians, our suitcases trailing behind us, on into the very narrow streets of the old town. In these skinny byways we were dodging vender carts and racks displaying refrigerator magnets, bottles of limoncello and olive oil, and lemon-decorated aprons (and tablecloths, and dishtowels… we were at ground zero for the fabled Sorrento lemon). And, then, dodging raindrops.

Our lodgings were down a steep narrow alley. But which? There were so many… Eventually we found the right one and got the door opened, escaping the downpour. We entering our rental apartment feeling like drowned rats.

Oh, but what an apartment it was! This was a long-time family home, rented out when not needed. It’s always so much nicer to stay in someone’s home than a place intended only to house short-term travelers (like that horrid place for our night in Catania). Well equipped, nicely decorated, lots of room, and a wonderful terrace. Yeah, it was raining now, but the terrace would be a real joy in the coming sunny days.

Our terrace at dusk, with lemon trees!

When we arrived we had several things on the “places to go and things to do” list. Some got done (Pompeii, the Ilse of Capri, the Amalfi coast) and some didn’t (Herculaneum, the city of Naples). Overall, we liked Sorrento, but it’s not on our Must See list. It has a reputation as romantic and picturesque. With great lemons. Oh, it is. But then, so are a lot of places. (Well, not all with great lemons!)

 

A quick summary of what we did…

Amalfi Coast-- OK, so we live in California and have been up and down the Big Sur coast more than a few times. Is the Amalfi coast “better” than that? The YouTube videos of cars and buses negotiating the tight turns on the coastal road are amusing. What was it like for us?

Could be Big Sur...??

Decidedly NOT Big Sur!

Another photo from Paula's side of the bus.

It was very crowded. Our expectation that the four of us would be able to sit together on the bus ride down the coast quickly shrunk to hopes that we could sit at all: the aisle of the bus was filled with strap hangers. My seat mate was a petite Asian woman who spent the entire journey with her head in her phone; and why not? To her right she could see someone’s belt, and my shoulder blocked her view of the window. Yes, I got a window, but on the wrong side: I mostly saw the cliff face.

View from my side...

...and sometimes there was oncoming traffic.

The town of Amalfi was fine, if crowded. We had a good lunch and excellent ice cream. For the return trip, we chose to skip the bus and take a ferry back to Sorrento. Good choice! We enjoyed the boat ride and the view of the coast, with its many small towns spilling down the cliffs.

 

The town of Amalfi, from the harbor.

Duomo di Sant'Andrea, Amalfi. Broad steps leading up to a heavily decorated church!

From the ferry, just off the coast, on the way back (the town of San Michele.
.

And, just before we docked in Sorrento, Mt. Vesuvius across the bay.

Isle of Capri—I was a bit cynical, having heard the song, and the stories of the Blue Grotto, too many times. Turns out, there is far more to Capri than a song and a type of pants. The island is tremendously mountainous, giving many hiking opportunities and some fantastic viewpoints accessible via gondola. However, the day we were there the mountain tops were wreathed in cloud, so we opted for a funicular ride to the upper town where we had second breakfast and coffee; overpriced, but worth it for the view!

From the upper town, looking down on the harbor of Capri. See the funicular tracks, bottom center?

Back down at the harbor we took a boat tour around the island. And that was fantastic! Our skipper was very good, maneuvering the small boat into tight coves and caves, and pointing out (English and Italian) the sights and sites. (We did skip the side trip to the Blue Grotto—and the additional €15 charge; not worth it!)

 

Our skipper, announcing... something or other.

Yes, we went through that hole in the rock.

Not "the" Blue Grotto, but one of several beautiful blue pools we visited.

See that tiny cave where all the row boats are headed? Yup, the famous Blue Grotto, Grotta Azzurra.
Not worth an extra €15 (each) for us.

The central massif of Capri. The gondola with the fabulous views is somewhere
on that cloud-covered peak.

Pompeii— We figured this to be a must-see, and we did. (See it, I mean.) Pretty amazing, although I think it would take several visits to make any real sense of it. It’s huge, and rich in ancient culture. Still, if we went back, I’d want to see Herculaneum, as well. (Compare and contrast!)

The Forum, main square of Pompeii, crowded as it must have been back in the day.
What's left of Vesuvius broods in the background.

House of the Vetti: Villa of the richest family in Pompeii.

Lararium: Altar of the Lares, the deities of the home; at Casa Vetti.

A street, one of a very great many in this large city.
(Those stones in the street are a crosswalk: chariot wheels pass on the sides, horses down the middle;
 pedestrians hop from stone to stone.)

Don't know what's with this wall, but oh, that snake...!!

A modern sculpture of a centaur by Igor Mitoraj
(photo thanks to Paula)

Nothing says Sorrento like the fabulous lemons found there.

And what do you make, when given lemons?

Why, limoncello! (A delicious, very sweet liqueur made from lemon rind,)
We enjoy some on our terrace.

We came prepared! In keeping with the overall Sorrento lemon theme, we brought some special socks...

And after a few days, we were on the bus headed north, going to Rome. Our only hint of Napoli was the hour we spent at the rather industrial bus station there. We had coffee and second breakfast, and couldn’t wait to move on!

6AM and we're leaving Sorrento, on the road to Rome! And yes, that's Vesuvius in the distance...

  

We’re almost at the end of this series of blogs about our one-month trip to Jordan and Italy. One more, about Rome, and we can return to springtime in Montpellier…