A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

As I begin this post, we are back in Venice. It is Saturday morning. The sky is blue and the high today is expected to be around 76 degrees. Later this afternoon, we will board the Royal Clipper, a tall-masted sailing ship with a capacity of around 210 passengers. This evening, it will sail out of Venice and out onto the open Adriatic. We will be at sea all day tomorrow, sailing southeast toward our first destination, Kotor, Montenegro.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

I saw this play at a local community theatre sometime in the late 70's. I don't remember what it is about, but a funny thing actually did happen to us - our friend Kathy and myself - on Friday as we were walking from our hotel to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Our first stop that morning had been the Church of St. Peter in Chains, which Mark and I had visited last year. I wanted to show Kathy Michelangelo's famed statue of Moses (with horns). After that, we headed on down toward the Colosseum and saw a very elegant old car (maybe from the 1930's) pull up to a stop light next to us. We deduced that its passengers were a bride and groom because of the white ribbons on the car behind it. Kathy and I both whipped out our cameras, but before we could take a picture, two motorcycles pulled up next to the car; then the light changed. Oh well, we thought; it would have made a cool picture ...

We then proceeded to the Colosseum. After a few photos, we tried to find an entrance to the Roman Forum, the idea being that we could walk through it on our way to the Capitoline Museums. We discovered, however, that one now needs a ticket for that. So we headed back out toward the street that leads up the hill at the top of the Forum.

Before we reached the street, however, I saw a little street that led uphill. Assuming that we could perhaps go this way, we started up the street. When we came around a corner at the top, this is what we saw:

The very car that we had seen 15 minutes or so earlier. It was parked outside the Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana, a structure that dates back to the 14th century. We could hear organ music. We came on around the corner to the front of the church and watched the wedding couple walk slowly up the aisle toward the waiting priest. What were the chances of that happening, i.e., of ending up at the very wedding spot of the couple we had seen earlier on the Via Cavor?

The Capitoline Museums

Mark and I didn't make it to the Capitoline Museums last year, so it was on my list for this year's visit to Rome. It contains some famous sculptures from antiquity, including this bust of the Emperor Hadrian, the Capitoline She-Wolf, and the Dying Gaul. 

The Capitoline She-Wolf, the symbol of Rome, was originally thought to have dated to several centuries before Christ. However, scholarship using carbon-dating and other methods, has determined that the statue of the wolf dates to the 11-12th centuries with the brothers Romulus and Remus added probably in the 15th century.

I first learned about this statute - the Dying Gaul - during my freshman year Humanities class at Illinois Wesley University. I'm going to copy and paste some information about Wikipedia about this statue because I'm running out of time. We'll soon be checking out and taking our luggage to the meeting point for the cruise transfer, thereafter to spend a few hours wandering around San Marco and the surrounding district.

"The Dying Gaul—also called The Dying Galatian (in Italian: Galata Morente) or The Dying Gladiator—is an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost Hellenistic sculpture thought to have been executed in bronze. The original may have been commissioned some time between 230 and 220 BC by Attalus I of Pergamon to celebrate his victory over the Galatians, the Celtic or Gaulish people of parts of Anatolia (modern Turkey). 

"The identity of the sculptor of the original is unknown, but it has been suggested that Epigonus, court sculptor of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, may have been the creator.

The copy was most commonly known as The Dying Gladiator until the 20th century, on the assumption that it depicted a wounded gladiator in a Roman amphitheatre. Scholars had identified it as a Gaul or Galatian by the mid-19th century, but it took many decades for the new title to achieve popular acceptance ...

"The white marble statue which may have originally been painted depicts a wounded, slumping Celt with remarkable realism and pathos, particularly as regards the face. A bleeding sword puncture is visible in his lower right chest. The figure is represented as a Celtic warrior with characteristic hairstyle and moustache and has a torc around his neck. He lies on his fallen shield while his sword, belt, and a curved trumpet lie beside him. The sword hilt bears a lion head. The present base was added after its early 17th-century rediscovery [near Rome]."

On Friday afternoon, we were joined by two more cycling friends, and the five of us had a very interesting "gay-friendly" tour of the Vatican, followed by happy hour on our terrace back at our hotel and a lovely dinner. I'll be writing about that in my next post ...

Rome: Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli

First things first. I am very happy to say that Mark was feeling much better yesterday and again this morning. We did a fair bit of walking as part of Monday's food tour, and it didn't help at all that most of it was on cobblestone streets, which put a lot of strain on his hip. Thanks for all who have offered prayers, thoughts and love on his behalf.

Yesterday, we headed out of Rome for a tour of the ruins of the Roman Emperor Hadrian's villa (Villa Adriana) and of nearby Villa d'Este and the famed Tilovi fountains and gardens. Mark participated in the morning tour of Hadrian's villa but wisely opted to sit in a park with a beautiful view toward Rome while I went on the afternoon tour of Tivoli.

Busts of Hadrian (left) and his lover Antinous in the British Museum. We will be seeing these ourselves later this month when we go to London.

Mark and I had wanted to visit Villa Adriana since we came to Rome this time last year. Hadrian was one of Rome's greatest emperors who presided over a period of peace, consolidation and prosperity. He reigned from 117 to 138 A.D. and is more widely known for the construction of the Pantheon in Rome and Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. It is less widely known that he famously had a young male lover named Antinous who was from an area along the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. Hadrian met him while on a tour of the empire and took him back to Rome with him.

There is not much left now of Hadrian's extensive villa/estate, but it is still very much worth seeing. For those who may be interested this Youtube video shows a digital re-creation of the villa that brings the following pictures to life.

Antinous drowned mysteriously in the Nile River while on an imperial tour of the empire. Hadrian was devastated. He immediately deified Antinous and commanded that images and statues of him be created throughout the empire. Because Antinous was deified, temples were also built to him throughout the empire. Hadrian himself had a temple constructed at the main entrance to Villa Adriana. Every visitor had to pass by and/or worship in this temple when visiting the site. 

From Villa Adriana, it was on to Tivoli for lunch and an afternoon tour of Villa d'Este and Tivoli gardens. I have to say I was far less enamored of this place. I was, however, impressed that all of the engineering involved in creating the fountains and musical accompaniments was done in the 16th century.

Our friend, Kathy, arrived last night. Today, I will go out with her this morning while Marco rests and paints, then the three of us will go on a "gay-friendly" tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's this afternoon.

Rome: Prayers for San Marco

Hello again, Rome!

After our four days in Venice, we were ready to move on, though we loved that city and will be thankful for another 24 hours or so when we go back on Friday. 

Our next stop: Rome! We arrived at our hotel around 5:00 yesterday afternoon. It is the same place we stayed when we were here last year (see here). We chose to come back because we liked the location (Monti District) and our room with its little terrace.

I'm a few pounds heavier than I was last year, when we had just come off
a three-week cycling trip.

The Monti District is considered a fun, "up and coming" neighborhood that is off the heavily-beaten tourist path. However, it is close to the Forum as well as the Termini train station and several famous churches like St. Peter in Chains (which has the "horned Moses" statue by Michelangelo) and Santa Maria Maggiore, which is just around the corner. Other sights can be easily reached by metro, taxi or on foot. (We did a lot of walking last year; this year, we won't be.) 

It's also a lively place in the evening. When we went out for dinner last night, the streets were full of young people, couples with children, and older people out for a stroll. There are lots of restaurants, and we aim to be a little more adventurous this year, rather than limiting ourselves to Taverna Roma where we went every night we were here last year for its carbonara. As it happened, it was closed last night so we had no choice but to try a new place where we had some lovely prosecco with our meal. Mark had carbonara (no surprise there), I had risotto, and we shared some meatballs as the second course. 

Backing up, when we arrived yesterday afternoon, there was an insufficient amount of our Salt Lake-acquired gin in order to have cocktails. So we had to go out. Our hotel person recommended we go to a "supermarket" on the other side of the piazza in front of Santa Maria Maggiore. We did so. On the way back to the hotel (which is really just a group of rooms in an elegant old Roman apartment building), we witnessed a festival of some sort involving Indians (i.e., from India). A procession had formed coming forth from Santa Maria Maggiore that passed us and wound around the side of the basilica. Meanwhile, the church's bells were ringing wildly. Only in Rome.

Our big activity today (Monday) was a foodie tour that started at Rome's biggest (?) market at the Campo de' Fiori and ended steps from the Pantheon. As it turned out, our guide, Joseph, was one whom we had met last year. He gave our small group a brief introductory talk, referring to some of the vegetables for sale, pointing out that, in Italy, only what is seasonal is sold at local markets. It's just the way they roll.

Speaking of tomatoes, Joseph (our guide) told us the story of how tomatoes were not originally accepted in what we now know as Italy because they were too acidic and made people sick. The people of Naples, however, were facing starvation and decided that their only alternative was to do something with tomatoes. So they fried them with a bit of olive oil, and they lived. And so did the tomato.

Scene near Campo de' Fiori

We followed Joseph (he's actually Dutch or perhaps Walloon) to a local bakery a couple of blocks away. Here, we picked up some freshly-baked bread (still hot from the oven) before heading back to Fiori. Meanwhile, our mouths watered as we looked at the pastries on display behind the counter.

Sfogliatella, a custard-filled pastry native to Campania (ankle of the boot) that our guide described as a "calorie bomb." We will perhaps go back on Wednesday or Thursday morning to partake. We know where they live.

Mark may be having a wet dream about these tonight. Again, we know where they live.

I had never seen black bread before. Hmmm ....

From the bakery, we went back to Fiori to sample olive oil. We learned a lot. (We used the hot bread from the bakery for tasting.) My favorite was one from Umbria. There were slight differences in the taste, but my palate is not educated enough to really appreciate these. With this almost bewildering display of many different types of olive oil, I wondered what kind of selection exists in Salt Lake. Typically in the past, I've just bought the extra virgin at Costco. Philistine. Now, however, with additional light and knowledge, I don't see that happening. Emigration Market? Caputo's? Granato's?

We were then treated to samples of various types of Balsamic vinegar and of glazes made therefrom, including truffle "infused." (Is that the right word?) We liked the white truffle. Who knew there was this whole culinary world out there? (Well, I'm sure some people did; but I was not among them.)

We moved on from the balsamic vinegar to the pesto. So many flavors. My mind was spinning. I calmed my mind, however, by recalling that, five years ago, I barely knew pesto existed. 

Pesto passed, we moved on to the pork butcher in a shop next to the Campo. Joseph explained that the owner had a farm in Umbria where he raised pigs that, um, supplied the raw material for his shop in Rome. Joseph had been to the farm and assured us that it was quite nice. I'm sure it was. The lead photo of this post is based on Mark's photo of the shop. (Let's just say filters were involved.)

Our group getting ready to sample various salamis, prosciuttos, liver (didn't see that one coming), etc.

Okay. So we had the baker, the butcher; now time for cheese. We walked a block or two and came to a cheese shop where we learned about and sampled parmesan-reggiano, buffalo mozzarella, pecorino roma (liked that), and several others. God, I felt stuffed by then, knowing that we had pizza on the horizon. And it wasn't even noon yet. Did I mention that we were offered (and partook of) red wine at the pork butcher's and white at the cheese maker's. Ooof!

Our next stop was a pizzeria that had a wood-fired oven. We were invited in to spread out our own (pre-prepared) pizza dough and choose our own toppings. Tomato sauce. Fried or raw zucchini. Red Onions. Artichokes. Porcini Mushrooms. Peppers.

Then, into the oven. After the pizza came out, we could then add salami, bacon or boiled ham as additional toppings. Mine was okay, but I think I had put on too many ingredients and the various flavors didn't mix well. I was experiencing what our guide had mentioned several times throughout the tour - sometimes, simplicity is best. Two many ingredients can ruin a dish. 

From the pizza maker, it was on to Sant' Eustachio for macchiatos all around, then to the taxi stand behind the nearby Pantheon to catch a ride back to our hotel.

This is my favorite picture of the whole day. This edifice was just across the way from the pizza place. It is Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza built in 1642-1660 by the architect Francesco Borromini and considered a masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture.

Dear friends, my Marco is ailing. He is experiencing a lot of pain today. Please, if you are a praying person, please pray for him. If you are a thoughtful person, please send good thoughts. If you love him, as I do, please send love his way. Our dream is to enjoy this European adventure to its very last planned moment. 

Thank you. Grazia.