Rome

Quiet days in Rome. We need rest and relaxation. This past month has been busy.

Our little home in Rome has had extensive renovation. The roof top garden is lushly planted and offers a wonderful retreat.

Hotel Scalinata di Spagna

One day we went across the Tiber on Ponte Sisto to spend the morning getting lost in Trastevere.

 

 

Largo di Torre Argentina in a large excavation in the Jewish Ghetto where volunteers run a shelter for homeless cats.

 

When we found this about lunch time we had no choice. Three hours later we headed home to nap after fried artichokes, cacio and pepe, and lamb insides. It was so good. My Italian gets fluent after a bit of wine. Had a great conversation with the cab driver about his car collection.

Friday poured rain and we ended up early evening in Piaza Navonna. Love that place.

 

Vibrant street life, music, street performers, and an interesting cross section of people. Pantheon is a short stroll away.

 

Saturday we took the metro out to meet Jill Di Benigno to spend the day in in Frascati and Castel Gondolfo to view the gardens of the papal palace. Pope Francis has opened them to the public for the first time. She showed us some of her favorite spots and then got to see something she hadn't seen before. It was lovely.

 

Castel Gondolfo is a tiny charming town with flowers tumbling over every wall and balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

The palace of the pope is built on the ruins of an ancient Roman villa. This is the summer residence of the pope but this pope does not use it. Too ostentatious for his taste so we get to see the gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jill takes us to one of her favorite spots. We take a turn onto a pot hole filled mountain road and wind up around curves through lush green forest overgrown with stunning wildflowers. Bowers of yellow broom and the lovely arching branches of soft pink wild roses perfume the fresh cool air. We finally reach a tiny car park where we can access this two thousand year old Roman road that leads to a lookout with stunning vistas of the two caldera lakes, perfect ovals of blue. The emperor used to build his huge pleasure boats here to enjoy from the terraces of his villa. This is a not a well known spot so no crowds of tourists here.

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely place to escape the heat and crowds of the city center.

A quiet Sunday in Rome.

From the hotel it is a short walk to the Borghese gardens and we spend Sunday morning here under the canopy of ancient trees with the families of Rome. There are pedal cars and bicycles for rent. A fancy horse show and pony rides. A merry go round and zoo.

Then in the evening we vist the stunning Teatro dell Roma for a lavish performance of the ballet Sleeping Beauty and dinner afterwards in a local Roman neighborhood restaurant hosted by my daughter in law Diana's mother.

 

Monday we started out to go the Rose Garden and never got our act together so we improvised. Maybe not getting in until midnight last night and over sleeping helped. One thing high on Jon's go back to list is Michealangelo's Moses in St Peter In chains church. Well we decided to wander down there so we got a lot of walking but a bigger shock. We both remembered Moses being twenty feet high or more. We have been to see him twice before so this is the third visit and it had made a profound impression. It must have grown more profound in our minds because he is barely eight feet tall. We both stood there wondering who shrunk Moses. The mind is not to be trusted.

On the way.

 

 

 

Little Moses

 

Still powerful after we got used to his size.

 

Last night dinner with Carol and Julia Mariotti in a tiny terrace restaurant tucked in next to a church overlooking the courtyard of the second oldest shop in Rome. Strangely no one knows where the oldest shop is. Great food and company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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