I knew my partners in crime wouldn't be arriving until at least around 6pm, so I checked in, and then went to a grocery store around the corner for some party supplies (conveniently, they sell the traditional Italian Christmas cake in a package with a bottle of spumante. Nice!) After that I decided to nap until I heard from my friends. Of course with the snow all over Europe, their flights were delayed, and we didn't all meet up until around 11 o'clock. By then all the restaraunts were closed, so we ended up having our Christmas Eve dinner in a little cafe that was still open close to Vatican City (where we stayed the first two nights). The others got their first taste of gelato, and it's safe to say it was a hit. Everyone was pretty tired from all the travelling they had done, so we called it a night kind of early because we all wanted to get a good spot in St. Peter's square the next day for the Pope's public address. We returned to the hotel, which was SUPER nice, and I think we got a real steal on it by booking at the last minute. I get the feeling some people probably paid four to five times what we paid for the accomodations.
We got up early for the hotel breakfast the next day, which was probably the best hotel breakfast I ever had. Meats, cheeses, fresh croissants and danishes, eggs, fresh fruit, cereal, juice... everything but the kitchen sink. And the best part was that the hotel's dining room had an amazing view of St. Peter's basilica rising not far off. It was definitely a scenic breakfast.
Around 11am we all went to the square to get a good spot, and surprisingly there were not that many people there yet. We had a pretty good view, maybe only about 15-20 people deep away from the crowd control gates closest to where the ceremony went down.
There was a big procession into the square before the Pope came out, with carabinieri (the Italian paramilitary police), Swiss guards (the Pope's highly trained personal security force, which look like they are wearing ugly pajamas), and some other military-looking guys.
After a few minutes the Pope came out, gave a speech in Italian, then gave Christmas blessings to the crowd in about 20 different languages. It was funny cuz as he would say it in a new language, different sections of the crowd (which had substantially grown by this point) would cheer out. It felt like a sporting event, but without the beer and wings.
So after that, we made our way towards the city center, across the Tiber river.
Along the way we would come across various landmarks, and stop to ooo-and-ahhh. We passed Castel Sant'Angelo, a former Imperial Roman mausoleum which was transformed into a fortress/refuge for the popes with the advent of Christianity.
As we got into the city center, we ended up in the area near Piazza Navona, a zone filled with both locals and tourists. The others were hungry so they stopped at a little cafe for lunch. It was an incredibly scenic neighborhood.
I wasn't terribly hungry because I had filled up on breakfast, so I wandered off on my own for a little while. Piazza Navona has a reputation for being a local hangout and very laid-back, but for Christmas there was a big, noisy fair going on in the middle of the square, which was a little disappointing. We did get to see some goofy fair antics, like this guy:
Piazza Navona is also home to a trio of beautiful Bernini fountains...
Also in the piazza was (if memory serves me) the church of St. Agnese in Agone [St. Agnes in Agony], martyred for refusing to marry a pagan.
Then I made my way towards the piazza where the Pantheon can be found, which was just around the corner from Piazza Navona. The interior was closed due to it being Christmas Day, but it is nevertheless an impressive building from the outside.
After that, I returned to meet back up with the group at the cafe. We walked around Piazza Navona and the Pantheon again, then we headed towards the old forum area. On the way we passed the monument to Vittorio Emmanuele, first king of Italy.
Then on to the ancient Roman ruins:
And of course no trip to Rome would be complete without a walk past the Colosseum.
Here's a shot of our little group from a hill above the Colosseum area:
We had been wandering about for a good four hours, so we stopped at another cafe to have a quick drink. Well the quick drink ended up being a four hour detour which led to us getting Christmas drunk because we were all too pooped to get up and walk around any more. We eventually decided to go search for some dinner, and on the way we sang drunken Christmas carols in the streets of Rome. Yeah, we were those people. But Rome is full of native English speakers, especially around the holiday, so hopefully we weren't too disturbing to the local populace. We ended up having dinner at a really nice little restaurant back near Piazza Navona, seen here in the day time.
We were literally the only ones there all evening, and we enjoyed a fantastic meal. I had gnocchi with spinach and gorgonzola, and saltimbocca, in case you were wondering. Our waiter was a young guy from Tangiers (if I remember correctly - we did have a bottle of wine at dinner, after all). We struck up a conversation with him and found out he *only* knew five or six languages. Oh, Europe. After dinner we called it a night and returned to our rooms. There's definitely something to be said for walking past this on the way to your hotel for the night:
So, up and at 'em early the next day. Kind of. We had a different hotel for the next two nights so we had to lug our things across town via the metro to the new place. It was close to the train station where we needed to leave from on our last day, but unfortunately not too close to all the things we wanted to see. Since I'd already experienced a lot of the normal tourist-y things Rome has to offer on my previous trips there, I wanted to hit some sights that were a little off the beaten path. So, first stop was a little church near a piazza with another Bernini fountain.
The piazza is nice, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures from inside the church. Pictures aren't allowed because... dun dun DUNNNN... it's actually a burial crypt. The crypt contains the bones/remains of hundreds of Capuccin monks, which are arranged into intricate geometrical, natural, and symbolic designs. Uber-creepy but fascinating at the same time! Here are some pics I found on the internet -
To read more about it, check out their website: http://www.cappucciniviaveneto.it/cappuccini_ing.html
After that, we made our way to the Spanish Steps - so called because it was in the area of the Spanish embassy to the Vatican. It was famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for attracting many expatriot artists and writers from the rest of Europe and America, and it's now home to the trendiest fashion/shopping area in Rome.
The Trevi fountain wasn't too far away, so we walked by that, and it was quite impressive to see it in the quickly fading light. It rained all day, and though it was annoying, cold, and had soaked us to the bone, it managed to keep the crowds down all over the city, which was a nice plus.
I know a girl in Rome through one of my roommates, so we met up in the Trevi fountain area and she showed us to the best cup of coffee in Rome. I am not normally a fan of espresso, but I must admit, it was pretty good. We had a little 'passegiata' (the evening walk everyone goes for here in Italy) and she showed me some more sights, like the temple to Augustus -
On the way, I snapped a few pics of how Romans get into the spirit of decorating for Christmas:
If you'll notice, that second pic is of the Fendi building in Rome, and the lights are in the shape of a big belt that wraps all the way around the four sides of the building.
We went back to the hotel for a little bit to gather our strength (and a few bottles of bubbly), then headed for dinner. On the way Krista and Jo managed to climb their way onto some famous Roman landmarks. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to mark the occasion, but suffice to say that it's a good thing there were no authorities in the area. We had a good meal at a nice little pizzeria in the center, and I got to practice my Italian trying to find out where we could go to have a fun night out in the Eternal City. It's especially handy being able to speak the language in a heavily touristic area like Rome, because the waiters, taxi drivers, etc that normally have to deal with obnoxious tourists all day really open up almost immediately and are more than happy to chat. It definitely has some benefits, even beyond getting an enthusiastic helping hand instead of an eye roll when someone, say, forgets an umbrella inside the restaurant that was just locked up for the night. We ended up in an Irish bar in the middle of Rome, and somehow the USC bowl game was on TV there. It was a pretty surreal situation to be in, let me tell you. I wasn't complaining though, because I don't get too much live college football these days. We hit some more bars after that, and ran into some Americans stationed here in the Navy. I didn't stay out too late though, cuz there were some sights I especially wanted to hit the next day.
So, up and at 'em again (relatively) early the next day. I just headed towards the center with a few things in mind I wanted to see but in no particular order, so I took the opportunity to meander about. I went past the Spanish Steps again, this time in the daylight. The metro stop closest to the center was nearby so it is kind of hard to avoid the area.
As I walked, I went past this church. It is almost sad that there are so many beautiful churches in Rome that some of them get lost in the mix. I have no idea what church this was, but nevertheless it impressed me so I snapped a photo.
And it never ceases to amaze me how much detail is put into art and architecture in churchs. The top of this dome must be 150 feet above street level, where no one would ever see up close, but you can see by zooming that it is still meticulously decorated.
I walked past the Pantheon again on the way to a few churches and a gallery I wanted to see which were very close nearby -
I visited the Doria Pamphilj gallery, which was a private palace and art collection now open to the public. Several masters are represented there, such as Caravaggio, Lippi, Vasquez, Tintoretto, Reubens, et al. Yep, there's still no replacement for being filthy rich. Unfortunately there were a lot of museum attendants (and not too many patrons to hide amongst), so I didn't get a chance to snap any photos inside. But here is the courtyard and the bath room - not too bad for the 16th century.
Inside there was also an elaborately decorated chapel, with some saintly relics for that added divine protection.
I hadn't planned on going to my next destination, which, as I've said before, is often the best plan of all. Just behind the Pantheon is the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a church built on top of an ancient pagan temple to Minerva. Outside, a fanciful Bernini statue affronts an unassuming facade which conceals a hidden treasure for the eyes.
Inside, there are works of a number of masters - among them Michelangelo, Bernini, Lippi, and others. I never would have guessed just walking by it that there was so much inside! The plain facade also makes it look rather small, but once inside it's easy to see this is not the case.
I'm a huge fan of Fillipino Lippi (if you recall my blog about Florence), so I was thrilled to find a chapel frescoed by him inside.
The main apse was a beautiful scene as well.
And the ceiling was a sight not to be missed
Though not his most impressive work, this sculpture by Bernini is still notable if only for its presence among the other Renaissance masters here
And this statue of Jesus with the cross was begun by Michelangelo (but finished by pupils after his death)
And a beautiful annunciation piece by an artist I wasn't familiar with, Antoniazzo Romano
Around the corner, there was another church with some well-known works by Caravaggio. The church is called San Luigi dei Francesi - the French church of Saint Louis, so-named because it served the French population of Rome.
Doesn't it just scream foo-foo Frenchy? They may as well put up some white flags while they're at it. Anyways, on to the art. The three paintings (which were enormous, by the way) depict the life of St. Matthew.
After San Luigi, I met up with the others at the Pantheon. They hadn't seen it yet, so I gave them a short mini tour from what I could remember of my last trip there. The basics: one of the oldest and best preserved churches in the world; used to be a pagan temple to all the gods; built in the 1st century AD; tomb of the kings of Italy and Raphael (the artist, not the Ninja Turtle); built as a perfect sphere and still the world's largest unsupported rock dome; and of course, the famous occulus in the ceiling -
That night we went to dinner at a really nice place pretty close to the Pantheon. It was off the tourist path in a little back alley, and we knew it would be good as soon as we got there because A) there wasn't anyone outside the restaurant trying to entice you to come in, like everywhere else in the area, and B) the menu was all in Italian. It was a fantastic meal, and we definitely got some special treatment (free bread and some extra wine!) because I was chatting up the waiter in Italian. We called it another early night after that, because we all had to catch a train the next day and there were still things left to see.
The next day we went to the Vatican area again pretty early. Everyone else wanted to see inside St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums, but I'd already been in them several times so I went off on my own. Unfortunately most of the things I wanted to see ended up being closed because it was Monday (slow day for tourism, I suppose). But I did get to see some things on my list. There is a cool palace near the Tiber river decorated with an optical illusion in the courtyard. Unfortunately, the photos I took don't quite do it justice because there was a decorative wooden grate in front of the window looking onto the illusion.
It is made to look like a long hallway with a big statue way at the end, but in reality it is only a few meters long and the statue is tiny. Here is a pic I found on the web that shows the illusion much better, with people for scale:
Pretty cool huh? The palace itself also has an art gallery, but it was closed. The interior of the courtyard was nice though...
Outside there was a big piazza that was quite beautiful as well. The French embassy to Italy is housed in one of the buildings here.
Another area nearby is the Campo di fiori (field of flowers), which is now an open air market and ex-pat area. There were tons of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and cheeses on sale there. Pretty cool, and it made me wish I was staying long enough to take advantage of it. I explored the area around the spot and there were tons of little artist boutiques and knicknack shops. It was neat and I would have liked to have spent more time there, but I had to start heading back to the hotel to get my luggage and head home. On the way I stopped to get lunch in an area that wasn't too touristy, and I had a great sandwich and arancino (rice with cheese, deep fried and shaped in a ball, hence the name which means 'little orange') that cost practically nothing. I passed a cool looking church on the way to a quiet little square where I stopped and had lunch:
The trip home wouldn't be a real Italian experience if there wasn't some kind of hiccup - luckily it wasn't major. I got to the train station with just a few minutes to spare before my train arrived. I had a ticket for a reserved spot, in car #7. So I walked along the train after it pulled in, passing cars #9, #8.... then #6. Hmm. So I doubled back, thinking maybe I missed it. Nope, not back by 8 or 9. So I ran ahead again, but it just continued from #6 to #5, #4.... So I ran to the end thinking surely it must be there. Nope. By now I am getting nervous that the train might take off (they don't stick around too long) so I finally found an attendant and asked where #7 was. He informed that it was changed to car #5, so I had to run in and find a spot there, and with not too much time to spare. It ended up fine and the ride itself was uneventful, but stuff like that makes me laugh every time. Ah, Italy!
I wasn't home too long before I had to leave for a few more days to the mountains with a friend of mine and a bunch of others in order to celebrate New Years... but that's going to be a whole 'nother post! I hope you all had as nice a Christmas as I did.
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