Sunday, December 10
Deborah was on the hunt for a new pair of gloves so we visited the Portuguese Market again. In case you missed our previous post the market is held every Sunday morning and extends for over a mile. It is a mecca for inexpensive clothing of every kind. It took a little doing but Deborah eventually found exactly what she was looking for. Total cost: €1.00. A real bargain.
Afterwards we walked all over Trastevere exploring parts of the area we had not previously seen. Eventually we wound up in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. We had been there before but hadn’t taken any pictures. We took the opportunity to photograph the Medieval and Byzantine decorations and view their Nativity Scene.
Total distance walked: 5.5 miles.
Monday, December 11
Deborah was going through shopping withdrawal so we decided to check out the best of what Rome had to offer. The first one was Galleria Alberto Sordi, a collection of high end stores with enticing windows. This is one of the few shopping malls in the city. The building is very grand and appears as if it could have had a previous life as a train station. The V-shaped building has a wide boulevard lined with shops on both sides and a high, vaulted ceiling with beautiful art deco stained glass panels. The entrance contained an oversized Christmas Tree that was suited to the building. We left with our wallets intact.
(Christmas Tree in the Galleria)
Next we visited a seven story department store named Rinascente on Via del Tritone; it had just opened in October of this year. As far as we know it’s the only one of its kind in the city. The store was chocked full of designer clothes and accessories. The seventh floor contained all sorts of fancy food stuffs including chocolates, pastries, teas, jams, honeys, etc. The rest of the floor was a series of restaurants. We had lunch there and enjoyed some gourmet food. Deborah’s sandwich was on homemade wheat bread and contained brie, bacon, sliced pears and hazelnuts. It was truly amazing.
After lunch we went to the basement level, which contained all sorts of home furnishing and electronic gizmos. Down there we stumbled onto something really astonishing. On display was a remnant of an ancient aqueduct that had been uncovered during construction of the building. There was an excellent multimedia presentation explaining the history of the aqueduct and the even more ancient domiciles that were unearthed adjacent to it. It’s not something you see in a typical department store.
(Aquaduct in basement of department store)
We also managed to stop by three different churches that day: Chiesa San Claudio, Chiesa Santa Lucia Del Gonfalone and Basilica di Santa Eustachio.
Total distance walked: 6.5 miles.
Tuesday, December 12
This was Vatican Museum day. We bought tickets for a 9:00 am entry but that place was so uncharacteristically uncrowded that we were able to just walk in and start our visit around 8:30 am. We had been to the museum before on a guided tour and knew that we had missed quite a lot of what the museum had to offer so we decided to go again and see things at our own pace. We had lasted about six hours at the Louvre so we figured we could tackle this with no problem. So, armed with audioguides, we set off to see EVERYTHING.
We finally got to see the Egyptian wing. There we found 4,000+ year old relics in amazing condition. There is a 2,000+ year old mummy on display that is in incredible condition; you can see every detail on her body including her fingernails. It is a truly fine exhibition. As an aside, there is a genuine 2,000 year old pyramid in Ostiense that we’re planning to tour next month. We’re really looking forward to that.
The Etruscan wing had an enviable display of ancient jewelry. Most of the pieces were taken from 3,000+ year old funerary sites. Deborah would not be ashamed to wear any of these pieces.
We had an opportunity to revisit some of favorites from last year – namely the tapestry displays and the Raphel rooms. We were able to take our time and really enjoy these.
(Raphael’s Fresco: The School of Athens)
The audio guide had extensive coverage of the Sistine Chapel (photography was prohibited). We sat on the benches on the side and listened for over half an hour. Then the guides had us walk about the chapel and explained the various scenes. It was nice to be able to spend so much time there. On the way out of the museum our path took us through the chapel once again and we had one last fond look around before leaving.
The museum also contains a large ‘modern’ art collection. It includes Rodin, Chagal, Dali, van Gogh and an entire room full of Matisse works of art, letters and artifacts.
All in all it was a great experience. We wound up spending over 6 hours there and were gratified that we got to see everything.
Total distance walked: 9 miles and 16 flights of stairs.
Wednesday, December 13
Our plan for the day was to tour the Jewish Ghetto and then proceed to Castel Sant’Angelo to see the procession in celebration of Santa Lucia.
For our tour of the Jewish Ghetto we decided to try out some of Rick Steve’s podcasts. The Jewish Ghetto was instituted in 1555 by Papal Bull. The Ghetto contained over 6,000 people. It was located in an undesirable area that was frequently flooded by the Tiber. After the unification of Italy in 1870, when the Jews gained full rights and citizenship, most of the ghetto was demolished and the area was turned into a residential neighborhood.
The ghetto spanned the area from Ponte Fabricio to Piazza Mattei. Very few of the original buildings still exist but today, along the main road, many Kosher shops and restaurants can be found. One of the specialities of the neighborhood is fried artichoke (we’re going to go back and try it at a later date). Since it was Chanukah we decided to sample one of the local traditional holiday delicacies: small fried doughnuts. They were good but probably would have been better in the morning when they were hot out of the fryer.
Fun Fact: most Jews are considered either Sephardic (Iberian Peninsula) or Ashkenazi (Eastern Europe). Roman Jews are neither: their ancestors came directly from the Holy Land.
Since the tour was fairly short we decided to stop by some churches on our way to the procession. We visited Parrocchia Santa Maria in Vallicella and Parrocchia Santa Maria in Traspontina, both of which are near Vatican City. By 7:00 pm we hadn’t seen any signs of a gathering. When asked, a nearby police officer said that it should be happening ‘now’. By 7:30 pm, when there had been no sign of any gathering whatsoever, we decided to call it a night.
Total distance walked: 7.9 miles.
Thursday, December 14
It had been our intention to revisit St Peter’s Basilica after we left the museum on Tuesday but it was closed for a special event. We decided to reschedule for today.
As we walked towards Vatican City we noticed Chiesa Santa Maria Della Scalla. This church had been closed every time we walked passed but today it was open. We couldn’t resist the urge to take a peek inside. It’s a lovely Renaissance style church from the late 16th century. The church was built to contain an icon that had cured a child’s deformity on that very spot.
When arriving at St Peter’s Basilica we started listening to another of Rick Steve’s podcasts. The recording detailed St Peter’s Square, the Basilica’s main alter and Michaelangelo’s Pieta. It had little information about the rest of the church.
(Michaelangelo’s Pieta)
We did find one very interesting thing about Bernini’s design of the square. There is a spot near the obelisk called, “Centro Del Colonnato”. It is marked on the ground. From there all of the columns appear to line up perfectly.
Total distance walked: 6 miles.
To date we have visited 59 churches and one synagogue. There are more than 900 churches in Rome; we have our work cut out for us in the next six weeks.
I visited the Jewish ghetto On a Saturday expecting to see the synagogue. To my surprise there was a locked gate around it and a sign saying they would be open On Sunday. Of course most of the restautants were closed.