Mini-giro of Rome

The other day I did a mini-walking tour of the city center. I'm looking forward to October because I've been told by more than one Roman that Rome has the most beautiful Octobers in the world -- the weather is perfect. I'll have to report in on this. In the meantime, here are some photos from my mini-giro:

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, which is gorgeously studded with statues. It was built around the turn of the 20th century and gives way to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the larger streets in Rome's center:



Statues on the bridge:






Castel Sant'Angelo. A little history on this, courtesy of goeurope.com: Built as a cylindrical mausoleum by Rome's Emperor Hadrian on the Tiber river near what is now the Vatican, the Castel Sant Angelo was converted into a military fortress before the Pope fortified it in the 14th century. Castel Sant'Angelo is named after the statue of Archangel Michele (Michael) found on top. Castel Sant'Angelo is now a museum, the Museo Nazionale de Castel Sant'Angelo.



View of the Tevere (Tiber) from the river bank. The river bank is called the "Lungotevere." Each little stretch of the Lungotevere has a different name, ie, "Lungotevere ___".



Random statue/mini-piazza along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II:



Street near Piazza Navona:



Basilica di Sant'Andrea della Valle, a Baroque church that was constructed in the 1500s-1600s. Truly breathtaking inside:



Piazza Navona. Unfortunately, there were both repairs and a concert going on, which blocked my view:



Fontana del Moro, one of three fountains in Piazza Navona. The central statue was designed by Bernini:



Via della Dogana Vecchia. If I'm not mistaken, this is the street, located between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, where my classes were held when I studied here in 2000.



Later that night, I was walking once again over Ponte Garibaldi, the bridge closest to my house, and I saw this beautiful sight -- the Tevere, with Saint Peter's in the background. I can never resist taking this picture, and I have several by now:

Bella Giornata

Today was a gorgeous day in Rome. I had lunch with friends, passed the afternoon in Villa Borghese, one of the better known Roman parks, and walking around the city center, then had dinner with friends later in the evening -- at 10pm, the Roman time for supper. After, a friend took me on a late-night mini-tour of Rome on his scooter. I tried to take some pictures but they didn't come out so well in the dark. Below are a few from the day time.

Colisseum:


At Villa Borghese:



Villa Borgehse:



Santa Maria Maggiore:

Sunrise

Sorry there haven't been more posts lately -- Life has been quiet and good. Just working, seeing friends, and enjoying a slower lifestyle. But I plan on getting back out in the city with my camera soon to take some pictures of touristy stuff. Being in Rome is like being in the museum. When I take one bus I often ride, I see the Tevere, Piazza Venezia, the Colisseum, the coppola of St. Peter's at the Vatican, and the Roman Forum all at once. Or I'll be on a friend's motorino and we'll drive over the bridge near Castel Sant'Angelo, which is flanked by huge marble statues on either side.

When I was here in 2002 I bought the Eyewitness guide for Rome and, over the course of my 3 months here, literally saw everything in the book -- even the most minor things, I went to see. So I have this sense that I already saw everything, which, of course, is false. A friend recently admonished me for not "being interested in art", as evidenced by my utter lack of sightseeing. I was kind of embarrassed.

This morning I woke up earlier than usual and caught the sunrise outside my balcony door:

Beautiful, no?

Rome at Dusk

My friend Marco lives in a neighborhood called Monti that's right next to the Colisseum (Colosseo). Here are some pictures from his roof as the sunset approaches:

Colosseo before the sunset:



Il tramonto (the sunset) over Rome:



Sky above the roof:



Roman houses:



Il Colosseo acceso (lit up):

Lago di Albano & Castel Gandolfo

This past weekend I took a day trip with my friend Marco to Lago di Albano and Castel Gandolfo. Lago di Albano is a lake about a half-hour from Rome. Perched above it in the hills is Castel Gandolfo, best known as the location of the Pope's summer residence.

Marco has a motorino so it was fun to ride all the way out there on the scooter. In the morning it was cloudy so he didn't want to go. Italians see disaster in a single cloud. I said, 'come on, it's just passing! I saw it pass over my neighborhood about an hour ago!' So we went and it turned out to be a gorgeous day.

At the end of the day we came back to Rome and went to an Indian restaurant. It wasn't too bad, but not the same as New York. I miss Indus Valley's Chicken Tikka. Anyhoo, here are the pics:

The Lago:



We found a spot to take a swim. The water was surprisingly mild. Me on a rock after the swim:



Another lago pic:



Marco after the swim - I couldn't get him to smile:



After we spent a few hours at the lake we went up to Castel Gandolfo. A view of the lake from the town:



There are the Pope's guards. That yellow flag in the background means that the Pope is in town:



The town square. There were some people getting married at the church, which was cute:



Some houses. This place was really the typical Italian town. As Marco said, we could have been anywhere in Italy:




Another street scene:



View of the lake from the town edge:



The town across the lake:



Screen scene:



A fontanella (little fountain, often one from which you can drink.):



Peaking at the lago through buildings:



Me at the town edge:



The church bells:



Leaving the piazza where the entrance to the Pope's house is:

Santa Marinella

Last Thursday it was about 90, so I went to the beach at Santa Marinella. It's about an hour's train ride from Rome and it was absolutely perfect. I rented a lettino and an ombrellone. A lettino is basically a long beach chair you can lie on with a little square of canvas above that you can move to protect your face if you want to. An ombrellone is a beach umbrella. Here are some pics:

Arriving at the beach, I saw the typical Italian beach scene: a rounded coast studded by closed ombrelloni waiting to be rented by beachgoers:



The view looking out from my lettino. You can see the red of the lettino at the top and the bottom of my photo:



Water and ceremonial lifesaver:



Local life boat:



The day is ending...I didn't actually have the heart to leave the beach til about 5:



Bye-bye beach!

Still Hot in Rome

It's ridiculously hot here. It was over 90 today and tomorrow it will be in the 80s. I plan on going to the beach with a friend of mine.

In the meantime, here are some more shots of Rome.

Fountain at Piazza Mastai:



Me in front of the fountain:



Close up of a fountain mosaic in Trastevere, although its hard to see the water running:

Scarpe

Scarpe means shoes in Italian. When I was in Arezzo we went to this factory where they make Prada shoes and I got these for 120 Euro. I am in loooove!!

Next time I go to Arezzo to visit Rachel and Simone we're going to take a salto (jump) over to the Prada outlet where they have bags and clothes. Turns out Miuccia Prada and her husband have a house right in the Piazza Grande of Arezzo, near where were were standing during the Giostra.