Updates

Hi all,

Sorry for my long absence from the ol' blog. Life has been fairly standard (although also being awesome) so I have nothing too exciting to report. I am very happy. I've been working a lot these weeks so I've been confined to my desk a lot of the time (see below). Then also going out with friends and eating lots of pasta. I plan to get some money shots of food soon.

I have been trying to decide whether to stay in Rome a little longer - til the end of February. But I decided instead to leave for South America as planned in early January, then return to Rome mid April to mid June. I will be back in New York Jan 5 - 10...clear your calendars! My birthday is January 8 so maybe I will have a little shindig while I'm in town.

xoxo, Kris

(Kris is what everyone here calls me, pronounced Kreese)

Rimini

This past weekend I went to Rimini with some friends. During the summer, Rimini is a ridiculously debaucherous party town. There are over 1000 hotels there. In October, we were able to find a hotel near the main drag for 35 euro/night, including breakfast and a 4 course dinner .

The town was deserted and had an eerie feeling. Rimini was the hometown of Fellini, and I could see the connection. For any of you who have seen the Fellini film, Amarcord (which, like Rimini, is a bit of a haunted, eerie movie), it is set in Rimini.

Unused pedicabs in front of the arcade:



Friend entering deserted Bagno 28. Beaches in Italy aren't quite like beaches in the US. Along a stretch of beach, different proprietors set up shop with changing rooms, restaurants, and umbrellas and chairs to rent. You have to pay to go on the beach. In Rimini, there are separate "lidi" (the individual ownerships) from numbers 1 to 100, all side by side. Our hotel was by #28:



The beach is huge. The plants are fake.



Me along the beach:

Taglio (Haircut)

It wouldn't be right if I came to Rome all this time and didn't get an awesome Italian haircut. My friend Fabrizio is a hairdresser so he cut my hair. It's a bob with a pretty severe angle from back to front. The best part is it only cost 25 euro. Love it!

Front:



Back:



Side:



With Fabrizio. Ironically, he is bald:

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):