Rome ... May 2002

Note: We have two pages of photos from this trip. You're on the first one, which covers our first three days in Italy and which we sent out as a "postcard" for people to look at before we returned. The other pictures are here.


(I'm writing this on Monday, May 27 -- I can use Cathy's computer while we're her house in Terni, but there will be no more updates until we return.)

Brian in the SFO International terminal Brian and I left SFO on Friday evening right after work (that's Brian in line at the terminal, to the right) and had an uneventful flight through Paris into Rome. Man, I've forgotten what it's like to take a long flight ... and Air France does manage to pack their planes full.  Still, we somehow escaped with very little jet lag.  We had a fun dinner with some of Brian's friends that evening (Domenico and Andrea, Paulo and Milko, and some of their friends), and did sightseeing until 1:30 (yoiks!).  We saw Romolo on the street later, so I got to fill in the gaps from descriptions I'd heard from Brian and Pete (the two of them went on a similar trip to Italy two years ago) -- but I got no pictures that night.  Sorry!  I'm  hoping to see all these people again when we return to Rome in a few days.


Sunday sightseeing

After a pleasant Continental breakfast of coffee, unidentifiable lemon-like juice, toast, croissant, jam, honey, and a hazelnut-chocolate spread (not Nutella, but quite good), we took a walk around the city.  Crowds at the Trevi Fountain Everything's close -- we saw quite a bit without trying hard. We first saw a church built into an enormous Roman bathhouse, the Santa Maria degli Angeli. Michaelangelo was the architect who oversaw the conversion of baths into church; the place was full of trompe-l'oeil, along with a (what was that season-tracking meridian thing?) and what's apparently a new and large pipe organ.  Then we made our way over to the Trevi Fountain (see left), which was as stunning as I expected ... but what I was even more fascinated by was the crowds surrounding it. Good Lord! Like any good sociology major, I photographed the people looking at the attraction -- but I got a photo of the fountain, too.  If you don't remember what it looks like, click here .


The Pantheon

The Pantheon, front view On our way over to the Pantheon we passed by Brian's favorite espresso shop , Tazza d'oro ... unfortunately, it was closed (chiuso). We also passed by what seems to be his new favorite car (it's niftier than the Prius!): the SmartCar .

But back to our subject:  the Pantheon.  Now, this (to the right) is one of those pictures everyone takes, but it's still worth putting up: it's stunning to walk around a living, breathing city and then come upon this huge thing we know only from our history classes -- and then stunning again to see that even it is still living.  A Mass was being held in it as we visited.

The ceiling of the Pantheon is a poured-concrete dome; the technology for those things has only come back in the past few hundred years.  In its center is a hole to allow light to come through (I'm not quite clear on how rain is managed ... I assume it drains to the sides).  That hole makes for an amazing lighting effect: a wide beam illuminating the air and the crowd below.  I got two pictures of it that came out fairly well; see below.


Pantheon interior: looking up at the dome with light radiating down from the central hole Pantheon interior no. 2: that shaft of light illuminating the building and crowd below

(Those regular indentations in the Pantheon's domed ceiling were once filled with bronze panels, but the panels were melted down and eventually made their way into a sculpture now at the Vatican.  I hear it's ugly but we haven't seen it yet; I'll get a picture if I can.)

The back of the Pantheon is also massive and interesting ... here are two pictures taken at the back left corner. In the left-hand picture, with Brian, you can see how closely the neighborhood approaches the building.  In the right-hand one, with me, you can see a bit more of the building's construction.  (What you can't see much of is the below-street-level construction, and the feral cats roaming around there.)
Pantheon back and the buildings next to it Pantheon back view

We did some more walking and ended up at the "typewriter" or "wedding cake" building, more formally known as the Vittoriale . On our first night out, I was told that it was started by Mussolini, but I am now told by reliable sources that he only completed it.  It's certainly over the top in design; unbelievably, though, I didn't get any photos of it.  I will. But after climbing to its top we had beatiful views of the city and I took a few overview shots.  Here they are:

Coliseum etc
The Coliseum is at the top left corner.

Forum
Here's the Forum, or rather one of the Fora.  It's quite a complex of buildings.  At one margin to the left of what you see here, a group of old shops is being remodeled and will be used as tourist offices etc.  I actually think they ought to be used as regular retail shops, say for high fashion items.  What a kick, to be running a store in the same building that was a store 2000 years ago!

St. Peter's etc
The distant dome in the center is St. Peter's Cathedral.

... and here's a shot from the street below ...
at the base of the typewriter, with Brian

To Terni

The Train to Terni We sightsaw a bit too long and missed our first choice train to Terni, but actually had fun hanging around the train station in the meantime ... the people-watching is fun, and I bought a copy of Die Welt and practiced reading German.  (My skills are pretty bad.)  Brian bought flowers for Cathy and we enjoyed propping them behind the head of the man sitting in front of him to simulate a headdress.



Cathy and Sauro, their house and their pets

Cathy is Brian's friend from Berkeley, years back; she met Sauro on a visit to Sicily (to Massimo, seen below) and after a torrid courtship married him and moved to Italy.  She now has a beautiful home in nestled in beautiful countryside, with a loving husband and a beautiful dog and cat, and she speaks perfect Italian to boot. How envious can we be?  Well, okay, there's one drawback: their dog is one year old and hyperactive.  But give him a couple of years; that'll calm down ...

the new home, looking east
View of the house, facing east.  You have to come down a one-lane road for quite a while to get to it.

Sauro   Brian, Filllipo, and Cathy at the front door
Sauro's on the left.  Cathy, Filipo, and Brian are in the photo on the right.  Just to the left of Brian's legs, behind the glass, is Camilla the cat; my reflection is visible under Filipo's nose.

Fillipo   Camilla the cat
Filipo and Camilla

Filipo midair  View from Cathy and Sauro's
Filipo jumps a lot.  He must have a lot of terrier in him because he does spontaneous somersaults while you're playing with him.  On the right is the view from Cathy and Sauro's house.


Massimo and Oraldo's place, a little party

Last night we went to a little party at Massimo and Oraldo's apartment.  The place is pretty stunning -- top floor, nice and BIG roof garden, beautiful views of Perugia antiquities.  Oh, and a chandelier in every room ... even in the bathroom and in a tented area on the roof deck!

Massimo and Michele  Oraldo
On the left: Massimo and Michele.  Michele is a baker who Brian knows from his last visit to Italy; he made outstanding bread and a focaccia-like pizza for the party.  (Actually we're still trying to understand what makes the difference between "bread" and "pizza" -- it seems like a regional thing.)  The liver, mushroom, and salmon spreads were amazing!  On the right: Oraldo.  He's a wild man.  It took me a while to remember who he reminds me of: Michael Andreae, from my resident class at UCSF.  Anyone agree?

Janie and Luciano  Brian, Massimo, and Cathy
On the left: Janie (Cathy's mom, who's visiting for two weeks) and Luciano, another old friend of Cathy and Massimo's.  On the right: Brian, Massimo, and Cathy.  You can just see the outdoor chandelier behind their heads.

Sunset over Perugia
Perugia at sunset.

Next steps ...

Tomorrow we're taking the train to Florence (Firenze in Italian --  I spent some time wondering why they sound so different and then found out that firenze means flower).  We'll spend a couple of days there and then return to Rome for Wednesday through Friday nights.  Friday night we're planning on going out with Massimo and the rest of the boys, which should be fun!  Saturday morning we fly out, and Saturday mid-afternoon we return to the real world ...

See you soon.

Norm

Note: To continue on to the photos from the rest of the trip, click here.