Rome 6/20/2022-6/28/2022
Project Notify once again takes us to Rome for Mike’s conference, 6/20 and 6/21.Online meetings connected us to these friends even during the pandemic.
Our host, Claudia Carella gave us a wonderful tour of Rome in her air-conditioned car during these 90s temperature days. We drove past many famous tourist sites that I remember from previous trips. What a comfortable way to enjoy Rome!
Basilica Papale dei San Paolo Fuori Le Mura
We had never seen this 300-year-old beautifully restored church. Muted shades of marble and restored frescoes amaze.
A parade of all the popes’ portraits frames the ceiling. I spot our beloved Pope Francis’ image plus 10 more slots ready for the next 10 popes. The formal gardens and courtyard display a wonderful light filtered by a decorative black grill fencing.
The church itself isn’t graceful on the outside but it’s gorgeous inside. A stark, compelling sculpture by Canadian Timothy Schmalz of immigrants from around the world sits outside in a courtyard. Its Bible quote is ever so timely.” Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have unknowingly entertained angels. (Heb 13:2)”The same sculptor created “Homeless Jesus”, a life-sized metal statue of Christ lying on a park bench in Trastevere .
Basilica Papale dei San Paolo Fuori Le Mura
Homeless Jesus
Foodie Heaven
We continue a fine tradition established by our gourmet friend, Dell Lusk. Research the best restaurants, then take time to really enjoy each meal.
We had lunch at a fabulous place, Ba ghetto. I had a Caponata with tiny golden raisins, many pine nuts and vegetables diced and grilled. This added so much to the taste.
A quality olive oil made a difference. I plan to revise my own Caponata in homage. Wish you all were there were with us!
A recipe for bliss = one-two gelati a day. Alas, our first gelato of the vacation wasn’t terrible, just OK. Because it’s so hot, it was very hard for me to manage. I was wearing white capris and it was melting. I needed to focus, so I chose a chair right outside the Gelateria and sat down. Unfortunately, when I arose I was wearing someone else’s chocolate gelato on the back of my pants -all down my leg like big blotches. Not pretty.
I visited Hotel Palm Gallery where our son, Mike and his family were staying. There are lovely gardens and a swimming pool. The neighborhood is really upscale and charming. I highly recommend the hotel and the nearby Café Marziali 1922 . Piazza Capera 8. My lunch was a bowl of tiny pieces of battered & fried artichoke sprinkled with shredded pecorino cheese. Delicious!
The streets are blooming with gorgeous floral print long cotton dresses a’la Hawaii. Sold from racks on the sidewalks and in fancy salons. People watching is fun. So many beautiful young people fill the city. Italian men in starched white shirts with rolled up sleeves and black slacks and copper colored dress shoes make a contrast to the tourists, while Italian women blend in.
I maintain my gelato -a -day pledge. Today’s flavor was coffee and Bacio which is milk chocolate with tiny pieces of hazelnuts. Grapefruit and lemon gelato are so refreshing on a hot day. Stracciatella is perfect with nociola! Coffee is super with crema. You get the idea!
Can’t go home again ? My favorite restaurant in Trastevere, Romolo’s, served elegant meals in the garden where Raphael’s mistress lived. Today, it is closed and replaced by an unworthy heir. Bubbly odd chicken at a new place with the still lovely garden that used to be RomolosL. Meatballs of every flavor from appetizer to dessert! A distracted waiter poorly trained & unhappy to be there. Osteria Botticella, another favorite restaurant is also gone.
Pizza Margarita at Ar Poetica. Light, crusty, cheesy and delicious.
We ate there twice.
One evening, on our way to Alfredo’s Fettucine Restaurant, an Army band on the Spanish steps delighted a large crowd.
Dinner outdoors at Ombré Rosse in the hills above Trastevere. Yummy lasagna. Recommend.
Thursday our tour ended in the Jewish Quarter with Carciofi Giudia at Nonna Bettarestaurant. My favorite. Think potato chips one cannot stop eating.
VII Coorte is a refuge from the busy streets of Trastevere. The terrace is elegant, the sauces divine.
Calamari Ravioli
I drank an expresso thought to be Italy’s best. Almost syrupy with lots of foam.
Fantastic appetizer lunch on Friday at Osteria Orso 80.
Our daughter-in-law literally whooped as the 15 different
Antipasti arrived: diced celery with firm white cheese cubes, grilled carciofi, grilled cauliflower in butter sauce, sweet peppers, calamata olives, savory beans, crusty bread-oh my!
We ate dinner at our friend, Franco’s apartment in a lovely tree-lined neighborhood. Rice salad, caprese, and pear cake with pine nuts on his terrace. By 8 pm there was a cooling wind after a sweltering day. A dolce vita: good food, old friends, lovely setting.
Project Notify Meetings
It’s been helpful having our son, Mike, his wife DeeDee, and her daughter, Annika with us on this trip. They kindly agreed to accompany me while Mike is in his meetings. Annika ,a recent stem cell donor, was a hero among these specialists gathered in an effort to make transplants safer around the world. She wants to study science abroad, perhaps in Spain. Our whole family listened to Barbee from the USFDA, Jo from the Netherlands, Mickey from Singapore and London, and Ted from the US. Each one was a very clear, competent speaker and presented a different approach to the subject. WHO and CDC and FDA AND EU -so many references to collaboration. There was a room full of scientists & doctors from around the world representing different disciplines, remembering their responsibility to make the world a safer, healthier place
Luc Noel, a friend and fellow Project Notify participant has the same kind of tree that was my mom‘s tree, then was Dorothea‘s tree for a time and is in our living room today. When the leaves start getting yellow I try to pick them off and it stresses me a little bit. I think it’s dying. When we were at Luc Noel‘s home in Annecy France, I mentioned to his wife that they have the same tree as we have and how I fret over the yellow dropped leaves. She said she just lets them drop. When I was talking to Luc this week he said it’s not quite that simple. They have the same kind of tree. Leaves yellow. Leaves fall. Finally, they call it ugly & put it out for garbage pickup. Soon each feels guilty as it has been in the family for years, so they retrieve it. It revives and pleases, then continues on its cycle. Small world.
Capitoline Museum
I have been in this museum several times over the years. The beautiful statue of the dying Gaul soldier is still compelling. Images of the rulers hold less interest for me because I don’t know their individual stories. I am grateful to those who insisted on preserving and documenting these artifacts.
Finally had a chance to go shopping. Bought a navy purse with floral lining. Love it. Decisions about purchases are not as onerous when you are 79. Only needs to last a few years, can’t take it with you, etc.
Pandemic
Masks and record-setting heat are a bad combo.
GRAFFITI EVERYWHERE. Teeming crowds.
Yuck! We were warned that so many of us were travelling this summer. It would have been wiser to stay in a small village, but Mike’s meetings were in Rome proper.
Outdoor seating fills the streets to reduce contagion. Folks wait an hour in lines to eat, so we ate off the beaten path.
Carnival atmosphere. We cherish our snug shutters giving
Vicolo Bolgna 81 residents silent sleep.
Centro Montmartini Museum, new to us and out of the main tourist area. Annika’s interest in the Percy Jackson series with its gods and goddesses gave extra meaning to our viewing the lovely mosaics and statues. The museum is inside a huge now defunct electric plant. Humongous machine cast shadows on marble statues. Ancient interacting with early 20th machines. Provocative!
We took two tours from Tiffany Parks: “ Unusual Rome” and “Caravaggio.” She told us a quirky tale of an elephant statue and the artists revenge on a haughty priest. We listen to her weekly podcast, “The Bittersweet Life.”
Tiffany’s Friday tour traced Caravaggio’ s life from birth to apprenticeship to patronage to his own studio. In between he spent some jail time due to his temper ( suspect in a murder)
and independent painting style. He insisted on painting live subjects. He hired prostitutes as models in religious paintings.
Bernini’s statue of Blessed Ludovita in Francesco di Ripa church is breathtaking.😅So realistic . A similar mood as the Pieta: sad and elegant.
Mike and I danced in Piazza Trilussa while people cheered & filmed us. So fun! Staying upright on a cobblestone piazza in rubber soled shoes presented a challenge. It feels so good to make others forget the heat for a few moments. Soon a gorgeous young wedding party joined us, then a solo female in a sari doing The Twist. Ah, Rome’s charms.
Farewell as our son and family fly to Prague, then Copenhagen. Now we need to negotiate our own Ubers.
We attended Sunday Mass in the beautiful gold-gilded Santa Maria di Trastevere Church. The deacon goes to each person to give communion in the pews. A pandemic adjustment that added a personal touch.
Breakfast smile
The wrought iron legs of the cafe table look like laced up Victorian ladies’ boots.
This trip started with a startling rebound landing due to high winds and ended with smoke from distant fires. However, it gave us hours of interaction with our son Mike and his family. It provided a chance to thank our European friends outside Zoom rooms. It gave me an opportunity to speak Italian all day without the trepidation of my younger days!
Our last two days in Rome were so hot (98-105) that we only left the air-conditioned apartment for meals and gelato. Luckily I’m reading a fine book (French Braid) and working on my blog.
We’re packed and ready to for a 7am Uber to the airport.
Arrivederci!
