Quando a Roma...Parte 7 (sette)

I think this is my last post for this first day-trip to Rome - and quite a day it was, let me tell you! Just click on the pictures to see everything better, and click the numbers to read about what you're looking at. Enjoy!






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Comments on the above:

1. An ancient Roman statue with the glass eyes still in tact! All statues used to have glass eyes, and they all used to be painted as well, so ancient Rome was actually a very colorful place!


2. All of the ceilings in the Vatican Museums are painted and just stunning. This is the ceiling of the Candelabra Hall.


3. View of the Candelabra Hall - note the giant candle-stick holder just to the left. These flank both sides of the hall every few meters - hence the name.


4. One of the ceiling paintings - I really like the colors!


5. From the Hall of Tapestries; Jesus looks at you as you walk by. I've seen this in paintings and statues, but in tapestries??? Crazy! Actually the Hall of Tapestries is quite impressive - massive tapestries hanging on both walls all the way down the hall. It took a year to weave one square meter, and these tapestries are so large that they were each roughly 20 years in the making. It's quite incredible, actually, when you look at them close up - all of the detail. And then you think about planning such a project, let alone executing it! A bit overwhelming to comprehend. By the way, this tapestry is Flemish (as are all the other tapestries on that side) - Flanders was rather well-known for its tapestries back in the day.


6. Ceiling in the Hall of Tapestries - it is actually completely painted! No molding at all - but it is impressively believable and I didn't realize it was painted until the guide told us about it.


7. View of the Hall of Maps.


8. Apparently these maps of Italy are quite accurate - as long as you look at them backwards and upside down! For some reason north and south got switched as did east and west, so while the cities and geographical features are the proper distance apart in relation to each other, they are not exactly in the right place. In this picture, up off the northeast corner of Italy, lies the island of Sicily.


9. Ceiling detail from the Hall of Maps.


10. Map of Venice!


11. Ceiling of the Library - but there are no longer any books stored here; just very pretty bookshelves.


12. I'm pretty sure this is the ceiling just before you start entering the Sistine Chapel. Also, we toured the Library after seeing the Sistine Chapel, but this picture looked nicer to the right for the layout of my blog, so I am sacrificing continuity for the sake of asthetics.


13. I just really liked this vase - it's in the Library.


14. Detail of Library ceiling.


15. The famous double-spiral walkway! One road for going up, one for going down. Only the "down" one was open at the time - it's pretty cool, I have to say.


16. Glass roof above the spiral walkway.

And that pretty much sums up my Vatican Museums experience! Overall, quite a lovely, artsy day spent in the Eternal City.

Quando a Roma...Parte 6 (sei)

After my wonderful Baroque tour, I retraced my steps back to Santa Maria degli Angeli to rest for a bit - the next tour I had booked started at 3:00 and met about 3 blocks from Roma Termini. When I got to the meeting site, there were several charter buses lined up, so I stopped inside the tour agency to ask which one was mine, and one of the men walked outside with me. There were a whole bunch of "GreenLine" tour buses (with green lines on them, of course!) and a white one at the front of the line. The man pointed to this white one and said something in Italian that I took to mean "the one in the front", but I decided to make sure by saying, "Il bianco?" and he replied, "Si." He also smiled and I think was impressed that I spoke a bit of Italian - especially since it looked like the type of agency that gets a lot of people who don't attempt to speak any Italian at all - so that made me feel rather good about myself as I walked up to il autobus bianco.

This tour was quite different from my morning adventure. I remember walking around with Simona and seeing all of these massive tour groups of ~50 people pass. The guide would walk in front with a colored scarf attached to a stick and a microphone, and the tourists would follow behind with their personal head sets. Think of a flock of sheep blindly following a shepherd and you've got the right idea. Simona had said, "See, this is why you want to take the small tours!" - and she was right.

First off, let me just say that you really do feel like a sheep wandering around when you're in a big tour group. There were some small tours of the Vatican available (similar to my Baroque tour), but I had decided to book this one for convenience, since it was easy to get to the meeting place from the train station (the small tours met at the Vatican, and as it was my first day in Rome, I wanted to keep things simple).

Our tour guide was nice enough - I have no idea what her name was - and she had a pink scarf tied to the end of her "shepherd's crook". We bused over to Vatican City and I learned that the Vatican is completely independent of Rome - even has its own radio station and newspaper! And about 500 people live there. I think it's all a little comical, actually. Also, the Vatican is not allowed to export any of its wares, so I guess you feel like you really have something special if you buy a souvenir there!

Well, in any event, we arrived at the Vatican Museums, passed through security, and got hooked up to our audio guides. Since the tour began at 3:00 and ended at 6:00, including drive time to and from the museums, you can understand why I've been calling it my "turbo-tour" of the museums. I took tons of pictures because we pretty much kept walking the entire time - never got much of a chance to stop and consider all of the art - so I figured I could consider it in my photographs when I got back home! I should also mention that there are 7 km worth of art at the Vatican Museums, so I only saw a tiny fraction of what's kept there.

We were given about 20 minutes to just enjoy the Sistine Chapel. No pictures allowed in there (in the rest of the museum, you can take pictures without flash); so you really do just enjoy Michaelangelo's work (not to mention the various paintings by other artists on the side walls of the chapel). It's quite dark inside actually - they keep the light out to protect all of the frescoes - think just before dusk and that is probably the light level. Also, tour guides aren't allowed to talk inside, so we learned all about it before entering. Most interesting tidbit I learned: it took Michaelangelo 6 years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and it took a bunch of specialists 18 years to restore it. Obviously haven't seen it before the restoration, but the colors are very nice now! Also enjoyed being reminded from my art history days freshman year that poor Michaelangelo, sculptor at heart, kept getting commissions from the popes to paint! But you don't say no to the Pope, and I think we're all glad he carried out his commission.

Well, I think I will post a bunch of pictures in the next "parte", number them, and then write anything I can remember from this whirl-wind of a tour for each. I will definitely have to do the Vatican Museums properly some day (I think you need at least a full day), but with all the other stuff to see in Rome, I don't know if I'll fit it in this summer, so we'll see!

Quando a Roma...Parte 5 (cinque)

By the way, it's pronounced "cheen-quay".

On our way to the next church, we passed the Temple of Adrian...or what remains of it. This is typical Rome (even going back to ancient times) - building new things within the old (and often stealing materials from the old to build the new!). So, all of the columns are what is left of the old temple, and inside someone built a bank! Actually, at one point on the tour Simona pointed out two columns that we were passing - all that remains of Nero's giant bath complex (although I think people were all too glad to destroy Nero's handiwork).

The penultimate (that's a shout-out to you, Ellen!) church on our tour of Baroque Rome was Sant'Ignazio di Loyola. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ignazio was granted sainthood around this time, so naturally he has a church. Simona said that this church is about as Baroque as it gets. Sant'Ignazio was the founder of the Jesuit order, an order reknowned for its learning. It was designed by mathematician Father Orazio Grassi, and boy did he do a good job! This whole church is about illusion - there is a fake second story painted onto the ceiling, and a fake dome. It's ridiculous how believable it is. The idea with the ceiling is that it doesn't exist; the walls of the church just extend right on up to heaven. As for the dome - I mentioned it was fake; it is painted on a round, flat piece of ceiling! I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it, but go Wikipedia this church and that is the first picture you see. It's not just the picture - it really does look like a real dome when you're standing in the church; as I said the whole church is just ridiculous - but in the best way, of course! I mean, I can't think of a better way to combine math and art to affect your senses than by what was created in this building.

The ceiling of Sant'Ignazio. I should add that those columns that are extending straight up are painted on arches and vaulting. And they still manage to look straight. I really can't think of a better word than ridiculous.

Next stop: the best bar in all of Rome! First off, I should probably explain that in Italy, a bar is not somewhere to buy alcoholic beverages; it is a coffee house! As we all found out, the tour included a drink at this bar as a bit of a pit-stop. Even though the bar is reknowned for its coffee, it was just too hot for me to try one (and I'm not exactly a coffee-lover anyways, although I have had coffee at a bar over here, so I have had the experience), so I took an iced tea instead. In Italy, the iced tea is very sweet. Anyways, Simona said that all of the politicians hang out here during the week (obviously didn't get to see any since it was Saturday). In the picture, Simona is the gal in the blue dress with the fan.

After our break we went off to see the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (the Fountain of Four Rivers). It is being restored right now, so no water running, but there were large plastic panels that allowed us to look at it. It is in the forground of the picture, and behind it is another of Borromini's churches, although it is rarely open and we did not get to go inside. The fountain is by Bernini, and naturally, he stole the project from Borromini. Borromini had been commissioned to build a fountain on the site but Bernini gave the pope a bronze cast of his idea for the project that impressed the pope enough for him to change the commission. Besides being brilliant in design (remember, Bernini could sculpt if he couldn't build), the piece also included an interesting figure: Bernini had gotten the pope's sister-in-law to model for one of the statues in this bronze example! Simona said that Bernini would have been a good manager if he was around today - I think she was right. So Bernini took over and built the fountain, with the four rivers representing the four continents of the world (that's all they knew about at the time): America (represented by a crocodile-ish creature, some prickly-pear cactus, and some gold coins), Asia (bamboo), Africa (a lion), and Europe (a horse). There are also four people carved into the fountain, and like the Trevi, it is a mixture of the theatrical with the natural, and, unlike the Trevi, it is a statement about the church's influence on the world.

After this we quickly saw "The Calling of Saint Matthew" by Caravaggio - it is in the French church of Rome (all masses are conducted in French - I've actually also been into the American church in Rome where all the masses are in English), which closes to the public at 12:30, and we got there at 12:25! (Our tour unfortunately started late as mentioned earlier.) So Simona took us in so we could look at the painting, in addition to the other two paintings in the alcove: "The Inspiration of St. Matthew" and the "The Martyrdom of St. Matthew", and then she took us outside to talk about Caravaggio. Not going to say too much - don't have any pictures (although obviously it's not too difficult to dig them up on the internet), but will say a bit. Caravaggio lived on the streets and believed that an artist should put the same amount of work into drawing a piece of fruit as into drawing Christ. He used real people as models for his paintings, which often rubbed the church the wrong way (real, ordinary people don't look very saintly, in general), but this choice made his paintings very realistic and believable. Simona said that Caravaggio mixes the theatrical with the real to invoke emotion in the observer and that he always depicts scenes at the highest level of emotional intensity. I have to say, I think all three Baroque geniuses were very interesting people, both personality-wise and art-wise.

And thus ends my Baroque tour of Rome! This takes us up to about 12:45 on my first day in Rome, and I didn't leave until 7, but don't worry - the next half of my day won't take nearly as many posts and will for the most part be pictures....Next up, my turbo-tour of the Vatican Museums!

An Aside: Revisiting the Baroque

So I returned to Rome this past weekend and revisited most of the sites from my Baroque tour just so that I would have some more time to appreciate the art and architecture. Also, Sant'Andrea was open this past Saturday, so I got to see what Bernini did to try to "one-up" Borromini. I have to say, I prefer Borromini's more subdued style.

Anyways, just wanted to post a few "addendum" pictures before diving back into my Baroque tour of Rome. Also, you can click on any of the pictures in my blog to see a bigger version (and all the detail in the Corinthian columns!).

Altar-piece at Santa Maria della Vittoria - L'estasi is off to the left. Mr. Beautiful sure does like his gold!

Exterior of Borromini's San Carlino.

The dome of Bernini's Sant'Andrea is much larger than Borromini's San Carlino dome, but you get the idea. And of course the entire dome is gold in color! I think Bernini's heaven is lavish gold while Borromini's is geometrized white. Very interesting contrast, to say the least.

Quando a Roma...Parte 4 (quattro)

So, after Borromini's San Carlino, we were supposed to walk a little ways down Via del Quirinale to see a church built by Bernini - Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. Unfortunately, the church was closed for some restoration work - apparently it was open the Saturday before, so Simona had no idea, besides the fact that things are regularly randomly (I think that's an oxymoron) shut down in Rome for restoration. There was, however, a floorplan of the church outside, so she told us a bit about it even though we didn't get to see it. This church was built after Borromini's San Carlino (and just down the street from it) and is basically Bernini ("Mr. Beautiful") trying to one-up Borromini. But as I've said before, Bernini was not the architectural master of the period, and he kind of stole Borromini's San Carlino ideas. In fact, Sant'Andrea is also covered by an elliptical dome. However, in Bernini's church, you walk along the minor axis to get to the altar and even just looking at the floor plan, you can tell it is not as effective as San Carlino at leading you towards the altar. Also, in typical Bernini style, it is full of colored stone and marble, and it is very lavish (I looked some pictures up online since I didn't get to go inside - but hopefully I can stop inside this weekend!).

The exterior of la chiesa. Kind of an awkward picture since I didn't have time to cross the street, but oh well! (also, originally, I mistakenly posted this as the exterior of San Carlino in Parte 3 - I never actually took a picture of the exterior of San Carlino)

So the Quirinale is one of the "Seven Hills of Rome" and also the president's house. Due to Italy's political past, the Quirinale has actually housed all manner of rulers from popes to kings to presidents, and it is apparently the most expensive house in the world for the political leader of a country. (I suspect every time power changed hands, someone had to leave their mark architecturally.) In any event basically all of Via del Quirinale is lined on one side with this monstrous mansion. Simona told us a bit of Italian political history as we walked down the road. Italy was originally a bunch of little kingdoms and was finally united under one king in 1861. In 1946, Italy became a republic. Simona says that she thinks that people at the time of the crossover weren't very well educated about what was happening with their government, but she is happy to have been born into a democracy. She also said that the president is more of a figurehead and that the prime minister does most of the work (although he doesn't have all the powers the president has, so I guess he does the work and then makes suggestions to the president? I don't know, we didn't go into the details that much!) Also, as of something like 2 or 3 years ago, a law was passed that allows the royal family to come back to Italy, but obviously not with any political power.

This is as close as the guard would let Mariana and me get to take a picture of the gardens of the Quirinale - apparently they are open once a year.

The entrance to the Quirinale - a little imposing, I'd say!

Views of the Piazza del Quirinale, from the entrance to the Quirinale.



If you're facing the Quirinale, this is on the right, and I think Simona said it is where the royal family stays when they're in Rome.

Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. This place is basically a fusion of the Baroque with the Neoclassical. A fountain has actually been here since ancient times, and it contains the purest water in Rome. Almost everything is carved out of travertine (travertine is a very popular stone is Rome), and it has a nautical mythology theme - we've got Neptune and sea horses erupting out of the waves, barnacles carved everywhere, etc. Apparently it was intended to be a painting with water. It is also about the contrast of the natural and the man-made - obviously all of the statues do not look real, but then you walk over to one side where you can't quite see the statues, and you do see the rough travertine with maybe a few barnacles carved in and the water gushing out, and you almost feel like you are looking at a real tide pool. Very cool and interesting (and my friend Jackie's favorite place in the whole world - so here's to you Jackie!)

Jackie said that if you throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder into the fountain, you're destined to return to Rome some day! In any event Simona said that all the money that is thrown into the fountain is used to help the homeless of the city. Guards are even posted at night to prevent people from stealing it!

Obviously, there are always people who dislike new pieces of art. When the Trevi was built, there was a barber on the street who hated it and didn't want to look at it, so the pot that you see in the middle of the picture was sculpted to block his view (if you click on the image, you can get a better view of it; the backside of the pot is almost exactly centered in the picture). With art, there's always something!

Off to the side of the Trevi; this is the natural look I was talking about.

Quando a Roma...Parte 3 (tre)

So, after spending some time with Bernini, we took a walk over to a church by Borromini - architectural genius of the Baroque (and actually from Switzerland). The name of the church is San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (sometimes called San Carlino) - it is right next to a little intersection famous for holding four fountains, though I only got a good picture of one of them (it's hard with cars zooming by!).

So, background on Borromini - actually this is what made the tour so good - Simona, first off, really enjoys giving tours, and secondly, is always reading new books about the art and the artists she's presenting. She feels that to really understand artists' work, you need to know something about who they were as people - and I agree. Borromini was, essentially, the rival of Bernini, at least in his head. Borromini was basically everything Bernini wasn't - absolutely no people skills because he was manic-depressive. He was very sensitive about his work and didn't appreciate input from other people - which, when you are commissioned to create a church, is not the best personality trait to possess. He would tend to drop projects entirely if someone tried to suggest/demand a different technique or effect than he had planned. This unfortunately means that there is not tons of Borromini floating around. Also rather jealous of Bernini - obviously; Bernini was commissioned for architectural projects even though they were not his forte, and he often stole projects from Borromini because he was, after all, "Mr. Beautiful", and very good at getting what he wanted. I think Simona said that for the altar in St. Peter's Basilica, Borromini and Bernini were collaborating, but Borromini did most of the work and Bernini is the one who is credited with it. That gives you a good idea of the situation between the two. Borromini, sadly, committed suicide - but the way he went about it was to position a sword so that he could fall on top of it. It thus took him a few days of suffering before he actually died. Very interesting, and sad, life.

So, San Carlino: this is actually a brilliant Borromini church because he was given complete control on this project (see, this is why it's good to know about the artist's life!). It is just a little chapel commissioned by a convent that was on the site at the time. Very different from Bernini's showy style - the interior is mostly white. Borromini thought that corners were ugly, so you don't find any - everything is continuous and smooth. He covered the church with an elliptical dome (typical Baroque - actually that's a funny thing to say since Borromini is part of what defines the Baroque in the first place! - but I mean, in contrast to a circular dome, you would consider an elliptical dome more irregular). With Borromini, the complexity doesn't strike you at first; it is much more subtle (I mean, you can tell that Bernini is complex just by looking at all the different colored stone he used; you need to consider Borromini a bit more since everything is white). The dome is oriented so that you are walking along the major axis towards the altar. The fact that there are no corners also serves to give the impression that the church is hugging you - you feel very comfortable in it and I would say it isn't quite so much about being "awed" into God's presence but more about contemplation and reflection.

And now, the pictures!

Uno di le "Quattro Fontane" that is right near the church.

A little, inaccessible balcony above the entrance to let more light inside.

The beautiful elliptical dome! Borromini actually calculated the pattern to get appropriately smaller so that you have the illusion that the dome is taller than it really is. That was a mouthful.

The altar.

Quando a Roma...Parte 2 (due)

So, as I said, I had booked a 9:30 "Baroque Tour of Rome" for myself that would meet outside the church. This was a fantastic tour. It was small (that's the way to do tours, let me tell you...but more on that later). There was me, the tour guide Simona (a native Roman, as it turned out), a mother and daughter from Colombia - Ana and Mariana (Mariana recently turned 15 so instead of having a party for her quinceañera, she chose to tour Italy with her mother for a few weeks - these gals were so sweet. They both spoke excellent English - apparently Mariana goes to a British school - but does not have a British accent! And Ana speaks English, Spanish - well, obviously - Italian, and French. So awesome. I asked them about Colombia and they said that they live in the second highest city, that people still have maids and drivers and such, that the driving is even more crazy than it is in Italy, and that you live with your family until you get married. It was pretty cool to learn a bit about a completely different culture.), and a family of 3 from France. I never properly met them; they arrived about 20 minutes late because they got mixed up on the metro, and while I think they understand English well, it didn't seem like they spoke it so well (but that's how it is with me in Spanish and Italian).

The tour was in English (well, naturally I would sign up for an English tour), and Simona was such an awesome tour guide. I mean, you would be hard-pressed to find someone better, I think. She first took us to a tiny little chapel - Santa Maria della Vittoria (St. Mary of Victory - named for a little icon of the Virgin that was brought to the church after a victorious battle of the Catholics over the Protestants - got to love the mixture of religion with politics) - which houses, of all things, L'estasi di Santa Teresa, by Bernini (in other words, perhaps the most famous sculpture of the Baroque period - still in its original little chapel, which you can enter for free of course, since it is a church - that's the great thing about Rome - you can walk into all of the churches - barring any construction work/masses etc. - and look at all the great art and architecture for free). Bernini was, to say the least, a sculptural genius. Apparently there is a piece he did when he was 12 that's in the Villa Borghese (big Roman museum) that is just ridiculous in terms of his mastery of sculpting. Will have to try to see that. Anyways, Bernini was actually known as "Mr. Beautiful" while he was alive - he knew how to win over people, had lots of charisma, was almost always in favor with the Pope, got all the jobs, loved being famous and in the spotlight - you get the picture. Well, he actually scultped L'estasi di Santa Teresa when he was out of favor - after the dome he had placed on St. Peter's collapsed - in order to get back in favor with the Pope (Bernini was a sculptural genius, not an architectural genius!).

I should probably take a moment to write an aside on the Baroque. The name wasn't acutally applied to the movement until about 100 years after it had occurred and people were looking back on the works of Bernini (scultptural genius), Borromini (architectural genius), and Caravaggio (painterly genius), and noticed similarities in what they had done (mainly in the irregularity and the focus on affecting your senses - as opposed to the Renaissance in which everything was rationally designed). Also, the Baroque is very much wrapped up in the religious politics of the times. We all know about Martin Luther and the 95 Theses, and well, the Catholic Church was hurting a bit in terms of membership! So we get the Council of Trent and the Contrarreforma - the Counter-Reformation - and a push to show people that the Catholic Church is not corrupt etc. Simona reminded us how there were no tvs, computers - well, everything we have now to entertain/distract us! - so new art and architecture was commissioned to go along with the new Church - and it was designed to appeal to people's senses, so that when you would walk into church, you would be affected by God's majesty, be in awe of Him, or perhaps be able to connect emotionally with the various depictions of the saints' lives, and thus be open to receiving the Holy Spirit. So that's what the Baroque is about - affecting your senses! Also, two people were made saints at this time - which is remarkable in that it was a relatively quick turnaround in terms of the time it usually takes for someone to be deemed a saint - Santa Teresa d'Avila and Sant' Ignazio di Loyola - and used to show that the Catholic Church did have something to offer in terms of examples of living a holy life.

All right, back to L'estasi di Santa Teresa (I told you it was an awesome tour - I learned so much!). It is a truly remarkable sculpture to view; it is of course sculpted from marble, but the way Bernini carved and lit it, it looks lighter than air and just seems to be floating in place - you don't really get a feeling for that from pictures, but when you're standing under it, you sure do! But the sculpture isn't the only part; Bernini designed everything around it as well (actually everything in this little chapel), so it is really about the whole experience. He uses a combination of all sorts of stone that makes the area feel like a painting. Finally, on the sides, faces of the commissioning family members jut out from the wall and are looking at/discussing the scultpure. This helps to make you feel like you are part of the piece - that you're not just an observer, but are there experiencing it (which, of course, is the whole point).

So enough of my ramblings! Here are the photos:

This is the chapel that houses L'estasi di Santa Teresa - just a little place on Via XX Settembre! Well, the façade makes it look grand, but the inside is actually quite small.

Close-up of L'estasi di Santa Teresa; when you're standing here you're completely in the piece, but in photos you don't get a feel for that unless you step back...

L'estasi di Santa Teresa! You can of course find much better, professional pictures of all the great sites of Rome, but that's not really the point, is it?

Quando a Roma...Parte 1 (uno)

So I had my first outing to Rome on Saturday (July 26) - and it was quite a full day! I had booked two tours for myself - a Baroque tour of Rome in the morning and a tour of Vatican City in the afternoon. Lots of pictures of course, so this will probably take a few posts...the question is, where to begin? I think I will use some advice from Alice in Wonderland:
The March Hare: "Start at the beginning!"
The Mad Hatter: "Yes, and when you come to the end, stop!"
(you all know I'm obsessed)

So my journey to the Eternal City began early in the morning - I wanted to catch the 7:30 train so that I would have plenty of time to get properly lost before finding the meeting site for my 9:30 tour. On the way to the train station I took this picture - it's of Via L. Bonaparte (not sure what the "L" stands for...there's a lot of that with street names around here - take the street outside LNF: Via E. Fermi - I always say "east" in my head for some reason even though I at least know in this case that the "E" stands for "Enrico"). I think it looks like the trees are growing out of the sidewalk (and I don't know how they manage about the roots around here - you don't see any traces of them).

It was good that I decided to arrive early because, of course, I got a bit confused leaving the train station and headed in the wrong direction. Nothing like getting lost to help you find yourself! Roma Termini is the main train station in Rome - all the metros stop there as well, and my destination was the Piazza della Repubblica, which, it turns out, is actually much closer to the station than it looked on my map. In any event I got to the right place at about 8:45 so still had some time on my hands...easily solved, however, because the meeting place was in front of Santa Maria degli Angeli - a beautiful church! Well, actually it doesn't look like much from the outside, as you can see. The area is the former site of the Diocletian Baths, and thus there are many ruins about. Someone saw fit to build a church inside, however, and while the outside is humble, the inside is stunning. I tried to take a good picture of the dome that covers the entrance, but those sorts of shots are always difficult. It is capped with the most beautiful, geometric stained glass. It really is a magnificent church, and I think moreso because you are so shocked by the contrast between the exterior and interior.

View of the Piazza della Repubblica - before things get rolling!

The dome over the entrance of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The picture doesn't do it justice at all, I'm afraid.

Interior of la chiesa. I got a little weak in the knees when I walked inside (literally).

Not a bad start to a day in the Eternal City, I'd say.

My new, other, 'Room with a View'

I actually have a new office now - I was borrowing someone else's desk for a few weeks, but am now permanently settled for the rest of the summer! The new building is quite nice - it houses la biblioteca, and on the ground floor, it houses some models of various kinds of detectors and displays about particle physics. I'm on il primo piano (which in the US would mean the second floor) and have quite a nice view from my window. So, no complaints here about the move!

Views of my new work-place. It is a very nice brick building with very reflective windows! I think the architecture is pretty cool, and there is a large seminar room on the ground floor.

Model of a cryogenic gravitational wave detector on the ground floor of my building - I think the wooden person is my favorite part.

Sometimes I really luck out with the view - these were some awesome clouds. My desk isn't right next to the window, but I can still see out of it easily!

The terrace on the first/second floor of the building.

I pass this gate on my walk to work. It happened to be cloudy that day, and something in the loneliness of the place called to me, so I took a picture! My walk to work isn't quite as nice as when I walked through the Oxford University Gardens to the Materials Department last summer, but it's not too bad (and there are blackberry bushes growing along many strips of the road - yum!)