Dinner and (Aperi)Cranium

L to R: Lea talking/LeAnne and Anna probably looking at Bunny the Cat/me

laughing

Last night we had a seriously fantastic homemade dinner at Andrea and Lea's apartment. It was the first real home-meal we've had since we've gotten here (somehow picked up a penchant for breaded chicken things...). It was really great to get some non-sightseeing, non-touristy, non-visitor-of-the-country hang out time. I've found on this trip that its kind of relieving to spend time with people of your own nationality when traveling abroad. It was especially nice yesterday as I was feeling my very first bout (in my entire life) of homesickness. At least I think it was homesickness. I guess I wouldn't really know. Anyway. Played Cranium where I got to mold play-doh into the shape of a dolphin, hum a song that I really didn't know the tune to (Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head... seriously, humming random songs is harder than you think), and try to guess what unit of measurement was used to build Noah's Ark (no one got that one; we had guesses of "hands", "animals", and "stones". All I could come up with was "something sort of like nautical miles").

Today was St. Peters. Obviously took a million photos as that place kind of never ends. But we'll save that for next post.

[photo courtesy of Andrea LaPorte & Hipstamatic iPhone app]

Keats-Shelley Memorial

books/silk covered chairs/library room/chandelier in Keat's room/window from outside

We went to John Keat's apartment where he spent the last months of his life in Rome. I'm not going to pretend I'm a poetry expert or anything; but it was really cool to be in a place with its walls entirely lined with books (a complete dream of mine). They also had some letters from Oscar Wilde, who I actually do like quite a lot. Even though the memorial had nothing to do with Rome or Italy, except for that it is located there, it was still inspiring and made me long for my lowly library (aka a bookshelf) back home.

Firenze Graffito

lovebirds

I'm not sure how this photo didn't make it into the Firenze post. There is a LOT of graffiti around here (less in Florence, it seemed). I don't really understand (or like) it; it just seems to make the cities look ugly and kind of unrefined. The tags everywhere as well as the construction they do on buildings all over the place was not something I was expecting before I came here (people don't tend to take photos of ugly things, no matter where they are), but it does add a roughness to the city that reminds you its an actual place with actual people.

Firenze

fountain/steps/Egyptian sarcophagus/chimera/mummy/that one dude/Gates of Paradise/Bascilica di Santa Maria di Fiore/Cellini's Perseus with the head of Medusa/wing detail/locks at Ponte Vecchio/Santa Maria Novella/rainy streets

Spent a day in Firenze. Took ten bajillion photos. Some completely random shots from the day. We went to the archeological museum which was set up a little oddly but once we found the exhibited things it was pretty cool (hence small statues and dead people photos). The Santa Maria di Fiore (aka Florence's duomo) is the biggest church I have ever seen in my life (haven't been to St. Peters yet, I know). But seriously it goes on forEVER. You think the building will end at some point, but it doesn't really. The locks by the bridge were kind of cool, you write your name or lovers name or something on it and some other superstitious thing; any way it made for a pretty cool shot.

So many more things to post.

Villa Borghese

Umberto I/Galleria Borghese/arch/Byron/warped bench/skull & owl detail/part of the Galleria Nazionale D'Arte Moderna building

Kind of a random collection of shots from my day wandering in and around the Villa Borghese. The second photo is the face of the Galleria Borghese (no photos inside), where they have a small but very good collection, including Bernini's Ratto di Proserpina, which immediately became one of my favorite sculptures ever upon real-life inspection. I also visited the modern art museum nearby, which had a fantastic collection and basically no patrons. Its obviously not a tourist destination. Between tourists and giant tour groups with guides, the museums around here are generally packed full of people and very loud. Either way, it was really nice to be in a quiet museum for once on this trip.

Santa Maria del Popolo

altar/putti detail/transept/hehehe/statuary/putti chandelier/Carracci's Assumption of the Virgin

One of the famous churches in Rome. Home to two Caravaggio paintings (naturally the area they were in was under construction or something) and this Carracci (wasn't reaaally supposed to take a photo of it, oops). It was pretty Romanesque, nothing like the Gothic-style church from several posts back. There were some Baroque touches (obviously, its pretty much the only stuff I took photos of) but, for example, the ceilings were mostly bare and the colors were much more muted. I think that the Vatican will be pretty intense, though, so that will make up for it.

A domani.

Piazza del Popolo

piazza and obelisk in the rain/east fountain (Rome between the Tiber and the Aniene)/lion from the Fontana dell'Obelisco/Fontana del Nettuno/Bernini fish/Ceres or somebody/piazza as seen from the Villa Borghese

Sooo I'm like ten posts behind so I'm doing a bunch now. I went to the Villa Borghese the other day and stopped to take some photos here at the Piazza del Popolo as well as the church nearby (to be seen in probably the next post). It was raining, obviously. It was kind of ironic; as it was raining, the Fontana del Nettuno was not running. Typical. I really like this piazza as it has kind of an odd sort of history, kind of random how the streets came about, and actually there are three streets that split from it to form sort of a trident, if you will. I have some photos of the piazza from a sunny day but I kind of like the rainy ones. They seem fitting. Next....

ETA: Okay, decided I was exhausted. Tomorrow, posts on Santa Maria del Popolo, Villa Borghese, Firenze, Uffizi, and The Most Awesome slash Hilarious Painting Ever.