Galleria Doria Pamphilij

me, of course, trying to look cool and collected after a day of walking around sweating...
St Cecelia, Doria Pamphilij rooms, St Cecelia church



Ciao all,

Today after a late start and aching feet I went into town, as in centro storico. You see the place we are staying is a lovely little apartment on the Gianicolo, which is above Tastevere, as explained in the name, is over the Tiber from the fancy Rome we all know and love (?). Trastevere is very popular now, it is also very old and has a lot of the old medieval look to it. St Cecelia is there, where she was martyred, and supposedly her house is. They tried to scald her to death for 3 days (?) and it didn't work so they beheaded her. A famous and moving sculpture was made of her by a famous Italian sculptor Maderno in the 1500s.
Anyhoo I took the bus to the Piazza Venezia which is where the Pamphilij gallery is. Today is Monday so most all of the museums in Rome are closed but not this. I just got a Roma pass (museums discounted or free) yesterday, which is good for three days only. Guess what. Galleria Pamphilij is private = not free. €9 to be exact. Jeemany. Well I did it anyway, and wow, what a pad.
First I had a lovely Cappucino (only 90 cents) right off the Via Gesu, near the Pantheon, and found an art supply shop with a shockingly rude staff. Screw em. I don't even try to the nice americana any more. I tell them to get on with it and quit wasting my time. Yeah, really.
Anyway, the Doria Pamphilij family is still around and the own the residence/palace. In fact our apartment is right next to the Villa Doria Pamphilij park. Their ancestor is Pope Innocent X who is the subject of the famous (infamous) portrait by Velazquez. Francis Bacon did a series of scary interpretations of this image. The painting is amazingly real in the sense that he looks like he is waiting for you to say something. Couldn't get a picture...vietato!
So that was cool. Some Caravaggio, Claude Lorraine, Fillipo Lippi, Caracci, and some splendiforous rooms! This is wealth.

Domenica

1. Costanza Mausaleum
2. Ceiling mosaics in above (5th C)
3. Apse mosaic in Santa Agnese (7th C)

Hello all...

Today went to the Villa Borghese gallery. A small but discerning collection of Bernini sculpture and the pinocateca...upstairs which happened to be showing Corregio. I love this place, but not the 2 hour limit. As those of you who know me, know that 2 hours is enough to get through a couple of rooms. I seriously could eat and sleep in a museum for a long time. I have high stamina for that sort of thing, whereas other people I know (bc) get exhausted after 15 minutes. It was easy to get reservations which you need, for within 24 hours! All the guide books say reserve, like, a week in advance, ha! You can reserve over the phone.
As I have really sore legs now, we took the bus. #75 from Fratelli Bonnet (where we live) to Termini where we caught the 910 to the villa..lovely. Coud only buy a Piu pass (€25, which includes all these areas outside Rome..yeah right.) The normal Roma Pass is €20 . The first two museums are free, the rest discounted and you have free transport for 3 days. We are going to Florence on WEdnesday, so that is perfect.
After the Villa we went to the Chiesa de Sant' Agnese fuori Le Muri (?) and the Mausaluem of Costanza. This, I might add was a pain in the you know. It was way outside the fontinellas (these are the little water fountains that one can fill up one's water bottle from thus saving oneself €2 for a 12 oz bottle of water, that come from the aqueducts and springs around the city. For those of us trying to save money, these are crucial. But, we made it.
The church holds the remains of Saint Agnes, a 13 year old martyr, who the Romans tried to burn to death, but couldn't so they beheaded her. There is a 7th century mosaic in the apse dome..incredible. We snuck down to the crypt where the catacombs were..creepy.
St Costanza next door is a basilica from 4th century. Constantine built for his daughter. There are mosaics from the 4th and 5th century. These are what I wanted to see since we cannot afford to go to Ravenna this trip.

Schilpol Shop Windows!

a good a way as any to choose a career...shop window in Schilpol

Oh, the glory of travel. From the surly stewardess's on NW Bozeman to Minneapolis. The cramped 8 hour flight from St Paul to Amsterdam, no sleep there, and finally the spacious KLM flight from Amsterdam to Rome. I must say the stewardesses of other airlines are very fashionable.
Martinair, another Dutch Airline with their red straight shirt, bolero jacket and pillbox hat, to the Royal Thai (I think) ladies with their full length skirt and long fitted blouse of matching fabric, looking like they were going to break out into a dance at any moment. Better than our teetotaller, prude, surly NW ers...it's the little things that matter...like fashion.

I love flying into Europe. All of a sudden you do not know where anyone is from, countrywise, and everyone has a distinct look. Not as much gene pool mixing as our melting pot. I just love their faces, I want to paint all of them.

Any how, I do love Schilpol. There are so many shiny things..like this Swarovski Store

Bozeman to Roma

Welcome to my new blog. I thought for the sake of my wonderful friends and family, I would keep track of some of my experiences here. I have just arrived in Rome, Italy from Montana, USA. This will detail my adventures....
love
Birdmad