Firstly let me say that the sun is back with a vengeance. So much so I was sweating today even though I didn’t bring the coat out. I even harboured the thought that I may need to go to T-shirts before long!! Still unreliable but when the sun shines it is just wonderful.
So … in the sunshine, two more days of touristing to give me pleasure and make the time go so, so quickly.
Yesterday I wasn’t going to do much. I stayed home for the morning and then thought I’d go for a walk. As is always the case though, there is always something to tweek the interest and make you want to explore.
I was wandering along in the centre and was going to pop into a church to catch another Caravaggio I hadn’t yet seen. But the time was wrong and the churches were closed. So I decided to go into the Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Attempts. I was great…an amazing collection of of classical sculpture which was part of the Ludovisi Collection. Some gorgeous pieces in there and once again the setting for the display of sculptures was just superb with frescoes decorating the rooms. I love it!!
When I finished there I went back to Chiesa di Sant’Agostino. I’d been wanting to go there. It is just near the church that holds the 3 Caravaggio’s but I had somehow always missed it. There is a lovely Caravaggio in there, ‘Madonna dei Pellegrini’, but the added bonus is that there is always a beautiful Rapheal frescoe of ‘Isaiah’. So I loved that. Then as I started to walk home again I stopped at the Chiesa di Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola. In here there is a ceiling frescoed in such a way as to defy the rules and creates an amazing optical illusion of a dome although it is actually flat. That was also great. So what started out as a quickish stroll meant that I didn’t get home until after 6. And a little tired I have to say!!
Didn’t know what I was going to do today but decided on a place I’d barely even heard of, The Terme di Caracalla. Again I was taken by surprise, it is an awe-inspiring, massive complex/ ruins from 216 AD that held an Olympic size swimming pool, thermal pools, large gymnasiums, libraries, shops etc. It was elaborately decorated with beautiful floor mosaics, superb sculptures etc. It is one of those places that you can really imagine the Romans lying around the pool playing games, going from hot to cold pools and working out in the gym. There are remains of the mosaics, There are stones with games carved into them that they used to play by the pool. The only other place I’ve seen such great examples is Ephesus.
The great thing for me was that I was able to make connections because most of the greatest works of art have been removed and displayed elsewhere. There is the wonderful ‘Farnese Bull’ that used to be there. It is now in the Archeological Museum in Naples and I remembered it so went back to my photos tonight and there it is. Also mosaics of athletes that are now in the Vatican Museum and same thing I remembered them and was able to go back to my photos and refresh my memory. Its like a jigsaw and it really is a wonderful feeling to be able to start to put it all together. You actually feel as if you are learning something with all this touristing!!
It was quite tricky to get to the Terme and I well and truly overshot it once I worked out which bus to get, so had to get on a bus going back and even then I didn’t find the right stop and had to walk back. Walking so much is harder in the heat…your feet don’t like it as much….I can hear your mocking ‘oh yeh’ as I explore the world!! But I was HOT today. Also the tourists in Rome are increasing by the day. Yesterday I stuck my head into Piazza Navona and pulled it straight back out again. It was FULL to the brim. I’m unaccustomed to it. The noise in my little apartment at night is really quite disturbing at times, although I tend to get used to it, but on St Pat’s Night it reached a crescendo with drunk idiots singing outside my window.
Enough!! Thinking constantly now of Rose arriving in 9 sleeps…can’t wait. Then Easter with Ham and Az as well, what a lucky possum I am. Only one thing missing and so wish you were here too Ang but great that I have August to look forward to with you and Kirsty.