exhibit: "Monsters. Fantastic Creatures of Fear and Myth" in Roma

27 May, 2014

Hello again to you all,

We've been readjusting to NOT being in Rome, and hope you all are well. I do have our frequent flier tickets for our 2015 return! 

Please continue reading if you've ever been curious about 

"the Minotaur, the Griffins, 
the Chimeras, 
the Gorgons, Pegasus, 
the Sphinx, the Harpies, 

the Sirens, the Satyrs, 
the Centaurs, 
the Hydra of Lerna, 
Scylla and other 

sea monsters, 
from the Orient to Greece, 

as well as to the 

Etruscan, Italic and Roman world."

There is a fine exhibit at the National Museum of Roma, Palazzo Massimo, which we saw two months ago. It unfortunately ends on June 1, 2014.

(upper left, terracotta statuette 

of a Centaur, from 750-600 B.C.

Now in the Archeological 

Museum of Nicosia, Cyprus.)

One week home in Chicago and we're ready to return to Roma!

Dear Friends and Relations,

we reluctantly tore ourselves away from Rome last week, and are slowly adjusting to being back in the Central time zone.

Many of you have kindly let me know that you enjoyed the previous blogs from this trip. However, all four of the cover about four hours of our five week visit. There are 5,323 photos (don't worry, you won't be bombarded with even a fraction of them), so I will try to put in a new posting now and then even though we are back home.

This posting is from that phenomenal success "EATALY". As the name suggests, food and Italy are what these stores offer. I bunged a flock of photos on the Chicago EATALY after its opening here last fall. The one in Rome is at three times as large as the behemoth 66,000 square foot one here! A rarity in Rome, there are 600 parking spaces available outside the store.

This link will take you to a 2012 New York Times article on the Rome EATALY, and give all the useful statistics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/travel/in-rome-a-new-branch-of-eataly.html?_r=0

I'll start with a map, to give the relative position of the store. (There is more info on how to arrive there at the very end of this post.) This link will take you to Google Maps for this location.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eataly+Roma/@41.871148,12.486573,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xb99cb38fff9044eb

The above map shows EATALY in the thick lined purple circle, and the Colosseum in the smaller circle.

EATALY is not easy to find, as it is housed in a failed attempt at making an airline check-in area at a train station along the rail line that leads out the to main airport. It is reasonable to assume that the proprietors received a lower than "Main Street" rent for their taking over this decades-long empty "white elephant".

This aerial view from Google may help. Yup, it is on the side of a railroad station.

So, let's go in and see all the treats.
On the ground floor are VERY fresh fruits and veggies.

Throughout the store are shelves and shelves
of sauces, condiments, specialty veggies and endless treats.

These are very high-class pastas. Ordinary, run-of-the-mill types can be bought in normal supermarkets for about 0.70 Euros, these are three times those prices, or double the cost of the "better" brands.  As of April, 2014, you need nearly $1.40 US to buy one Euro. Yes, of course these cook up nicer, have unusual shapes, and taste better. However, there is nothing "wrong" with the run of the mill cheapies.

The architects created very high-tech looking ramp escalators, 
with nearly invisible side partitions, to not clutter up the store. 
There are elevators if one prefers.

It felt as if there were acres of wine shelves in the store.

We were leaving Rome in a few days, so there was no point in buying much. There were some "lower price" wines, 

but most of their offerings were not for the plebs. 

There were far too many wines to look at without committing to

a three hour visit, many that never, ever make the journey across

the pond to the USA. 

Even MORE wine!

There are over a dozen restaurant areas,
as well as a couple of coffee bars and also wine bars.

We were there about 7 p.m., so the dinner rush had not yet started.
Very few Italians eat dinner before 8 p.m.,
as many do not return home from work until sometime after 7.


Although I am a vegetarian,
I could appreciate the sights of all these
specialty sausages, salamis, hams, prosciuttos, and meats.
Emil looked sad having to pass
these up, especially the "wild boar" sausages. 

The architects arranged for some dramatic views inside the store, and took advantage of what they could for the outside views. The view over the rail tracks probably does not even impress "train spotters". 

This view, although partially over the train tracks,
is more interesting, as it extends northeast past the 
Porta San Paolo (Gate of St. Paul) 
and an ancient Roman pyramidal tomb
all the way to the dome of St. Peter's.

As in their Chicago store, the Rome EATALY has a micro brewery on premises, as well as a nice beer drinking area.  They also have their own wood-burning ovens on the premises, with delightful fragrances arising. There is undoubtedly
more bread on offer earlier in the day.

The Rome EATALY price for their bread is far more than what local bakeries charge, although few of them have bread done in a wood burning oven anymore.

Yes, there is a taste and texture difference from wood burning ovens. That wood flavor is a treat on pizza slices. 

The loaves above are priced at 3.60 Euros per kilo, or 

$5.00 US for 2.2 pounds, about half the price as in Chicago. 

There were also several LARGE counters for cheeses!!!

(These also are not what I can eat, but one can dream . . . )

There were kindly clerks ready to slice up or weigh out 

as little or as much of these Italian regional treasures

as one wished to buy. 

OK, so the Stilton is from the
ancient Roman colony of Britannia, 
the army outpost "Londinium".

There was a special section with "food for thought".
Some of these books are less "serious" than others.
Lower left is one on how to defend oneself
from anyone from Naples. In fairness, they are also offering the adjacent book on how to defend oneself from the Romans.
These two seemed to be on the level of the
old-fashioned "Polish jokes" I remember from my childhood. 
Italy may be one country, but regional differences and prejudices 
still are noticeable. 

Yet another coffee bar, complete with a high powered,
rollicking engine of caffeine delights.
Emil said the espresso he had from there was alright
for Rome, but that he would be grateful to have one
even of such an "average" quality at home in Chicago.

This place would not be EATALY or in Italy without desserts.
I have noticed in cafes over the past few years  a wider choice of 
seemingly "lighter" desserts and treats. (If one counts treats made with egg yolks, cream, chocolate and sugar as "lighter". 
Could the desserts on the left named "CHIC" have fewer calories 
than their old-fashioned neighbors "English Soup"?)
Are these little treats worth 5 Euros or $7.00 US? I dunno.
You'll have to come and try them for yourselves.

A last view down to the ground floor.
There are four levels in this store, but the last one is a bit under-used, with conference rooms, training kitchens, more eateries, et cetera. 

It was too late to go home and cook dinner. 
We were able to catch a local bus for the 3/4 mile ride
to our next destination, a favorite restaurant
just past the Porta San Paolo.


I'll do a short post on some of our favorite restaurants
in the next posting.

We had a good time at EATALY, and will go a little sooner
during our next trip to Rome in 2015. (Believe it or not, we have frequent flier tickets to return to Rome at the end of February, 2015.)

But Rome is filled with so many wonderful food purveyors,
that EATALY almost seems excessive.
However, there is the parking for those who need it,
and the convenience  of having literally thousands of items 
to choose from all in one spot.

 Also, in 2012, this was the fifteenth store EATALY
opened in its home country,
so maybe they know more than I do about their business!

******************************

Here's some more info on HOW to arrive at EATALY in Roma.

The reviewer in the NY Times talked about underground passages from the Metro Station, a gloomy route, but undoubtedly shorter than going around on the outside. I didn't try that route.

A local bus, either the 673 or the 716 can bring you very close. It is a walkable distance, and these buses are not very frequent. 

The dotted blue box surrounds the Porta San Paolo.
Many buses go through there, some go to the train station, 
others proceed further south.
The black arrow at left points to where you can 
easily nab southbound buses.

This is the via Ostiense, past the viaduct, looking south. 

These photos are from googlemaps, partly because I'm not 

sufficiently swift of foot to photograph 

in the middle of a very busy street.

It may look a little "run down" here, 

but it is safe enough in daylight. 

Off to the left, the direction you will be turning,

 are newer, slightly upscale apartment buildings.

Below is the via P. Matteucci, the first real street south of the train viaduct, (in rear at left) leads to the large, 

long Piazzale XII ottobre 1492.  There now is a small sign saying EATALY with a right arrow, but it is easy to miss.

(yellow arrow on map)

Eataly's entrance is around the right side of the round-roofed building.

Have a great time! Ciao, Carol

end of blog entry

more from the day of "April Fish"

2 April 2014

Dear Relations and Friends,

I shall finish up my posting started yesterday on my visit to San Pietro in Montorio up on the Gianicolo Hill. 

In case you haven't seen my posting from yesterday, April 1st, you may want to look at it first. You can find in listed below this entry on the sidebar that should be on the left of your screen. (If not, try looking past the bottom of this post.) 


I left you in the church, and shall finish up before taking you for a tour of the little Tempietto by Bramante.

Here's the main part of the church. Nice enough, and there is a decent copy of a good painting over the main altar. Imagine the impact when the next image was over the main altar.

What was once over S. Pietro in Montorio's main altar . . .

Believe it or not, this dark, seemingly modest Franciscan church off the beaten path originally had over its main altar Raphael's last major work, the "Transfiguration". Happily the painting isn't too far away in the Painting Gallery (Pinacoteca) of the Vatican Museums. More usually seen is the elaborate mosaic copy of this painting, in St. Peter's itself. (I took this photo, better lit ones are available online.) This painting is well-travelled:

"Giulio de' Medici commissioned the painting for the the French Cathedral of Narbonne, but it remained in Rome in San Pietro in Montorio after 1523. Napoleon had it taken to Paris in 1797, and it was brought back to the Vatican in 1815."

quote from http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Altars/Transfiguration/Transfiguration.htm

 These next two images were on my last post, I am repeating them only to keep the bits on this church in one place. First, a chapel by Bernini, second an overview plan. It may be a little hard to see, the entrance is at the left, the Bernini chapel is the first large one at the top, the main altar is at the far right.

Bernini (and his extensive workshop) did this chapel, structure, decorations and statuary, probably between 1638 and 1648. Anthony Blunt relates this was one of the first times Bernini used concealed sources of (natural) lighting. We moderns may not think much of this, being used to electric lighting, but it made a big impact back then, especially since the lighting was structured to seem like heavenly blessings. This time it was done to emphasize the altarpiece of "St. Francis in Ecstasy".

I didn't notice at the time that both funerary monuments in the chapel show the deceased as a lively person and praying (not unusual for Bernini) and both persons are also shown as a corpse in the sarcophagus, which was very rare at the time. Blunt has many more interesting things to say about this, but I must press forward. 

The church has a large sign up at the chapel with an altarpiece by Antoniazzo Romano, (ca. 1435-1508). (There was a major exhibition last winter in a leading Roman museum about this talented Renaissance painter.) Below these two are a four other views of the church's decorations.

 

I was impressed by the transept of this church. 

{for you non-church goers, the transept is the arm of the church that makes the (usually) longer nave into a cross-shape.} 

These two chapels were done by Daniele da Volterra, (1509-1566), who was a close friend of Michaelangelo. Even in a gloomy church, these two, nearly identical chapels popped out at me announcing Michaelangelo's influence. 

Domes of churches connect the nave and the transept, let in needed light,
and lift one's gaze if not one's spirits, upwards. 

 references:  http://romeartlover.it/Vasi90a.htm#S. Pietro in Montorio,

Anthony Blunt, "Guide to Baroque Rome", 1982.

Outside the Church and onto the Cloister with the Tempietto.

Signboard (cleaned of graffiti), is a very good plan and text.
The Tempietto is in the cloister to the right of the church.

Here's the teaser photo I left you with yesterday,
the Tempietto framed by its entrance door.

This small building is called
"one of the undisputed masterworks of
Western architecture"*. 

   

       


   





You can see it is in a fairly small cloister. I have read that Bramante designed this with the intention of having a circular cloister surrounding it, with concentric circles in the courtyard paving. This was intended not merely for esthetics, but to represent the Divine Truth and the Cosmos, and it all would be centering on the supposed martyrdom site of St. Peter. 

I keep learning things all the time. I've just discovered a 56 page paper by Jack Freiberg on this church and monastery and the Spanish Monarchy. 

*   https://www.academia.edu/2166148/Bramantes_Tempietto_and_ the_Spanish_Crown    (you have to sign up with the website to access this. They are not picky, they even let me join!)


A few factiods from Jack Freiberg's paper on academia.edu:  

1. small traces of ancient Roman ruins are beneath the monastery and also nearby. 
2. there was a religious establishment here in the 1200's or so, but the site was deserted when plans for this San Pietro were put forth in the late 1400's.
3. Pope Sixtus IV, in 1472, entrusted this site to his confessor and fellow Franciscan Amadeo Menes de Sylva.
4. Amadeo was no ordinary monk; beyond his considerable spiritual gifts was his capacity to convince large donors to pledge contributions to various projects -- and then collect the pledges. 

{Perhaps Adameo could become a "patron saint" for fund raisers? I hope I'm not being too irreverent; there were miracles attributed to his large tomb in Santa Maria delle Pace in Milan.}

I was curious how such undoubtedly substantial sums 
could be raised for works by the best artists, sculptors, and architects. 

Again, as written by  Jack Freiberg, Adameo's sister was a close friend 

of Queen Isabella of Castille (and later the united Spain), which
may help explain the Spanish Monarchs' generosity to the project.

The coats of arms of the Spanish Monarchy   and of the Borghese pope are on the church and this small temple.

The temple is decorated
in a very classical style. 
To the right is
one of the two side entrances; 

below is the view through 
the main entrance,
which is also
 not very large.

View through entrance door. 

The floor mosaic is in
a style from a few
hundred years before.

View from a side door.

The altar, with a statue of St. Peter with his keys, 
symbols of the the Church's power and authority.
(see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08631b.htm for more on this.)

In the center of the Tempietto's floor
 is a grate to allow looking down
into the crypt unto the then-believed
martyrdom spot of St. Peter.

These external 
stairs were 
added in the 1800's.

This inscription above the entrance to
 the crypt tells of Indulgences for visitors, 
granted by Pope Paul III, in 1536.

Through the grill of the crypt's door one can see the covering 

above the martyrdom spot. 

This was the start of a series of proposed concentric circles, 

perhaps implying the center of the Cosmos. 

The stonework is quite lovely, done in the most valuable of 

re-used ancient marbles and stones.

further info:
http://www.arte.it/opera/tempietto-293 ;
www.romeartlover.it/Vasi90a.htm

Here's the spoiler photo, to illustrate
how small and intimate a space this is.
The main entrance is at the right, the main altar's step is at the left.

It was after high noon, and the monastery and church were shut.
Time to head back.
Here's another of my potential "shortcuts" down,
but this has a locked gate securing it. If one were to throw a stone
from this path, one would hit the Spanish Embassy,
which is probably why it is locked off.

So it was back down the 80 plus steps and loads of ramps.
Had I waited 18 minutes for a bus,
I could have ridden down,
but my patience expired after 16 minutes.

A small side street at the start of those "shortcuts". 

Oops, back to the "real world". Obama had visited Rome
the week before and this poster was left over.
There were major traffic disruptions over two days
for the heightened security needed to ferry him across
town to visit the Pope, the President of Italy, the Premiere of Italy,
and the Colosseum.
It says
"Roma sides with Putin.
Obama is an unwelcome guest."

This week Obama's visit seems to be largely forgotten. 

Wait until the Romans see what traffic disruptions 

arise tomorrow for the visit by Britain's Queen Elizabeth!

Later note:  My husband was concerned that someone might think ALL Romans are anti-Obama, which is not the case. However, I did see at least two dozen of these posters on the day before and during his visit the prior week, and only one on April 1st. Additionally, these posters are covered over regularly by "breaking events" or by groups with different viewpoints,  different products to sell or other events to announce. 

Ciao, Carol  2 april 2014