The Eternal City

Before I returned to America, my sister, Diana, and I had planned to go to Rome for a few day.  We left for Italy on the Fourth of July, and if I hadn't been on my way to one of the most fabulous cities in the world, I would have been a little sad to be missing barbecues, fireworks, and parades in the USA.  The day before, though, Rachel, Diana, some of her friends, and I had celebrated with a barbecue.  Diana had the amazing idea to discreetly drop a package of tea in the fountain of the Trinity College courtyard as a symbolic reenactment of the Boston Tea Party and a subtle assertion of American pride in a sea of English academic aristocracy!

As the airplane began to descend into Rome, Diana suddenly said, "Is that St. Peter's?"  And sure enough, there was St. Peter's Basilica rising majestically from Vatican City.  Then we saw Rome's cathedral, the Basilica of S. Giovanni in Laterano, the curving band of the Tiber River, and a little above it was the Coliseum!  Rome is probably my very favorite city, and I was so honored to get to be Diana's tour guide on her first visit!  For me it was the third time to visit Italy's capital with its peerless collection of baroque churches, pilgrimage shrines, and ancient Roman monuments.

Diana and I had found a nice place to stay nearby one of Rome's greatest churches, the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, the first major church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  The first two pictures from this post were of \S. Maria Maggiore, and this one is of a statue of the Madonna and Child commissioned by Pope Paul V in the early seventeenth century and placed on a column outside the basilica.  After we dropped off our bags, Diana and I went for an evening tour of some of the marvelous sites in the city, beginning with S. Maria Maggiore.  Legend tells that in the fourth century there was a snow storm on the Esquiline Hill on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.  The pope interpreted the blizzard as a heavenly sign and traced the ground plan of the basilica in the newly-fallen snow.  I've been told that every year on August 15th S. Maria Maggiore commemorates the miracle by dropping thousands of white rose petals from the ceiling of the church.

From the Esquiline, we continued on to the Quirinal Hill.  We walked beside the dramatically curving facade of Borromini's monastic church of S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane squeezed into the corner of a tight intersection.  Just a few steps further was Bernini's masterpiece, the Jesuit novitiate church of S. Andrea al Quirinale.

Rome has piazza after piazza, many of them with an Egyptian obelisk, fountains, and grand buildings.  This is the Piazza del Quirinale where the palace of the prime minister is.  From the piazza we could look out over red roof tiles and parchment-colored buildings to see Michelangelo's dome of St. Peter's against the sunset.

We descended a steep flight of stairs and made our way through a maze of narrow streets to the Trevi Fountain, which was full of tourists.  There is a church that opens up onto the Trevi piazza, which I have been told contains the hearts of many of the deceased popes.  There is certainly a European tradition of burying the heart of a king or noble in a different location than the body, but I'm not sure whether it applies to the popes.

Then we walked to the Piazza di Spagna, which was also swarming with tourists.  There is a great staircase leading to the Church of S. Trinità dei Monti with an obelisk at the top.  At the base of the stairs is an interesting fountain of a sinking ship designed by Bernini's father.  There were venders selling glow-in-the-dark Frisbee things that they spinning up into the air.  The people selling roses are particularly pushy--sometimes putting a rose in your hand in an attempt to get you to buy it!

Here is a close-up of the Church of S. Trinità dei Monti, illuminated with white lights against the dark evening sky. 

 Diana and I walked back to the Trevi Fountain neighborhood to eat at a little trattoria specializing in spaghetti dishes.  It was really delicious--nothing like eating wonderful pasta in Rome!  The only thing that would have made it nicer is if they would have just given us free water.  Both Diana and I get a little tired of always buying bottled water in Europe when we would both be fine with water from the tap!  The green bottles do make the picture look more elegant, though, don't they?!