Angels & Demons (yup, again)

okay okay... if you're in Rome, you... like us... are sick to death of the constant star-gazing, media mania surrounding the premiere here of the film version of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. Even Lancia launched its new car with the A&D promo. But, hey, we have no shame... even tho' the A&D sites are all Rome the First Time, our itineraries overlap with so many of them, we featured them in one of our sidebars... p. 78, and for those of you without your copy handy, here's the page (below).


Photo here is of the roiling waters of the Tevere (Tiber) - from which A&D protagonist Langdon was plucked, and the Tiber Island hospital where he (and, perhaps somewhat less famously, Bill) was treated; the hospital is named, and under the auspices of, the Fatebenefratelli ("good works brothers"literally, but... Order of the Brothers of St. John of God).

btw, the best A& D guide we know is available only in its Italian translation, James B. Winter's La Roma degli Illuminati: guida ai luoghi di Angeli e demoni, published by Fanucci.
Dianne

Rome's Balconies

Romans love their sunshine, and to enjoy it they have their terraces (terrazzi) and balconies (balconi). You won't find many in the Centro Storico, where the palatial homes built by elite families resembled fortesses and looked inward, rather than toward the street. But terraces and, especially, balconies, are a feature of many apartment buildings constructed after about 1925 and are nearly universal in post-1960 structures. It is possible to date a building from the materials used to construct a balcony; round, curved, pipe-like railings--an element of the modernist aesthetic--were common in the 1930s and into the 1940s; thinner railings, of bent or curved wrought iron, are often of 1950s or 1960s vintage.

And some balconies--like the ones presented here--are spectacular works of architectural art. These buildings are side by side above a massive hillside wall in the upper reaches of Trastevere, just above where viale Trastevere turns the corner and becomes Circonvallazione Gianicolense. The photos were taken from via Parrasio.

Bill

Book Updates: Protestant Cemetery

We've added a feature on the right to update the book. Check the right sidebar for updates before you head out on an itinerary.

We're starting with the Protestant (Non-Catholic) Cemetery. The folks (the alive ones) there sent us a lovely email noting they added Sunday hours: 9 - 1, last entrance 12:30. I appreciate this, having been there many times and crushed when it was closed (older son, recall my walking you there from piazza Re di Roma - only to find it - and Scipione's "house" - closed?). They also have a lively website in English as well as Italian: http://www.protestantcemetery.it/english/index.php. And they kindly pointed out I had perpetuated the myth that Shelley's heart is in the cemetery. It was returned, they informed us, but his grave (with what in it, one might ask) is still there.

btw, on this itinerary, the trattoria on the piazza near the porta where Don & I had a very nice lunch - serving locals for over half a century - has been replaced by a bank. )=:

Dianne

Mystery Photo Winner; new mystery photo

Congratulations to Matthew Borenstein of the East Village in New York City for correctly identifying a sideview, featuring a statue to the goddess Victory, of the Vittoriano, Rome's massive monument to Vittorio Emanuele II (Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Rome after Italian unification in 1870).

Matthew, your copy of Rome the Second Time is on its way.

We've actually grown fond (rather as one does of a not-so-cute pet) of the much derided massive, heavy structure, esp. since its interior was refurbished and opened with a museum of the battle to unify Rome (the Risorgimento), excellent (tho' rarely in English) free temporary exhibits, and spectacular views from the top.


The first Mystery Photo proved too hard, Bill thought the second one too easy (Dianne did not and says complimenti, Matthew); let's hope the next (Bill's pick) is just right...and here it is...

Walkin' the Walk, Italian Style

If you've been in Rome more than ten minutes, you've seen the characteristic strolling position of older Italian men: hands behind the back, slight lean forward. What's up? Anthropologists might argue that the walk has evolved in a safe, secure society in which older persons need not, and do not, think about having their hands available to ward off predators. Gerontologists would add that only the slow-walking elderly would assume the behind-the-back position, because only at low speeds is the walker unlikely to need his hands to break a fall.

Bill