rome, 2010 (pictures part one)

this past week has been overwhelming, to say the least. i am just now able to go through all my pictures from rome...and i'm realizing it is going to take a few posts to get them all up. today i'm starting with days one and two--getting to rome and walking around the area near my hotel (the pantheon, fontana delle tartughe, teatro marcello) and then up the aventino where i used to live. stay tuned for parts two, three and probably four!

i had a little something extra packed in my suitcase that i had to take out before i left...

flying to rome, over the italian alps

oculus, pantheon

detail of the fountain outside of the pantheon, fontana della rotonda

fontana della rotonda and rotonda

drinking fountain near the pantheon

fountain near the jewish ghetto, inside a courtyard (the doors happened to be open that day...)

fontana delle tartughe

porticus octaviae, next to teatro marcello

random marble fragments by the teatro marcello

temple of apollo sosianus

arch of janus in the forum boarium

la bocca della verita--each time i walked by santa maria in cosmedin, there was a line at least 50 people deep to get their photo taken with their hand in this. i passed on that, hence the wonky angle of this shot.

interior, santa maria in cosmedin

interior, santa maria in cosmedin--LOVE the cosmatesque floors

clivo dei publicii, with the palatine hill and circus maximus in the background--this is the street i lived on in rome

numero due, clivo dei publicii...home of the suore camoldolesi--it looks exactly the same...

...except the wall across the street is falling over and now has some fairly permanent-looking scaffolding holding it up. this was here in 2003, too; i think i remember it being there in 1996 as well.

this cool little sgraffito was painted on the wall of the convent just outside my window--i'm guessing a tc/rc person is responsible for this site-specific work. i dig it, whoever made it--i wonder what the significance of 1308 is?

my favorite place on earth, literally: parco savello, otherwise known as the orange gardens, the garden of the orange trees, il giardina degli arancii, that cool place next to santa sabina...

the view from parco savello

orange trees and pines--perfect. the orange trees were fruiting like crazy.

and as if this place weren't cool enough already, parco savello now hosts a flock of wild parrots--i can't figure out what species they are, but they are loud and wonderful.

pappagalli in parco savello--i saw about 15 of them at once

i accosted an american couple in the garden (she was carrying a coach bag--total giveaway!) and asked them to take a picture of me in my happy place...awwww...

fountain outside santa sabina

apse, santa sabina, as seen from parco savello

interior, santa sabina, with its selenite (not glass) windows

detail of medieval roof, santa sabina--i believe this is original to the 12th century, but i'm not sure. i think i'm supposed to know that, though--santa sabina was actually on my master's comps.

tc/rc people--do any of you remember this fountain? it is just west of santa sabina, in a really run-down park on the opposite side of the church from the orange garden, next to the knights of malta keyhole. i swear i think i saw this for the first time--i totally don't remember it. however, i do like it. as do the pigeons.

knights of malta keyhole--you are supposed to see st. peter's perfectly framed by the manicured trees in this shot (you can totally do so in real life), but i just couldn't make it work...use your imagination.

down the aventino, across via marmorata, into testaccio to volpetti! volpetti's is perhaps the world's best italian cheese/gourmet food/spice shop bar none. they have a tavola calda in the back, which is easily one of the best restaurants in rome and definitely one of its least pretentious. i spent a frickin' fortune there...yum.