last of the rome pictures, 2011

i have a remaining collection of images from rome that aren't easily categorized...so here are my random pics that i have yet to share. enjoy!

fontana delle anfore, one of the most under-appreciated fountains in rome (it is at the end of via marmorata, just before you cross the tiber into trastevere). it had a collection of swastikas and homeless guys around it this year, just like last year. i would love to see this little piazza renovated.

full-frontal male nudity at the centrale montemartini...beautiful

molti nemici molto onore=many enemies much honor, one of mussolini's slogan fascisti. i wish i shot a better picture of it.

fascist art and architecture at the foro italico

60 italian regions represented by idealized marble men...

...shown with their olympic implements *ahem* and a reminder that fascists weren't exactly known for their subtlety

there's a lion nibbling on his toes...

...and an oddly placed fish used for compositional balance

i'm rather surprised this obelisk to mussolini still stands, but politics and atrocities notwithstanding i'm very glad to see it

ultimate bicep

the water is so mineralized at this fountain that deposits have reformed it to a completely different-looking object

fountain outside the newly-redesigned ara pacis monument

ara pacis processional and acanthus leaves

and this is what the front of the building looks like (from the inside)--i personally love it, but apparently the new mayor of rome was elected on a platform of "i'll-tear-down-the-new-ara-pacis-monument-and-return-the-piazza-to-its-true-baroque-roots." two points about this: a) the fascists screwed up the piazza before richard meier was even born and b) everything in rome takes 20 times longer to do than anticipated and involves 100 times more politics than expected, so hopefully it will never happen. i think meier did a fabulous job with the housing of the ara pacis--it is a beautiful space.

creepy collection of skulls, with names and causes of death of their previous owners, under the aptly-named santa maria dell'orazione e morte

(this is what the skulls look like when the cabinet is open and i completely overexpose them.)

signore squarehead, on the left...why is he square-haloed while the others are not? because he was alive when this mosaic was assembled--cool little factoid there.

skull and crossbones at santa cecilia--no matter where you go, rome doesn't let you forget your mortality for long

inadvertant (?) boobie fountain--no matter where you go, rome doesn't let you forget about gender for very long

two staircases going to two very different places: santa maria in aracoeli and the capitoline

this is the primary school that gus and sophie will attend when i run away from home and take them to live with me on the aventino

interior, bus

exterior, tiber

palm fronds at the orto botanico

i never knew there was a bamboo forest in the middle of rome, yet here it is--it covers almost an acre on the giancolo

palazzo farnese, which was actually open to the public (it's the french embassy, so it is rare to get in without a diplomatic reason) for an exhibition of its private collection--i went twice.

ever wonder what happened to some of the fallen marble from the colosseum? here it is, remade as the façade of san agostino

trevi fountain at night

oculus of the pantheon

coppede! i love coppede. if i can't live on the aventino, i want to live here.

last night in rome with bernini's four rivers fountain and a atmospheric full moon

flying bunny!

those exasperated-looking arms in the background are such because they've just thrown a sopapilla across the room. should i worry that paco is the only one concerned in this picture?

yes, but is it a complete sentence?

me: "gus, do you know what makes a 'complete' sentence?"
gus: "umm, a capital letter and a period?"

concerned, i asked his teacher about this gaping lacuna in a 5th grader's knowledge...to which he replied, "we teach that in the 2nd grade and reinforce it in the 3rd. we assume all 5th graders have known that a subject + verb make a complete sentence for several years now."

i SO want my money back from manzano day school--what exactly did they teach gus?!

rome 2011: a little more shopping and dining at volpetti piu

more damn animals.

i figured out last year that i wasn't designed to actually fit into italian fashions (including shoes, for fuck's sake!), so i decided that i'd have to suffice with shooting pictures of the things i liked. actually, i figured out a long time ago that i was far too frugal to buy italian fashions in italy, so i won't beat myself up too much for the not-fitting-in-them thing...although some things always fit...

...like ditta g. poggi, the best art supply store in rome! i love this place--it just smells right, if that makes sense

i'm about ready to replace all my office supplies in blue and orange after seeing this display

things that don't need to fit me: papal fashions (but i do dig the hat)

the embroidery on this vestment makes me think we're missing out on something at the meeting house

gusella! although this is gus' namesake i'm pretty sure he'd hate me forever if i made him wear anything from this store

what's in style this year? slouchy boots, pastel-y earth tones and ruffles. hmmph. and meh.

so very many reptiles died for this display, but it's workin'!

missoni! le swoon. i've said it before and i'll say it again: if i were three sizes smaller and had some serious disposable cash, i'd be wearing this every day...but, honestly, it'd probably be resale missoni.

yikes--their men's line leaves something to be desired

more stripy missoni awesomeness

i thought this was clever...and it's another animal

bottega veneta--last year they were my example of ridiculously overpriced leather with a 5-digit dollar purse, but something about this window struck me as odd...

...and it was the ill-fitting sandals on the mannequin. if you're going to ask 600 euros (over 1000 dollars) for a pair of strappy shoes, at least make sure they look somewhat decent on the display!

while i like the look (on someone else), there is no way in hell i'd ever pay 900 euros for pants that are double-knit polyester. what's worse? this very high-end store is actually advertising them as double-knit polyester pants (i'd be trying to conceal that little tidbit if at all possible).

the car shoe is still alive and well in italy...

...as is their undying love for anything dr. scholl's

but here it's just "scholl," and yes you can still get the wooden exersandal at any drugstore--these boots are kinda rockin'

volpetti píu! do you see the reflection across the street that says, "PIZZA VOLPETTI PÍU"? that's what the front looks like...

...and everything is delicious! i went rather basic here with roasted chicken and rosemary potatoes, a fruit salad, a vesuvio (mozzarella and prosciutto deep fried until it explodes) and, of course, the ugly american full-sugar coke

i was only able to get back one other time this trip, which was kind of a bummer. on this day i did veal (!--i haven't eaten veal for at least 20 years) in orange sauce, fried florets of broccolini and artichoke hearts, a large slice of fried apple, panna cotta with woodland berries...and another coke (real sugar really does make a difference).

me, at my favorite restaurant...what's its name?...and this is the only shot of me in rome, 2011.