Roma! Yikes

Today we rode the subway to the Vatican and did a tour for 3 hours.  And then we walked part of the way back, and later hopped back on the subway to return to the hotel.  Some pictures:

                                                              Subway "art car" packed to the hilt

                                               Vatican art museums:  beginning the tour

                               Ceilings and floors...  that seems to have been my particular focus:

                                             In the tapestry hall, the ceilings were beautiful too

                                                                            

                                                         La Pieta in St. Peter's Basillica

This is from an exhibit at the Giardini in Venice, the Biennale 2011, called La Pieta or Self-love

Many of the floors are intricate patterns of fine mosaic

                                                                In St. Peter's Basilica

                                   There is no possible way to capture the enormity of this space! 

                                                   This is towards the main alter area

The only time I ever toured the Vatican was in the early 70's while on a 4 1/2 month magical hiatus from "real life".   Seeing the Sistine Chapel was turned into a torture then because too many people were herded through it at one time and just sort of pushed you through.  I only remember being able to steal quick glances up towards the ceiling;  it was not a fun experience.

But this time it was better!  They have started some sort of process to control the number of people in the Chapel at one time and so now you can stand in one place and actually look up at the ceiling !  It's  pretty wonderful!  The only bad thing is that they are very militant about picture-taking, and so I have none to share with you. 

I shared that trip in the 70's with one who has a finely developed sense of social justice (and injustice).  He read the irony in the riches of the churches that the poor prayed for tenderness and mercy within.

                                                                    Jim, not much has changed:

                                            From the walk back towards the hotel:

The Spanish Steps

                                                         This concludes Day 2 in Rome

Greetings from Rome

Well, here we are on the last leg of  the trip.  We got to Rome just a couple of hours ago.

Yesterday morning we left Montepulciano and drove through hills and past farms (and later past the biggest lake I've ever seen) to get to our last walled town:  Montefiascone.  We found the hotel pretty easily, got some snacks from the market and settled down to rest and have some wine. 

The hotel is in another old palazzo, and is nicely done (though not done with the over-the-top opulence seen at Palazzo Squarcialupi).  Initially we were met by the...  really I don't know what you'd call him, other than sort of the King of  the hotel.  He presided over the place with a strong air of responsibility and formality.  Also, he didn't speak a word of English, nicely balancing my complete ineptitude with Italian. Initially he seemed austere and remote (which we imagined as disapproving), but he helped us move the car to a garage (no small feat getting me to understand how to get it there in the one-way network of alleyways) and also showed us how to get to a restaurant... which later proved to be closed.  Anyway, by the time we left this morning we were very fond of him and he was gracing us with a smile here and there... so we were feeling practically cherished.  It was all lovely.  Here is a picture of our friend Remo, Manager-extraordinaire of the Hotel Urbano V in Montefiascone:

Looking towards the front desk from the bar area where he made a special cup of cappuccino for  our breakfast

                                             The restored ancient mural on the ceiling

                                      From the rooftop terrace with the soon-to-be full moon

Our room was nothing spectacular, which is why I will not bore your with pictures of it.  However, the toilet was something to behold:  rimmed with gold and including the golden seal of the hotel:
I've never seen the likes of something like this, ever!

 
Here is a picture of Lago di Bracciano, the largest lake I have ever seen;  Montefiascone is on the eastern end of it

                                                        The lake went on for miles and miles.

Today (Wednesday the 13th) we drove to the airport outside Rome, left the car and took a cab to our downtown location.  We are within walking distance of pretty much every major thing to see in Rome except for the Vatican and perhaps the distant seven hills.  We took a short walk for a couple of blocks and found these sights:

                                                                Temple of Mars

We just had a good dinner at my favorite restaurant...  only about two blocks from the hotel.  Tomorrow very early we will see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican.

Until tomorrow............

Brunello, Vino Nobile and Gregorian Chants

After breakfast this morning, we headed out of town with surprising ease and drove to Montelcino in search of Brunello... the wine for which that town is famous.  (Montepulciano has it's own claim to fame in the form of Vino Nobile).  We drove past golden fields of wheat interspersed with large swaths of sunflowers and olive trees, all held together by rows of cypress trees...  making a landscape like a great patchwork quilt.  The "quilt" is dotted here and there by large palazzos now turned into tourist accommodations or wineries, and very old churches.

We spent some time exploring Montelcino, and tasting Brunellos.   We bought some wine and then headed over to Sant Antimo to the ancient cathedral which houses some of the last Benedictine monks who sing prayers in the form of Gregorian Chants.

The chanting was quite beautiful too!!  Eight monks file into the church and sit facing each other in groups of four.  They sing back and forth.  I don't know how they handle the spiritually-inclined but tone-deaf supplicants.

We stopped for dinner at a family restaurant very close to the Monastery and had some pasta, salad and some mighty wonderful roast pork (sliced so thin you could probably read through it).  Lovely dinner!  And then we drove back to Montepulciano and only had to retrace our route once before getting ourselves back to the hotel.  No pedestrians were actually maimed in the process... although we noticed that one couple lept across the road to get out of our way, leaving their camera on the wall behind them.  I can't even imagine what they would have done if I'd been one of those young Italian male drivers careening around the corner on two wheels!

Tonight is our last one in Montepulciano.  Tomorrow we head for Montefiascone... our last stop before dropping the car off at the Rome airport.

See you in the morning.

Mueble Evoe, Montepulciano

So, true to our plan, we've spent today roaming the streets of this beautiful town.  Here are some of the sights:

The Sax Wine Bar:  we had lunch here on the first day while we were walking and completely lost

                                            The 13th Century Cathedral on the Piazza Grande

                                               The craft street again...  imagine driving through this!!!!

                                            Church seen from the walls of Montepulciano

                                               Houses outside the main walls

                                                            More hills!!!!!  They are everywhere.

                                                       Geraniums against the ancient walls

                                                                                                                                                                                 The Piazza Grande (a tad less grande with the concert apparatus)

                                                        Our room at the Meuble Evoe

It's true that the room here doesn't have the excessive opulence of the previous one, but it's comfortable and has everything we need.  Also, the family who runs it is warm and genuinely concerned with our comfort.  Plus, their restaurant is rated #4 out of 35+ Montepulciano restaurants on TripAdvisor, and locals rave about it....  Perfect!