saturday afternoon update
hey guys, a little rain is falling, so im eating some gelato and updating. before i start, someone PLEASE update me on the Kerry/Bush debate??? THANKS!
Friday
so after an evening of dancing to some 60s soul in rome, i woke up at 11am and went to Centro Storico to window shop. the dollar is weak here (as it is everywhere, thank you GW), so im not doing as much compulsive buying as i could be. lots and lots of cute shoes, but im holding out on my spending till Verona, i think. after window shopping, i had lunch (penne con calcio e pepe, insalata con gorgonzola e noci, sorbetto), and then went over to the church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see the absolutely incredible cycle of St Matthew, the 3 Caravaggio paintings depicting Matthews rise from a tax collector named Levi, through to his martyrdom. The Calling of St. Matthew is one the left of the chapel housing the 3 paintings, showing Jesus pointing out Levi, who is looking down, counting his money. on the right of the chapel is The Martyrdom of St Matthew, showing the Egyptian attacking Matthew, and the angel touching Matthew with the palm branch of martyrdom, as everyone else pulls away. The final act of the triptych hangs in the middle, The Inspiration of St Matthew, with Matthew writing notes while an angel counts on his fingers. Just incredible. it's really wonderful to see these not in a museum, but in the church that they were commisioned for 400 years ago. and the Domenichino fresco, Life of St. Cecilia in the chapel on the other side of the church was gorgeous, as well.
after that nice quiet one hour viewing, i headed outside into noisy Rome and called Skip to wake him up for work, forgetting that he doesnt work on Fridays. ugh! felt awful for waking him up but i love hearing his voice. then it was home to nap, before going out to dinner with Nancy (who sells old soul records and is from los angeles), Angelo, Paulo, Mary and Peter and their adorable son, Kier, in the seaside town of Ostia. we ate a HUGE seafood feast. fried calamari, marinated calimari, mussels, tiny mussels, marinated sardines and this huge huge sea bass that was delivered, head and tail intact, on a 3 foot long plate. Kier is the cutest boy ever....his father, Mary's ex, is british and so Kier has this adorable british/italian accent. and foppish hair and a jacket with pins and buttons and gola shoes...a regular mini mod. We ate for a couple hours, drank some white wine, had some limoncello with dessert and then headed over to Peter and Marys house to drink some Campari. Nancy is a good friend of Syd in SF, so we chatted a bit about SF. took some pics at dinner. got home at 3 am, called Skip, then passed out.
Saturday
Today i slept in and then had some coffee with my beautiful neighbor, Stefania. we were going to walk over to the nearby park in the Capitilone, but the rain kept us to her rooftop apartment. she showed me her acting headshots. all the Italian shots are way more "sexy" then in america. then we discussed good Italian authors, the gorgeous non-tourist island of Ponza, and worked on her english. the word RIVER turns into WHIVER so we both had a nice laugh on that one. and now im heading out to go take some pics. if it starts raining hard enough, i will race down to the Pantheon to watch it fall through the open oculus. Tonight: nothing. need to attempt to grocery shop, even though im scared of Italian supermarkets. stay in, write some postcards and have a good deep sleep.
Tomorrow = early morning FLEA MARKET!!!! WOOHOO! then the old italian puppet show in Giancolo park.
Friday
so after an evening of dancing to some 60s soul in rome, i woke up at 11am and went to Centro Storico to window shop. the dollar is weak here (as it is everywhere, thank you GW), so im not doing as much compulsive buying as i could be. lots and lots of cute shoes, but im holding out on my spending till Verona, i think. after window shopping, i had lunch (penne con calcio e pepe, insalata con gorgonzola e noci, sorbetto), and then went over to the church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see the absolutely incredible cycle of St Matthew, the 3 Caravaggio paintings depicting Matthews rise from a tax collector named Levi, through to his martyrdom. The Calling of St. Matthew is one the left of the chapel housing the 3 paintings, showing Jesus pointing out Levi, who is looking down, counting his money. on the right of the chapel is The Martyrdom of St Matthew, showing the Egyptian attacking Matthew, and the angel touching Matthew with the palm branch of martyrdom, as everyone else pulls away. The final act of the triptych hangs in the middle, The Inspiration of St Matthew, with Matthew writing notes while an angel counts on his fingers. Just incredible. it's really wonderful to see these not in a museum, but in the church that they were commisioned for 400 years ago. and the Domenichino fresco, Life of St. Cecilia in the chapel on the other side of the church was gorgeous, as well.
after that nice quiet one hour viewing, i headed outside into noisy Rome and called Skip to wake him up for work, forgetting that he doesnt work on Fridays. ugh! felt awful for waking him up but i love hearing his voice. then it was home to nap, before going out to dinner with Nancy (who sells old soul records and is from los angeles), Angelo, Paulo, Mary and Peter and their adorable son, Kier, in the seaside town of Ostia. we ate a HUGE seafood feast. fried calamari, marinated calimari, mussels, tiny mussels, marinated sardines and this huge huge sea bass that was delivered, head and tail intact, on a 3 foot long plate. Kier is the cutest boy ever....his father, Mary's ex, is british and so Kier has this adorable british/italian accent. and foppish hair and a jacket with pins and buttons and gola shoes...a regular mini mod. We ate for a couple hours, drank some white wine, had some limoncello with dessert and then headed over to Peter and Marys house to drink some Campari. Nancy is a good friend of Syd in SF, so we chatted a bit about SF. took some pics at dinner. got home at 3 am, called Skip, then passed out.
Saturday
Today i slept in and then had some coffee with my beautiful neighbor, Stefania. we were going to walk over to the nearby park in the Capitilone, but the rain kept us to her rooftop apartment. she showed me her acting headshots. all the Italian shots are way more "sexy" then in america. then we discussed good Italian authors, the gorgeous non-tourist island of Ponza, and worked on her english. the word RIVER turns into WHIVER so we both had a nice laugh on that one. and now im heading out to go take some pics. if it starts raining hard enough, i will race down to the Pantheon to watch it fall through the open oculus. Tonight: nothing. need to attempt to grocery shop, even though im scared of Italian supermarkets. stay in, write some postcards and have a good deep sleep.
Tomorrow = early morning FLEA MARKET!!!! WOOHOO! then the old italian puppet show in Giancolo park.