Greg's Roman Art Day

I finished class at noon today so, I had a bit of an art day around Rome. I wanted to go and see the Sistene Chapel, but of course, it being another bloody religious holiday, it probably would have been closed. Instead, I went to Santa Maria del Popolo to see the Caravaggios, Fontana de Tritone to see Bernini's triton, and the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli to see the tomb of Pope Julius II by Michelangelo. I blended this fine art with my iPod playing the Fratellis which themselves are like a blend of crack and pop-rocks.

First, the metro to Piazza del Popolo. I think this might be my favourite piazza that I saw in Rome. It's big, there are lots of people, but not too crowded, and there's a lovely view in any direction. I first went to see the Caravaggios. Unfortunately they were placed in a little chapel that didn't have very good lighting which is too bad because of the striking light in the Crucifixion of Saint Peter. I found The Conversion of Paul on the Road to Damascus was very difficult to see. While there, I also saw the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Carracci. I've seen pictures of it before and always thought it looked a little cartoonish for my taste. But, who am I to knock Carracci?

Next, I spent a little more time hanging out in the piazza before moving on. Naturally there was a band of Ecuadorian pan-flute players. Given the choice, I would prefer to be a hammer rather than a nail just as much as the next guy, but enough with the Simon and Garfunkel.

I moved on to Bernini's Triton and my path took me up the Spanish steps. I haven't lost my super-human cardiovascular system recently acquired in Mexico yet, so I was able to scamper up the stairs without even starting to lose my breath. I was like some kind of animal that is half gazelle and half mountain goat being chased by some kind of animal that is half lion and half whatever eats mountain goats.

I stopped on the way for a double espresso pick-me-up. I love how you can just order it at the bar, stand there and drink it, and off you go. No messing about with a table or anything. And god damn these people can make coffee. I got to the triton, which is a lovely fountain, but there's not that much to see, and no place to really sit and enjoy it. There is traffic, a triton, people taking pictures of said triton, and that's about it.

After that, I got lost. Eventually, I found my way to Via Nazionale, which was my destination, via a big tunnel. I wandered around the former Papal Palace with the statues of Castor and Pollux (a.k.a. Castore e Polluce). I walked to see the four fountains at the corner of Via delle Quattro Fontane and XX Settembre. I love those fountains.

Last stop on art day was the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli. This basilica holds the chains used to hold Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem (vincoli is chains in Italian). There were also a number of Raffaellos and the tomb of Pope Julius II by Michelangelo. The statue of Moses on the tomb has horns due to a mis-translation between the terms "beams of light" and "horns" in Latin. You have to remember that this statue was made before the invention of fact-checkers. There was also a painting which I could have sworn before was a Caravaggio (although it didn't look like it person). As I was looking at it, I looked down and realised I was standing on Pope Gregory XVI, albeit indirectly, since I was only standing on his tomb.

It was a bit early for dinner, but I went anyway. Pizza at my new Roman pizza spot. After, I headed to the metro at the Colosseum to go back to the hotel. There were tons of people around, but I thought it was just a Friday night in Rome thing. The crowds thickened to the point of it being impossible to move through them. I heard a small group of people speaking French and decided to ask what was going on. I opened my mouth and what came out was a shitty patois mixture of French and Spanish which might have actually been Basque or Portuguese or a shitty patois mixture of Basque and Portuguese. The man looked at me like I was in idiot in the literal sense of the word (having an IQ below 25) and after a moment said slowly in French something about Good Friday (I was too flustered and embarrassed to listen closely to his response). I'm not sure, but I think I saw him fishing in his pocket for some spare change. I turned around and sure enough, there was a cross lit up facing the Colosseum. I was in serious danger of attending Mass. I had to get out of there, and quickly.

As I pushed my way through the crowd towards the entrance of the metro, I paused and considered the fact that some sucker devoted volunteer might be about to lug a giant cross down the street only to let a small crowd haul him up on it. I thought about the "wow... this seemed like such a good idea when I signed up, but this bloody hurts" look on his face. Nope - not worth it. Got to go.

There were bars across the door and police guarding the entrance. Eager to make up for my previous linguistic atrocity, I pulled out my best Italian and put together the most complicated sentence I've ever formulated: "Il metro è chiuso qua?" I don't even know where the words came from. It was beautiful and moving. The woman replied (in English) that it was closed here, but I could walk to either Cavour or Circo Massimo and started to explain where they were. Who did she think she was talking to? I am Greg Dinning, metro-slut.

After a quick calculation I opted for Circo Massimo which I deemed to be closer, but it was almost impossible to move that way through the crowd. I had to take the long way around the Colosseum. Following a small group of like-minded heathens, we skirted through the crowd, climbed up a small wall and went through a park and some ruins. On the other side of the crowd, traffic was blocked off and there were almost no people. From there the speed at which we could move is probably easier to express relative to Mach than in km/h.

Tomorrow, I'm up at 4:30 to catch a 7:20 flight to Toronto via Paris. I hate when I have to get up so early that the person arranging the taxi says "Tonight?" instead of "Tomorrow morning?".