More Rome Pics

I've been home for a week now, and am enjoying kicking back and sleeping in my own bed...that will probably last for about a month, then I'll start getting itchy feet.  Thought I'd blog some more pix...the photos loaded quite slowly in many places overseas so I didn't post as many as I intended.  This pic was taken my first day in Rome at the Piazza del Popolo.  It's only two blocks from my apartment and is a great spot to people watch and take in the scene.  The obelisk in the piazza was brought to Rome from Egypt by Augustus around 27 BC after he defeated Antony and Cleopatra and broke up their relationship.  Actually they both committed suicide...Augustus didn't give them much choice.  Augustus preferred to be a benign, wise, just ruler, especially in his later years; but he had nooo trouble being a hardass if that was necessary.

A closeup of the obelisk.  History does have a different dimension in Italy than in the US...here something a couple hundred years old is considered ancient, especially in the west.  In Italy of course, many landmarks have been around for two thousand years!  The Romans plundered Egypt, which was one of the richest spots in the ancient world.  There are Egyptian obelisks scattered all over Rome.

The Tiber River, Rome's historic artery.  Now a spot for houseboat residents and rowers.

An exterior view of the Pantheon, erected by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC under Augustus.  It's still one of the largest unsupported concrete domes in the world.

The famous Trevi fountain.  On a warm Saturday evening, thronged with tourons. 

Sitting on the Spanish Steps with most of the tourons who were not at the Trevi fountain.  All the spots in the previous pix were within easy walking distance of my apartment, which was in a really fine location in the Tridente section.  Tons of good restaurants and upscale shops in the 'hood.

Terme de Caracalla.  The emperor Caracalla built the world's first shopping mall/waterpark 1800 years ago, in the early third century AD.  There were swimming pools, hot and cold baths, stores, restaurants, etc.  It's still a huge complex, some of the most prominent ruins in Rome.  As you can see, quite a bit of the original tile still exists.

The baths originally had three floors...the upper two have long since collapsed.  Pieces of their floor tile remain, with many fancy designs worked into the tile.

The complex is huge...compare the ruins with the people among them.  The water for the baths was heated by slaves maintaining fires in underground ovens, then distributed into the various pools.  In addition to building these baths, accessible to everyone in Rome, Caracalla did another PR stunt during his term as emperor by making almost all free residents of the empire Roman citizens...previously only Italians and prestigious people elsewhere had that right.  But the emperor was no humanitarian...he was merely trying to raise more revenue, as only citizens paid taxes.  Caracalla eventually fell out with the army and they whacked him in 217 AD after a reign of only six years.

While I visited the Baths of Caracalla, thunder rumbled among the ruins, echoing through the brick walls.  Eventually the rain came down in buckets, causing street flooding.  This was at the end of September; like most of California, Rome has a Mediterranean climate with dry summers, but the dry season is much shorter than in the Golden State.  It's normal in Italy for the rains to start in September, at least a month earlier than in Cali.

The next morning, I climbed the stairs out of the Piazza Del Popolo and visited the Villa Borghese, Rome's equivalent of Golden Gate, Central, or Balboa Parks in SF, NYC, and San Diego.  The Villa is a vast expanse of woods, gardens, paths, restaurants, and museums that is an oasis of greenery and tranquility in the heart of the bustling Eternal City.  It's a fine place for a morning stroll, which can easily pass by a spot selling cappuccino and croissants.  Here some equestrians are exercising their steeds...most of the guys had police uniforms on, so they must be members of a mounted patrol.

St Peters, in the Vatican, viewed from the Villa Borghese.

Homeward Bound

I'm back in Monterey.  Having been home only ten days since August 13, even I was glad to return to my condo for awhile.  I broke up the return trip, staying with friends in Newport Rhode Island for a few days.  Hard to believe this pic was taken only a week ago today, but it was...Cindy and I had a beautiful drive back to Rome, and had time to detour to Porto San Stefano, on the coast just a couple hours north of the capital.  It's probably very busy in the summer, but on a warm weekday in mid October it was very quiet, and very nice.  We spent a bit of time sipping wine at the waterside bar visible on the other side of the bay.  Could have stayed here a long time.

A forest of antennas and satellite dishes in Porto San Stefano.  By the way, the town is only about ten miles from the island of Giglio, where the Costa Concordia met its demise and remains, awaiting towing and scrapping after being righted several weeks ago.  San Stefano is the ferry terminal for trips to Giglio.

Back in the US, I went to Newport and had a nice visit with my friend Rhonda and her mom Rosalie.  Rhonda and I went hiking in a nearby bird sanctuary and found some nice fall colors.  The leaves are done in northern Vermont but are just rounding into form in Rhode Island.

Blow this pic up to see the gnarly, lichen encrusted branches.

The forest floor near Newport.

A mosaic of leaves and branches.  Last weekend brought fine weather. There's no better place to be in the autumn than New England.

A vintage house in Newport, circa 1700, nicely restored.  The town is brand new compared to Rome but has still been prominent for a long while.

The bridge to Newport from Jamestown, a quiet but elegant village on the island just to the west, in Narragansett Bay.

We stopped at the Seafood festival in Newport this past Sunday.  The previous Sunday I'd been at the Chestnut festival in the mountains of Italy...two different worlds, but both very pleasant.

Multicolored maples.

The Newport fire station, serving the city since 1895.

Cinqueterre

Traveled to the Cinqueterre yesterday.  First, Lynn took us to the market in San Remo.  Check out the fine scarf display.

Monterosso, the northernmost town of the Cinqueterre, from above.  We are staying here for two nights.  Two weeks would be better!

The beach at Monterosso.  Looks like Big Sur or the Na Pali coast, but those spots don't have medieval villages perched on the cliffs above the coast.

Central Manarola.  The boats are dragged down the street and launched on a curving boat ramp.  Not today, though...the Med was choppy and neither the fishing boats nor the ferries were running.

Another shot of Manarola.  Fine sea views.

Laundry day in Manarola.  After several days of gray, damp weather, today was clear, balmy, and breezy...perfect weather in which to dry clothes.

By the Med

I've been hanging out on the Italian and French Rivieras the past two days, and have found many different worlds only a few kilometers apart.  This is an Italian ghost town, Maberga.  Only one old woman lives here.  The town is accessible by paved road, but it is a bumpy one lane track that is extremely precipitous, and ascends well over 1000 feet in just three kilometers.  It's almost totally isolated from the modern world, which explains why it was abandoned a few decades ago.

However, there is a small church in town occasionally used for weddings.  This is the interior.

Visiting Lynn, Cindy's friend, she took us to the Chestnut Festival in Andagna, another old mountain town.  This one was much livelier, though.  There was a great band that played everything from polkas to rock.  Good food, too.

Lynn has lived in Italy for over a decade and is fluent in the language, and knows many of the locals.  She said that dance clubs are popular, and the folks in them attend festivals en masse.  Here they're getting into the music.

At the end of the day, feeling decadent and a bit weary, I retreated to San Remo, where I had booked a hotel by the sea.  Here's the view of the Mediterranean from my room.

This morning we drove to France to drop our friend Askale off at the Nice airport.  On the way back we lingered in Menton.  'Twas a gray day but the Med was calm.

This is the most remarkable display of baked goods I have ever seen!  Of course it's in France.

Back in San Remo, the sun popped out as I was hiking the hills and I caught this view of a bit of the town and some of the local dinghies.

This is old town San Remo, constructed from the 14th to 16th centuries.  The streets are staircases, winding through a warren of ancient buildings.  The only way to get around is on foot.  Many of the lanes are quite steep.  But there are many homes, shops, and even restaurants in here.  It's another world, only a few blocks from the modern centre of the city.

San Remo is known as the City of Flowers.

Typical street in Old Town San Remo.

Many of the paths are actually tunnels through the buildings.

It's pretty steep walking in Old Town, so they take precautions.

And a few minutes away, my 'hood, on the oceanfront promenade.  I could stay here awhile.

Firenze

I journeyed to Firenze (Florence) last week.  A daytrip is not enough to see everything, but it's an enchanting city nonetheless.  This is a window in the Duomo.

A piazza near the train station.  The station is conveniently located in the middle of town so we just commuted by rain from Bucine.

Il Porcellino, in the central market.  The word is that if you rub his snout you'll return to Florence.

Piazza Della Signora, in the middle of town.

Ponte Vecchio, over the Arno.  Built in the 13th century, it was the only bridge to survive WWII.  The retreating Germans blew up all the others in 1944, but Hitler ordered them not to blow up this one...he had visited Mussolini in 1941 and liked the bridge.

The Duomo.  Started in the late 14th century, it took about 150 years to complete.

A tower in central Florence.

On the Ponte Vecchio, you hardly know yo're on a bridge...this is the roadway, lined with gold and jewelry shops except for a short open space in the middle.  Butchers and tanners used to predominate, but the Medicis kicked them off the bridge and set up the jewlers at twice the rent.  This also reduced pollution...the butchers had thrown their leftovers into the river.

Handsome buildings along the Arno.