023 via appia antica

About to head out before the office is locked down for the night, and wanted to post this photo of the lovely Appian Way. See the grooves in the stone after years of travel?

By the way, this reminds me of Respighi's Pini di Roma. The pines specified in the movement titles are:

Pines of Villa Borghese (see sketch below)
Pines near a Catacomb
Pines of the Janiculum (will post photo later)
Pines of the Appian Way (photo above)

Also, in the Pimsleur Italian CDs, when you learn the word for street (via), the example used is Via Veneto. Every time they want to quiz you, they ask things like 'where is via veneto', 'excuse me sir, is that via veneto', etc. Well, I realized today that the American embassy is on Via Veneto here in Rome, and now I'm curious if the same thing is used for other languages in the Pimsleur program, or whether it was just a coincidence.

022 villa borghese

On Saturday I spent most of the day at Villa Borghese, a park on the north side of Rome. I didn't go in any of the 4 museums (Museo Borghese, Museo Etrusco, Arte Moderno, Pietro Canonica) and instead walked around, enjoying the fresh air, people watching, and doing a little sketching.

I was getting really dehydrated and thirsty while finishing this sketch, and when I asked the man in the tourist information office where was the closest place for water, he looked at me a little funny and then said, I'll go get you a glass. He brings a glass back to me and opens the back door of the building, into what is literally called the Secret Gardens (Giardini Segreti). It's a beautiful formal/classical flower garden in a courtyard with Renaissance architecture. I get water from the running fountain in the wall, enjoy the view, and leave, thanking the man. He says, no problem, and starts complimenting me on this sketch (he had apparently snuck up behind me while I was sketching and looked over my shoulder).

So, we chat a little bit about the park, and some American tourists come up with their maps and ask to be let into the Secret Garden. He tells them in English, "sorry, no one is allowed to see it, no exceptions, blah blah blah".

So once again, my sketchbook gets me into places that aren't normally accessible.

021 fontana di trevi

I did this sketch at the Fontana di Trevi on Saturday night with an icy granita al caffè. The Fontana di Trevi is always SWARMING with people, but I managed to snag a little hidden seat in the corner where no one would bother me, listened to some tunes with my headphones, and enjoyed the cool evening as the sun went down and the lights came on and illuminated the fountain in brilliant yellow washes.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I lost track of time a little and missed the beginning of the USA-Italy soccer game!

I hopped on the number 70 bus to get back home & both the bus and streets were empty since everyone in Italy was in front of a television for the game. The game ended in a tie. We'll know on the 22nd whether Italy and/or USA will advance to the next round.