suz in rome



04 agosto 2006

110 san pietro in vincoli

After Domus Aurea turned out to be a wash, I headed to another nearby site: San Pietro in Vincoli, a.k.a. St. Peter in Chains. This small church is named for the relics displayed in the main altar: St. Peter's chains from Rome and from Jerusalem, which have miraculously fused together.


The other notable item in the church is a Michelangelo statue of Moses. Although I'm a big fan of the Pieta, I didn't really like this Moses. The proportions seemed off adn I didn't really like the composition. Granted - I read in my tourist book that the composition intended by Michelangelo is not the way the statue is currently displayed. So maybe that's it.

As in many of the other churches that display famous works of art, the light in that chapel can only be activated by putting 50 eurocents in the box. The light lasts a couple of minutes, and then someone else has to add change.

There were some more obnoxious American tourists on-site. As you now, appropriate dress is required to enter churches in Rome. This usually means sleeves and shirts/pants that at least cover your knees. I carry a little wrap to put on when I go inside, although I do find the tradition stifling in the August heat. Sometimes the churches are monitored, but in general, they are not.

Two American teenagers, both girls, tried to go in to the church without sleeves. They did not see the resident monk on the other side of the church who rushed up to them and gave them these paper dresses to put on over their clothes, similar to a paper gown at the doctor's office, speaking in Italian the entire time. The girls were mortified by this turn of events, and retreated behind one of the columns: hunched over and trying unsuccessfully to hold back their laughter. It was pretty funny for me too.

109 nero il pazzo

And here's what I did last Wednesday. I know, I'm always playing a little catchup.

Today I tried to visit the Domus Aurea, the 130 room palace that nutty Nero built on the Esquiline hill. Literally, it means "gold house".

In case you need a refresher, or never knew, Nero is one of those bad Roman emperors. You always hear these rumors about him - mainly sleeping with his mother and then killing his mother, but also things like calling himself an actor, fiddling while Rome burnt, inviting animals to parties, etc. When I checked out the Wiki page, though, it seems that Nero's bad rep has been augmented through the generations, and maybe he's not such a bad guy after all.

Oh, I also found this interesting article comparing him to George Bush .

So, back to the story. I hike up the Equiline Hill behind the Colosseum to find that the Domus Aurea was closed for restoration. It was still an interesting site, though... Nero was widely hated as an emperor, and when he was succeeded by Trajan, his palace was filled with rubble and dirt. Trajan built his baths right on top of Nero's house, and as a result, it was lost to history until rediscovered accidentally during the Renaissance. The high ground level remains, so I was able to walk around in the ruins of the baths literally on top of Nero's enormous house.

The most innoventive and famous part of the house is the Octagon Room that sat on a mechanism that slowly rotated the room 360 degrees while Nero ate. This room has been restored to its original height, so it pops out of the hill as a parapet wall.

108 campeonato...

Big congratulations to the Auburn Tigers, who defeated the University of Massachusetts by the score of 26-1 last night in the 1st round of the annual CAN Softball Tournament.

Auburn starts off on Saturday against one of the best teams in the league, Penn State. Sixty-one teams; one champion. Good luck, Tigers!

107 dolci per venerdi

It's Friday and I thought you might like some Italian sweets...


above - one of my favorite photos so far


above - one type of chocolate is never enough. the tin in the back, right corner is "chocolate with hot peppers" and although I haven't tried it, it's a fairly popular flavor in Rome.


above - just a random window close to Piazza Campo dei Fiori