Rome, August 20, 2018

We took the early train, an express, from Milan to Rome at 7 AM on Monday. The scenery along the way was beautiful,  particularly in Tuscany. Though the train ran through Florence, there was no stop in that famed city. We took a taxi from Rome's Termini Station, at the end of the three hour trip, to the Quirinale Hotel, where Verdi and other notables used to stay in the 19th century. At noon, our friends from Iowa Wayne and Steve met us at the hotel. We all walked to Bernini's exquisite church of S. Maria Della Vittoria. The sculptor's masterpiece, the Cornaro Chapel, shows St. Teresea of Avila's mystical vision, carved with a great sense of Baroque drama. On the way down to the Piazza Navona, we passed by the Trevi Fountain, Barberini Palace and the Pantheon. Then at the French church (St. Luigi dei Franceschi,) we saw the art which signalled the start of the Barouque era: Caravaggio's Contarini Chapel, with its three paintings showing events in the life of St. Matthew. Caravaggio's "St. Matthew Writing The Gospels" is sensual, his "Calling Of St. Matthew" shows a focused drama, and his "Martyrdom" shows a wild panorama of exaggerated emotions in the bodies and faces of all involved in the death of St. Matthew, from the victim, to the executioner and spectators. After a short stop at the Piazza Navona we made plans for dinner which would be at the Hosteria Giovanna. It was great to share the day with Wayne and Steve. - Dan