The Vatican Museum & St. Peters

The Vatican City is the smallest nation in Europe, and the continent’s only absolute autocracy. Surprisingly - since we spent the morning walking through and around the papal city - it covers only 106 acres. Its artistic treasures are amazing. We took a cab from our hotel to the Vatican and with our online reservations were allowed into the Vatican Museums before the official opening hour of 9 AM. Walking through long corridors of painted maps, tapestries, Egyptian papyri, Greco-Roman statues and much more, we headed toward the express route to the Sistine Chapel to beat the crowds. That is not easy in August, and seems more impossible than ever. However, the famed capella was not very crowded when we arrived and Jim took some forbidden photos of Michelangelo’s celebrated ceiling frescoes, depicting scenes from the Old Testament Book of Genesis. It’s easier to see his “Last Judgment” over the altar, but such works as the “God Creating Man,” “The Temptation and Expulsion” and others are worth the effort of craning one’s neck to look upward. His power and simplicity are in a class all their own. After also viewing the Raphael Stanze (or rooms) and the Picture Gallery, we left the Museums to walk around the Vatican to reach the line for the Basilica of St. Peter’s. Jim photographed the “Pieta” by Michelangelo and also Bernini’s “Monument to Pope Alexander VII,” his last work inside the church. (See photos.) After lunch near the Piazza del Popolo, we returned for a rest to the hotel. Later in the afternoon Dan went to the Barberini Palace to see works by Holbein, Caravaggio and many others, including the prolific Bernini. When one sees works by Caravaggio and Bernini, you know that they were geniuses on a level head and shoulders above all their contemporaries.-Dan

Two Great Churches in Rome

Bernini's Santa Maria della Vittoria is an amazing Baroque church. The great master designed the entire ornate, Baroque building and carved its wonderful interior sculpture of St. Theresa of Avila, being pierced by an Angel with an arrow which represents divine love. The members of the family who donated the chapel watch her vision, as though watching a theatrical performance. A much larger church, near the Piazza Navona, is San Andrea delle Valle. In this large Baroque masterpiece, Puccini set the first act of the famed opera "Tosca," totally set in Rome. -Dan

Rome: So Many Attractions!

This morning we took a cab to one of the parks to see the Villa Giulia. (See Jim’s photo.) Built by Pope Julius III in the 16th century, by a group of architects including Ammannati and Vignola, this delightful example of a Renaissance villa includes grottoes, circular walls and many graceful curved arches. Since the late 19th century it has housed a large collection of Etruscan artifacts. The Etruscans were the ancestors and predecessors of the Romans, and they influenced aspects of Roman life. After touring the villa, we took a cab to the Piazza Navona area, to see some treasures that we last enjoyed in Rome in 2009, when we were last in the Eternal City for another Atlantis cruise. We returned to the French church of San Luigi dei Francese to see the three masterpieces that made Caravaggio famous: his “Calling of St. Matthew”, a painting of St. Matthew inspired by an Angel, (see photo) and the “Martyrdom of St. Matthew.” For depictions of powerful, dramatic moments, few artists rival the Baroque master Caravaggio. We walked to the Pantheon, and then to the largest and most popular of all the many Roman fountains, the Trevi. Though the square in front of the Trevi Fountain is jammed with tourists, Jim managed to take a photo of the playful ancient gods and horses sans the crowd. (See photo.) Finally we walked to that other iconic 18th century, late Baroque site, the Spanish Steps on the Piazza di Spagna. (See photo.) We ate lunch nearby before returning to our hotel. - Dan

Rome By Night

The shot of Jim enjoying a glass of wine at the Navona Notte restaurant was taken by yours truly. After a hearty dinner we walked past the Pantheon, beautifully illuminated with lights. We also walked through the Piazza Pietra to find a taxi cab.-Dan

A Must See In Rome

One of the amazing things about Rome is that the visitor is surrounded not only by history but also by architecture that represents all the ages of the Eternal City. Down the block from our hotel, the Quirinale, one can walk by the 20th century Opera. Ruins of Imperial Rome are everywhere, and they inspired great architecture around the world. The most famous symbol of Rome, the Colosseum, was one of our stops yesterday. After the Empire fell, Christianity gained a firmer foothold, and early Christian churches were built. During the late Middle Ages churches were built in the Romanesque style and once in a great while here, also in the Gothic manner. But the Renaissance, inspired by developments in Tuscany, came to Rome in the 16th century. Great Renaissance palaces and basilicas, like St. Peter’s itself, were erected under the powerful popes. The final overwhelming Roman style, the Baroque is perhaps the widest seen architectural manner to be seen here, and it dominated the 17th and 18th centuries. One church that combines many of these styles, layered like an onion, is Santa Maria Maggiore, also near our hotel. We visited the grand basilica yesterday. Jim was amazed at the Early Christian mosaics above the arcade and in the apse, which are well preserved. The nave’s floor stone mosaics and coffered ceiling are both Renaissance, and many decorations and chapels are done in a high, elaborate Baroque style. Despite all these architectural overlays, the church feels like a magnificent unity inside. The interior is shown in Jim’s photos.-Dan

Return To Rome On A Sunny Summer Day

Comments from Jim: This morning as we approached Italy by air we were able to see the wreck of the Italian cruise ship 'Costa Concordia' that was carrying more than 4,000 people when it ran aground and keeled over off the Italian coast near the island of Giglio in Tuscany, Italy. Our airplane was at 15,000 ft when this photo was taken. Comments from Dan: It was a treat to return to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter in Chains), after many years. It was over 40 years ago that I visited this fascinating church, and Jim had never seen it. The main attraction of the church is the Tomb of Pope Julius II, the great Renaissance statesman and patron of the arts. Julius II was famously known for his commissions by some of the giants of the Renaissance. His tomb was designed by Michelangelo in 1505. But long before it was finished Pope Julius demanded that the artist work instead on the Sistine Chapel. Years later, Michelangelo returned to his tomb, but he and his assistants carved fewer statues and the total monument is on a smaller scale than originally conceived. The most famous part is the central figure of “Moses” one of the great Renaissance masterpieces. The sinewy arms of the Old Testament prophet show him looking powerful and domineering, with the Tablets of the Law, or Ten Commandments, tucked under his bulging biceps. The horns on his head may be rays of divine wisdom, or else a mistranslation of a phrase in St. Jerome’s Latin version of the Bible. At any rate, this amazing sculpture is a highlight of the late works of Michelangelo and the sixteenth century. Jim looked at the map and next directed our walk toward the Colosseum. He took some magnificent shots of the ancient Roman arena against umbrella pines and with the nearby Arch of Constantine. Those monuments represent Imperial Rome at its peak. Though we had a tough time finding a taxi, we were happy to return to the Quirinale Hotel for a short respite before heading out to dinner.

Little Loki

I wish I could pack him in one of our suitcases.

We Was Robbed!

Van Jones of Rebuild America:

You’ve probably seen a lot of stories this week about how Mitt Romney just lost the election by choosing Paul Ryan for his running mate. I think those thoughts are dangerously misplaced. Here’s why: Ryan is THE most effective weapon the other side has. He makes the argument for austerity with passion, poise and skill. He is a true believer. Vice President Biden better eat his Wheaties before the debate. If they win, they can claim a clear mandate to destroy everything that made the American Dream possible. And even if they lose, they'll shift the debate to the right so that any December ‘grand bargain’ will only cut Medicare a little instead of a lot. They'll have the whole country thinking America is "broke," when the truth is that a handful of the super-rich are bleeding us dry and cutting the net out from under the middle class. Here’s the real truth: America is NOT broke, America is Being Robbed. We can prevail. But we have to bring our A game. We need to defeat their arguments, not push watered-down alternatives. So today, we're launching a BIG campaign to get this message out there: America is Being Robbed.

2012 Election Choice: Center RIght vs. Extreme Right

The election will be a choice between two scenarios: do you want your safety net slashed with a Ryanesque machete, or would you rather have it gradually snipped and clipped into nothingness by an Obamian scalpel?

- Blogger Sardonicky

Garden Ikebana

This is an arrangement that I made last week using late summer flowers from our garden.