Our last full day in Rome was busy, exhausting and wonderful. We started our day early and had an art lesson at the Castel Sant'Angelo with Tim Allen, an American artist living and teaching in Rome. Tim patiently taught us about perspective, shadow and light, and how to make really good mistakes with hard pastels and erasers. With a view of St. Peter's Basilica on one side and the Bell of the Misericordia on the other, we did our best (see us posed with our masterpieces below).
What a great way to really see Rome! Thanks, Tim!
After a morning of art, we ambled through the heat to Campo dei Fiori. We then spent the next 2 1/2 hours touring a slice of Rome with Alan Epstein. Alan knew all the interesting things about Rome -- how it was built, and why, and where to find little gems of history among the city streets. Here are some of the most interesting things we learned:
* The original Roman aqueducts still feed Rome and come up through water spouts around the city. It is not only drinkable, but wonderfully cool and refreshing. (We were wrong about the water in the Barccacia! It really is sweet!) Anna drank and splashed in it multiple times.
* Mussolini not only gets credit for making the trains run on time, but also for archeological excavations throughout Rome. There's a wonderful excavacation site in the middle of the city which also serves as a sanctuary for abandoned cats. Sophie was very concerned about some of these lost cats.
* Romulus and Remus were the fabled twins destined to found Rome. To decide which one should rule, they each stood on opposite hills across the Tiber River and waited for a sign from the gods. A circle of 5 birds flew over Remus and he declared himself the chosen ruler. But then, a dozen birds flew over Romulus. This obviously posed a problem since they hadn't decided whether being first was more important than being popular. Romulus just went over and killed Remus and ended the argument, which, as Alan says, is why having a contract in the beginning would really have been more prudent. (Alan is not a lawyer and perhaps hasn't seen the cost of litigation.)
* Fifteenth century signs carved into marble around the inner city declare littering illegal and subject to fines and imprisonment. You are not only responsible for yourself, but for the actions of your family or employees. Furthermore, you have no right to face your accuser and he gets a cut of the fines you paid. Suddenly, all of Mommy's interactions with Italian prosecutors makes so much more sense.
(Authors' note: To the extent any of the above is wrong, that's the fault of our bad memory - not Alan's knowledge! We had a terrific walkabout.)
Whew! We're hot, sweaty, slightly stinky and our feet hurt. Here's a link to our final Rome pics. Arrivederci, Roma!
Posts
That is some impressive art!
ReplyDelete