Our Last Roman Adventures

In our last weeks in the Eternal City we tried to fit in as many new places (and familiar ones) as we could, and here are some highlights.

One afternoon we headed over to Palazzo Barberini, which is a museum with several Caravaggio paintings as well as many depicting religious and mythological subjects. Also in this area we recently visited the Capuchin Crypt, where Capuchin monks are buried. This crypt is not a typical crypt, where one goes underground to see a couple of slabs that recognize those who are buried beneath or behind them. No, the Capuchin monks got a whole lot more creative with the skeletons of their former brothers; they instead display different bones in an "artistic" way in the crypt. While it is a kind of "art," we're not sure if we really enjoyed it as "art," or even enjoyed it at all. Though it was on our list, it was very, very creepy and kind of surreal. Even the lanterns were made of different bones! This is definitely not for the faint of heart!

Piazza Barberini

Palazzo Barberini

We returned to the Gianicolo hill in search of a fountain shown at the beginning of "La Grande Belleza," an Italian movie that just won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Luckily we did find it, and it was a beautiful day to enjoy it. We also saw the cannon ball go off at noon at Piazzale Guisseppe Garibaldi (one of our friends had yet to see it, so we thought we would accompany her) and we had lunch at the American caffe that we loved the first time.

We also have frequently been exploring the neighborhood of Trastevere, which is right across the river from where we live and is full of a vibrant nightlife and wonderful restaurants with the right prices. It is definitely worthwhile to wander its small streets filled with outdoor seats for restaurants, but we would suggest not going on a weekend night, for one Saturday we were turned away at least five different times before we gave up and went to a local restaurant close to our hotel.

On the finals study day, we took a study break to visit the Palazzo Massimo and Le Terme di Diocletio. The Palazzo Massimo is a museum dedicated to Ancient Greece and Rome, and especially the statuary of these periods. It is home to one of our most favorite statues, "The Weary Boxer." It also had a pretty cool exhibit on mythological creatures in a venue that was supposed to mimic the labyrinth of the minotaur. We got lost in there a couple of times! Nearby were the remains of the Baths of Diocletian, where part of it has been remodeled into the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri by the one and only Michelangelo. It is a massive church, and you can easily tell that it matches the outline of one of the large rooms of a roman bath. After seeing the church, we walked around to the back to some gardens which have some more remains of the baths.