Day Three, but really one, so I'll call it Two.

So, today was our first real day, even though I've been in Europe three days now. Got a bit of sleep after listening fairly late to the carrying on that goes on every night in the Campo de' Fiori  (I can't imagine how our friends do it in the summer when it goes on 'til all hours, and they have to keep the windows open!) We finally got up around 11, made some caffe and figured out where we were heading by about 1. 

First photo of the day- a charming little building front just off the Campo de' Fiori

Headed first to the Museo Barracco, an interesting collection of antique sculpture assembled in what was a Farnese palace originally, designed by Anthony da Sangallo (maybe) with a  few remnants of nice 17th century fresco decoration on some of the ceilings. Mr Barracco (1829-1914) collected these pieces, and there are some good photos showing how he displayed them when he lived there. 

cool ceiling frescos in the loggia of the Palazzo Farnesina ai Baullari- now the Museo Barracco

We then went across the street to the Museo di Roma, housed in the Palazzo Braschi, at the south end of the Piazza Navona. The grand stairs are truly that, with tons of marble and good light from the skylight flooding through, even on an overcast day like today was. You could really picture the grand dames and dukes moving stately up and down the gently rising stairs. 

I found Will Shakespeare! Living in the stairs of the Palazzo Braschi!

The collection is a rather forgettable assemblage of popes, cardinals, and other Romans, but the setting is pretty nice, with several cool painted rooms, including a funny Chinoiserie room with fake Chinese script, and the jaw dropper of the day, a room that once belonged to the Torlonia family, with very fine and elegant painted grottesche and trompe l'oeil niches. It did have some fun paintings of celebrations around town, and some 19th century views of Rome by a painter named Ippolito Caffi that were very nice. 

I think this guy is trying to copy my beard!

Wandered over to see the outside of Borromini's crazy Church of Sant'Ivo, with it's corkscrew top, and then Sant Agostino, which has a panel by Raphael and an altar piece by Caravaggio, set in a profusion of colored marbles. Always astounds me  to see how many churches here have decorations that would make them a central attraction in any US city, but are just one more of the crowd here.

Crazy crown of the Chiesa di Sant'Ivo, by Borromini. Vino, anyone?

Passed by a  French bakery that had some wheat-free bread (bought it!) and then we headed back early to make some dinner and settle in to reading and writing about the day. All in all, a nice start.

Marianne taking a drink from one of the many public fountains in Rome. Anyone that buys water in plastic bottles here has been sold a bill of goods!  The water in Rome is as good as it gets, and it's all over the place for free!

Day Two 2014- Recovery Mode

Was rousted from a deep dream state this morning to find that Marianne (the Miraculous) (aka the wife) had overcome her usual lack of inner map to make it all the way from the Rome airport to the door of the apartment here. This was a good thing, since she also had no other real way of contacting me or our friends. She had not run into any of the blocks that I did, and made it straight through LA-DC-Rome.

It's Artichoke season!!

 Took a few cups of coffee to get my motor to idle correctly, then we took the little puppy (Bella, a Yorkie) out for an excursion to the market at Campo di Fiori, which is literally about 10 steps away from the front door. OMG! I love farmers markets, and especially somewhere foreign, where there's always something different to explore. Right now is artichoke season, so we picked up a couple of fresh looking ones. They also have (real) new potatoes, which are about the size of a malted milk ball, and several great looking mushrooms.

Fresh fruits and vegetables at the Campo di Fiori

Darius and Erica's flat is very nice; not huge, but carved out of an old palazzo with exposed wooden ceilings and curious little brick niches that look like ancient ossuaries in the bathroom- perfect for storing toiletries! They actually got chosen to do one of those HGTV shows on apartment hunting a few years ago, so we had already seen it before we got here. Darius is also on TV fairly often in his professional capacity as an archeologist. They took off for an all expenses paid ski junket thanks to Erica's gig as an online reviewer for a variety of magazines, so we have the place to ourselves for a few days- whee!

little brick niches in the bathroom- perfect for shampoo and towels!

After coming back with the dog, we went down and had delicious pizza- vegan for Marianne and Gluten free for me! Been so long since I've had a nice pizza, and to have it be wheat free was fabulous! Then we moseyed on up to the Piazza Navona, poking our heads into any church door that was open. The sky was marbled with clouds that looked like rain, but it didn't, and the temperature is actually quite mild now, having risen a bit in the last week. Made the requisite stop in the Pantheon to pay our respects to all the gods (and artists and architects) of our ancestors, then had our first gelati (I got Limone and Nocciola- Hazlenut.)

Marianne sees the light in front of the Pantheon

I like this attitude! "Well, we know the pillars will have pigeons on them, so let's beat them to the punch!" On Sant'Agnese in Agone on the Piazza Navona

After a bit more wandering, taking in the Caravaggios in the Contarelli Chapel, we found ourselves once again at the Trevi fountain, which is remarkably crowded considering we're just in to March and it's still cool here. I guess there's already a pretty heavy dose of spring breakers on the loose, as we've seen the marauding bands of teens all over. We threw in our coins for returning next time, then went home as the sun faded, stopping to pick up a phone card so that I can use text and google maps here. Flat rate of $35 to put a different card in my phone and have enough phone, text, and data to easily get me  through 3 weeks. Easy Peasy! 

Saint Hilarius, patron of comedians, died in a tickle fight with the Devil.

Back to the flat to walk the dog and whip up a fab dinner of salad with some weird octopus-like green i've never seen before, leftover pizza from lunch, and our two magnificent artichokes. topped it all off with some amazing real amaretti, which are nothing like what you get in a bag in the states, and some herbal tea. Then it's now! Time to post!

These weren't ours tonight, but they may be soon! Nipples of Venus!!