Arrivederci, Roma!

In the immortal words of Dean Martin, I have to say "Arrivederci" to Rome today, as I head to Assisi this afternoon.

But first I'll be going to noon mass today at Santa Maria Degli Angeli e Martiri because they're supposed to have an amazing choir and organist. This is the organ:

I imagine the person who donated the money for this is constantly explaining
"No, not that kind of organ donor"

Graffiti removers. The really expensive stores stay on top of this. The others can't afford to.
(I was disappointed that they weren't open yet. I'll have to buy that Rolex some other time.)

Yesterday morning, I went on a Context Tours guided tour of "Underground Rome," which focused mainly on this church, San Lorenzo in Lucina:

There's been a church here for 1500 years.

I was really hoping that one of the restaurants in this Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina would be named "San Lorenzo in Cucina." They could specialize in grilled Spanish meats. (If you google this saint, you'll find out just how horrible that comment was.)

While waiting for the tour to start, this little cutie out in front of the church caught my eye. 

Awww.

Our tour guide, Philip. He's a Byzantinist (I'm a Methodist), and he's lived here for 22 years.
This photo is underneath the church, where there are levels corresponding to a 1st century Roman mansion,
a 3rd century Roman apartment, a 5th century church, and a 12th century church. Like a lasagna.

We got to peek through a recently opened hole into a room that hasn't had a human
inside it for over 1000 years. Not the most impressive room, but still. 

All of the historic center of Rome has something like this under it.
Whether it's been discovered and dug out is another story.

Philip pointed out this sign as being one that always cracks him up.
"A break with taste." Like a break with reality.

The ceiling in San Ignazio. It's a barrel vault that's been painted using trompe l'oeuil techniques.
The angle of the columns changes dramatically as you move from one side of the church to the other.
It's not an optical illusion. It just looks like one.

There are places like this all over Rome. It's fenced in, but that's it. No explanation of what it is.
You'll be walking along and glance to your side and see this.

That evening I went to a Chopin concert in the Methodist Church in Rome, near Ponte Sant'Angelo (Bridge of Angels).

And for my fellow WUMCers, check out the name of the B&B above the Methodist church.

The location made for some good photo ops after the concert.

Upon reflection, I'd like to thank the Tiber for being so still.
If you look closely at the top of Castel Sant'Angelo, you can almost see Tosca about to jump. 

Saint Peter's Basilica sneaking up

It's a shame Italy isn't more photogenic, isn't it?

I walked back to my room in Monti, which led me past Trajan's Market.
Some really nice modern pieces in white in front of the market.

This is next to Trajan's Market. They were projecting images onto it of Augustan era Rome.
(There's a huge celebration commemorating the 2000 year anniversary of the death of Augustus.)

It was really cool to watch this animation projected onto these 1700+ year old buildings.
(The foreground was actually much darker, but my camera adjusted for that.)  

According to our guide Philip, almost all the statues of Augustus display a much more
handsome man than he actually was. The statues make him look like an underwear model
for Calvin Klein. You can call him Augustud.

And here's the last one for today. It's the area in front of Trajan's column,
with the Vittoriano Monument in the background.
(To give a sense of scale, these columns are probably 20 feet tall.)
The whole area was full of people (tourists and Romans) out for a late evening stroll.
Quite magical,with all these monuments lit up.

That's it for now. Off to mass, then off to Assisi.