CHASING PAINT

travel light, pay attention

Archives for February 2017

Gearing Up for Rome

by Leave a Comment

I’ve got a folder on my Chrome Toolbar just for Rome, where I’ve saved potentially useful sites, from art-filled villas and archeological sites to Vespa tours and food halls. These bookmarks are my gateway to inspiring, up to date information – they have replaced the guidebooks of my youth. A few of my favorite Rome-centric blogs; An American in Rome,  Revealed Rome, and Katie Parla, three adventurous women who love pasta and exploration.Spent a chunk of the weekend sorting through my desktop folders of Rome research, creating three documents that listed museums, churches, and monuments with their addresses, open days and times, websites, and one or two salient facts about each venue. I alphabetized each list and combined it into one massive document.  It’s my Theory of Everything Alla Romana, and I’ll use it to create my own Google map of the city, and plan a day-by-day itinerary. At some point, I’ll make a separate list of restaurants, food halls, coffee bars, and pastry shops and put them on my Google Map too.

I’ll paste it into an email and send it to myself.  It’s useful to find what’s nearby when a museum or restaurant is unexpectedly closed (I’m looking at you, Nabokov House Museum) or a post-it note on the ticket kiosk says ‘tour groups only’. Yeah, that’s happened too. I’ll paste the addresses in Google maps to guide me on foot, or when Uber needs me to plug in the destination. Having that list always on hand via my iPhone is by far the most helpful thing I’ve done for the last two trips.

I pulled up the St Petersburg calendar and saw that I color-coded it (museums, churches monuments and places to eat) and that was a help. I have the everyday total trip calendar and the week-by-week in depth ones set up, but all I had plugged in were the flights, and the three accommodations; two apartment rentals and a hotel.

Back to planning for Rome, I’ve plugged in the first ten days and started on reservations. Last week I tried to purchase the mandatory tickets to enter the Borghese Gallery Tuesday, March 7 (weekends and Fridays will be slammed, Mondays it’s closed.) The online calendar didn’t go past February 27. Odd, I thought. Expecting nothing, I sent an email to customer service. They responded with this;
We open reservation for march at the and of february
Servizio prenotazioni
Somehow I doubted it.  Sure enough, I checked back today and was able to book two tickets to the Borghese today through http://www.tosc.it. I had to sneak in through the Italian language site, as the English translated one blocked the calendar. Then I had to create a username and password, and it took more than one try. Persistence paid off and I’ve got my two tickets for March 7 at 9 am.

My only other visit to the Borghese was in 2004, and what I remember most vividly is Bernini’s sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. A docent told me that when they cleaned the statue, they discovered that the leaves growing from Daphne’s fingers made a pure, bell-like sound when tapped, like a crystal glass. It’s a miracle made of marble. Two hours, which is all you are allowed per visit, won’t be nearly enough. 

Full Immersion

by Leave a Comment

It’s been a full immersion baptism into planning for Rome, not just a sprinkle of water and swipe of oil. I am now a Patron of the Vatican Museums, dues paid and paperwork submitted. It took contacting the central office (Vatican City) the local chapter (Atlanta), and a delightful chat with the North American Chapter President, but the deed is done. They have been, one and all, very welcoming. I’m receiving a pin and packet of introductory material. If only there was a magic decoder ring too. If you are wondering if going to these lengths is worth it, take a gander at the Vatican’s Youtube Channel – it is a goldmine of inspiration.

I’ve asked for and received tentative permission to sketch, though they are asking which pieces, exactly, I have in mind. I sent a polite and humble email in response, the gist of it being, can I let you know after I’ve seen what is there? I admitted a preference for sculpture, still life and animals. I attached a photo of one of my sketchbooks because, yes, it’s worth a thousand words.

I assured them I am the soul of discretion and not disruptive. I have a feeling there will be some knots in this skein of silk, but once I am there and the guards have seen me at work, I don’t expect any real difficulties. All good thoughts to that end appreciated.

I’ve been moving all the pieces (venues) around on the board (calendar). I was dithering over tours, when Context Tours sent an email announcing a 20% off flash sale. I ended up booking a day trip to Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, and gardens of Villa d’Este  close to the end of my trip. Should be warmer weather then, and less chance of rain. I’m joining a group tour, but they limit their groups to six and have very qualified docents.

I pondered several food tours, but the descriptions (mostly sampling gelato, espresso, and pizza ) just weren’t that compelling. I’m betting that between the people I know, the ones I meet, my three hosts suggestions, and apps like Katie Parla’s Rome and Eat Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli, I’ll have all the recommendations I require to dine well. Over the next few days, I’ll add places to eat to my homemade Rome Google Map.

The other tour I picked up from Context was the Palazzo Colonna, which I had no idea existed. Somehow it was not on my radar, but oh my word.
Seriously, how could I have missed this? Besides private tours, it’s open to the public on Saturday morning. I got tickets to see it the first Saturday in Rome, because once will definitely not be enough.

Stumbled across Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit a 2016 BBC documentary on Youtube. I love these indomitable, fierce, British bluestockings. I’ve been listening to her SPQR, A History of Rome on audiobook. Fascinating stuff. Puts that extra spring in my step at the gym I am in training for those seven hills.

Tickets & Tours

by Leave a Comment

The last thing I want to do in Rome is stand in line. It’s why I’ve never been tempted to go to Disneyworld and why, from my very first trip to Florence in 2001 back when ‘internet cafes’ were a thing, I reserved tickets in advance to the Uffizi and the Academia.

I know that advance tickets to the Borghese Gallery are a must, and a wise choice for a few other venues too, like the popular archeology-meets-virtual-reality venues Domus Romane and Domus Aurea. With a little bit of Google Translate help, I booked tickets for all three. Given the length of my stay, I knew once wouldn’t be enough for the Borghese, so I booked a second visit later in the month at a different time of day, the better to see the art in a different light. Most of the work that interests me was made at a time when the world was lit only by fire. Art was seen in the light from candles, hearths, torches or, for the truly unlucky, bonfires.

I decided to take a couple of tours for a different perspective than my own. A friend saw the Eternal City from the back of a Vespa and that choice intrigued me for multiple reasons. First, a scooter can go where a car cannot. Second, experiencing Rome riding bitch on the back of a scooter has got to be more intense than watching it go by outside a car window. Third, yes, I saw Roman Holiday at an impressionable age. Fourth, fifth and sixth,  it’s something I wouldn’t do on my own, am unlikely to ever do again, and that I won’t forget in a hurry.
After some investigation online and an exchange of inquiring emails, I settled on a four-hour Scooterama Vespa tour. Good press, consistently high user ratings, the option of a street art tour, and the founders’ first date was a Bruce Springsteen concert. That last one is what we call a sign.

For the sheer pleasure of conjoining music and my favorite museum in Rome, I bought a ticket to Sounds & Visions of Caravaggio, which combines an English language art tour with baroque musical performances at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. As I mentioned in the last post, I picked up a tour of the Palazzo Colonna that I’m excited about. it reminds me of the Cerralbo Museum in Madrid. It should be visually lush.

The biggest hurdle, in terms of horrific lines and crowded conditions, is indisputably the Vatican Museums. I visited them eight years ago and, though I was not rushed, I still moved far too quickly along a Vatican-assigned route. I saw enough to know I wanted to come back and view the art at my leisure.
I decided to use the strategy that has served me so well for the Louvre, Prado, and Hermitage; I became an official supporter, a Patron of the Vatican Museums of Art.  Among the privileges of a Patron are unlimited visits, and early entries at 8am through a separate entrance for patrons. I have a special Patron pin to wear and have submitted the dates I plan to visit – about three weeks total – so my name will be on the gatekeepers approved list. That’s my biggest ticket and tour in one. It’s the reason I’m coming to Rome.
Patrons also get to chose a private tour from a selection of guided tours and I chose the restoration labs. Usually the last thing I want is someone talking to me when I am viewing art unless it’s audio guides, which dependably deepen and enrich my experience. More importantly, I can turn them off. But a restoration lab is a mystery to me and I know I’ll be fascinated by whatever the guide has to say.
There are other perks, like discounts in the gift shop and cafe. There’s even an opportunity to attend an audience with the pope. I assume by that they mean somewhere in the melee, but not in the nosebleed seats.
I’ll avoid the Sistine Chapel for the same reason I dodged the Mona Lisa and The Garden of Earthly Delights. These superfamous paintings attract a scrum of the selfie-obsessed. Hey, glorious works abound that can be viewed without having to throw your elbows and use up all your fouls.
I’ve been through the Sistine Chapel, and know for a fact that I can barely see the ceiling, even under optimum conditions. But please don’t think I lack appreciation for this sacred space baptized by the sweat of Michelangelo’s brow. If I got accidently left in the chapel alone for half an hour, no doubt you’d find me sprawled on the floor, looking up with an expression very like Bernini’s Saint Theresa in Ecstasy.

 

[easy-image-collage id=2199]