Museum Musicians

I encountered these wonderful ancient musicians on my visit to the Vatican Museums this month.

ROSETO - Rome Rose Garden

On Sunday we enjoyed a walk through Rome's Municipal Rose Garden (Roseto Comunale di Roma) on the eastern slope of the Aventine Hill, overlooking the Circus Maximus. It was built on the site of an old Jewish Cemetery after the graves were moved to Rome’s main cemetery near the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
The rose garden is split into two sections: the upper one shows the permanent collection of the many varieties of roses, arranged in a chronological plan. The lower part of the garden displays the different roses taking part in PREMIO ROMA, the annual competition among international rose growers.
The garden preserves the memory of the old cemetery with pathways in the upper section in the shape of a menorah, and a pillar with a plaque depicting the Ten Commandments by each of the two entrances.Rome’s first Rose Garden was started by Mary Gayley Senni from Pennsylvania. With her own plants, and the support of the city’s fascist government, she opened a rose garden in 1932 next to the Colosseum. A year later, the first PREMIO ROMA was held.

The garden is a wonderful place for young and old to take pictures.

This mosaic in the walkway is a reminder

that the original rose garden was near the Colosseum.

The garden is also an environment

that can encourage romantic activity.

You can enjoy more than 1,000 different roses from over 20 countries.

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel

The last time I was in the Vatican Museums was 1971, until last Thursday. During 1970-71 I was living in Rome and enrolled at the Rome Center of Loyola University of Chicago as a 3rd year university student. Last week there was a grand reunion representing all classes who have attended the Rome Center and this occasion opened the door for an "after hours" private tour. 150 of us visited parts of the Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

Apollo Belvedere

Marble copy of a lost bronze original

made between 350 and 500 BC

This was one of the artworks looted from Rome by Napoleon and formed part of the collection of the Louvre. After the fall of Napoleon, the Apollo was repatriated to the Vatican.

The Belvedere Torso

Traditionally identified as Hercules from the 1st century BC

Legend has it that Pope Julius II requested that Michelangelo Buonarotti complete the statue fragment with arms, legs and a face. He respectfully declined, stating that it was too beautiful to be altered, and instead used it as the inspiration for the majority of the figures in the Sistine Chapel.

A nearly empty Sistine Chapel

Mother's Day

Today is la festa della mamma (Mother's Day) in Italy and other parts of the world. In honor of Dorothy, my mother, and Joany, the mother of Emily and Peter, I share this image of a Madonna and Child painted on the side of a building in Garbatella, the Roman neighborhood where I live.

Garbatella on a Sunday Afternoon

This afternoon I went a couple blocks from our home to get a picture of some graffiti that greets people upon entering Garbatella on one of the roads from the Basilica of San Paolo Outside the Walls.

I was on my way to view some temporary murals installed on the sides of buildings here in Garbatella.

The works are part of OUTDOOR, an open air urban art exhibition.

This is the first Italian exhibition of street art on occupied public buildings. It continues until June 15, 2010.

Sunday Market

Sunday is a day that markets are usually closed in Rome. However, there is a market on Vis San Theodoro near the Circus Maximus that is only open on Saturdays and Sundays.

This market features produce and products

from Lazio, the Regione of Rome.

I brought home some potatoes, salad, and strawberrys.

May 1: Italian Labor Day

Saturday was Italy's Labor Day. The markets and stores were closed and workers enjoyed the sunny day at parks and the sea. Not too far from our home, in the piazza in front of the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, there was an all day (and night) concert.

For May Day picnics a traditional food is fava beans and pecorino cheese. Romans will just set out the fava beans in their pods with a hunk of pecorino cheese. Each person opens the pods for themselves and eats the raw beans with a piece of cheese, probably washed down with some white wine.

Last night we went to a restaurant on the Janiculum Hill and I had their pasta of the day: Schiaffoni with fava beans, pecorino cheese and pancetta. It was delicious!

Schiaffoni comes from the word "schiaffeggiare," which means "to slap." Because of its bulky size, the noodle tends to slap the sauce around on the plate, giving it the name schiaffoni.