Festa della Repubblica

Today is June 2, the Festa della Repubblica. It commemorates the birth of the Italian Republic when, in 1946, following the Second World War and the fall of Fascism, Italian voters decided that their country should be a republic instead of a monarchy. Before this referendum, Italy was officially a monarchy ruled by the House of Savoy.

This morning at 7:00 am I was awakened by the sound of over 100 horses outside the bedroom window. They were on their way to the parade to celebrate the Festa della Repubblica that went between the Colosseum to Piazza Venezia.

When I finished breakfast, I decided to take the bus and make my way to the area near the Colosseum and see some of the parade. It was crowded and raining, and I could not see much of the parade because of all the people and umbrellas, but here are a few pictures of the morning.

Music for Maria’s Birthday

On Thursday evening about 25 neighbors got together to celebrate Maria’s 54th birthday. She has lived on the top floor of our condominium building since she was about 7 years old, and now lives there with her husband and two teenage sons. Because of the weather, everyone stayed inside, but the grill was going under the covered section of Maria’s terrace cooking sausages and pork chops. The highlight of the evening was the music after dinner. Maria led her guests in singing traditional folk songs accompanied by guitars, accordion, clarinet, tambourine, and hand clapping.

Drama Festival: A Roman Time Line

Each primary class at Ambrit Rome International School puts on a play during the month of May. The fifth grade classes wrote twelve skits about events from the history of ancient Rome. Each class was responsible for acting in four of the skits. The finished production was an exploration of twelve important scenes along a Roman Time Line.

Here are photos of the actors from my classroom.

Above: A Roman senator stands with cast members of 

450 BC: The Twelve Tables.

Above: Octavian stands with Antony and Cleopatra

and solders from the cast of

31 BC: The Battle of Actium.

Above: Admiral Pliny stands above the cast members of 

79 AD: The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

Above: Constantine and the cast from

312 AD: Constantine and the Battle at the Ponte Milvio.

Padre Pio

This past month the body of Padre Pio was exhumed and put in a glass coffin in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo in Puglia. We were recently in Puglia and I had hoped that we could visit this town, not necessarily to see Padre Pio, but to see the shrine church designed by Renzo Piano. (Renzo Piano has recently designed two projects in New York City: the Morgan Library atrium, on Madison Ave. at 36th Street, and the New York Times building on 8th Avenue.

We never made it to San Giovanni Rotondo, but during our trip we "encountered" Padre Pio every day. It has been reported that Padre Pio is the most popular saint in Italy, with more people praying to him than even the Virgin Mary.

Here are some pictures of Padre Pio as we saw him in Puglia.

A Library Closing in New York

In the New York Times today I read that the Donnell Library Center, on West 53rd Street near Fifth Avenue, across from the Museum of Modern Art, is closing at the end of this week. It will reopen in about 4 years under an 11 story hotel. I often enjoyed the library's Children's reading room with the Winnie the Pooh and Friends doll collection. Looking at Christopher Robin's actual bear and other stuffed toys that were part of the inspiration for A.A. Milne's classic children's book was always a special surprise treat for visitors I would guide around midtown Manhattan.

Our Giardino on Via della Sette Chiese

There is a wonderful "giardino" outside our condominium complex in Garbatella along Via della Sette Chiese. (It would be called a park in the United States.) The apartment buildings are on one side and the Church of San Filippo Neri and several stores are on the other side. Conveniently, you can find a take-out pizzaria and a gelateria on either side of the church. The Via della Sette Chiese is closed to cars as it goes though this area, allowing the street to be filled with people walking, families pushing strollers, children riding bikes and an occasional motorino. Our "giardino" is also the site for many special events, from birthday parties to wedding anniversaries.

Here are pictures of some of the activity in the "giardino" today.

Men hanging out with a few beers.

Boys playing in the drinking fountain.

In the foreground are two senior citizens (neighbors from our apartment building) who have just finished a slice of pizza and some beer. They are watching people from a younger generation gather around a laptop computer.

These women are walking through the "giardino"

on their way home after the evening Mass.

Today, there was a "festa" commemorating the 30th anniversary of the enactment of laws abolishing the old lunatic asylums in Italy. 

The picture above shows a "manicomio," or mental hospital of the past. Below are drawings of the new style of group homes and activity centers for adults with special needs.

There was music and dancing... 

and fun was had by people of all ages.

Race for the Cure

This morning it was raining in Rome, but that did not stop us (and thousands of others) from participating in the 8th annual Roman "Race for the Cure." Here are some pictures from the race. 

The race began and ended at the Baths of Caracala,
completed in the year 216 AD.

Go Sisters!

From the Baths of Caracala, the race route went along the Circus Maximus, past the Temple of Hercules, through Piazza Vinezia, along the Roman Forum and around the Colosseum before heading back to the Baths of Caracala past the Arch of Constantine.
Here is Vincenzo modeling the race shirt. He ran the 5 km race.
I walked the 5 km. Below is a picture of me at the Colosseum with some of my colleagues from school.