Sileo Rome

... just for the fun of it, where the Bernini statue 'The Four Rivers” is placed and Borromini’s masterpiece church Sante Agnes in Agone is situated, and world famous restaurant Tre Scalini hosted Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, and Eddie Albert, is now filled with circus stalls that look like they belong on a vacant lot in Philomath, hawking the most inane of throwaway souvenirs. It’s pathetic, appalling and inspirational.

... a lot and were ready to move on!

We arrived on Friday afternoon after going to see Michelangelo's David in Florence in the morning. Just after Jennifer said "wow, Laura, I'm impressed by your navigational skills" I got us completely lost and far far away from our hotel which we ended up walking quite a while to in the hot hot sun. oops. Jennifer is extremely patient.

We had the BEST ravioli that evening and some great ...

... towards the cross on the bronze canopy over the alter our guide asked us how tall it was. He told us the top of the cross was the height of an 11 storey building. The scale is immense. Unlike in the Sistine Chapel where photos were not permitted at all or the halls where photos but no flashes were permitted, in the Basilica photos and flashes were ok. The reason is because the art works in the Basilica are not paintings but are all mosaics. Apparently exact copies of the ...

... the day: BOCCA DELLA VERITA! (the mouth of truth)...once again, according to wikipedia: "La Bocca della Verità ("the Mouth of Truth") is a renowned image, carved from Pavonazzetto marble, of a man-like face; it is located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in ...

... awesome in the day with walls the height of a giant tree... but now, what's left of it is about 50cm high wall - the result of pillaging for the marble and wars thought over time. We also saw the circus maximus where they conducted their chariot races. Huge bets were made by the king and if they didn't win, the king would kill them anyway.. What a huge incentive to cross that line first!! After that, we walked over to St. Peter's in Chains.. As the ...

... It makes a nice comparative as we will try to visit St. Peter's tomorrow and view the Pieta by Michelangelo. Our other objective was the National Roman Museum, which is housed in the Baths of Diocletian. When we arrived, we found the museum closed, despite what the guidebook said. Since there was no signage, we have no idea if the museum will reopen while we are here or not. Not sure what to do, we noticed the church next to the museum had ...

Last night we saw a free Billy Joel concert in front of the Colloseum. We were 50 ft. from the stage. It was incredible. He played an amazing set that culminated with 50,000 people singing along to Piano Man. Bryan Adams - this decades Hasslehoff -opened (Oh c'mon, you owned 'Reckless'). Possibly the worst moment was when Billy and Bryan sang 'Cuts Like A Knife' as a duet. Billy knew all the words. We are not kidding. We have ...

... entertaining an insatiable crowd. During the inaugural games that went on for a continuous hundred days, over 9000 animals were slaughtered. They could even flood the arena to stage naval battles. Inside the Colosseum When the tour ends, we walk up the stairs to the upper floor, which yields a beautiful view of the forum area especially the Arch of Constantine. Arch of Constantine Then we walk leisurely down via s. gregorio to ...

... drive to Bucine instead. A reasonable size supermarketo has most supplies we need, and a bakery on the hill at the top of town as we drive in. Monti Benichi is built around two castles on the top of the hill, and one of those has already been restored as a hotel. Rooms at L400,000-L500,000 per night. Later in the week, I saw inside, and understand why. Tuesday 4th July 2000 Diarized all day Wednesday 5th July 2000 Diarized all day, again.