My taxi ride into town Weds went past so many famous landmarks – I
immediately had the sense that I was really in Bella Roma. It included
driving past the Forum and the "Wedding Cake" building, then the Piazza
Venezia where I checked to see if there really is still a policeman on a
pedastal directing traffic with his white gloves. (As in Woody Allen's movie
"To Rome With Love") Yes, he was there!
Then I checked into the
tiniest hotel room I've ever seen in my life. It was
so tiny that the twin
bed was shoved up against the wall, and my knees
touched the wall when I sat
on the bidet.
This morning I did go to the Cappuccini Convent & Ossuary Crypt on Via Veneto that has the
underground vaults full of bones. They are artfully arranged in different
subterranean
rooms – the skull room, the pelvis room, etc. They were
arranged by a
creative monk. Marquis de Sade commented, when he visited,
that he was glad
they left the windows open. No photos allowed inside. There
was a museum
full of artifacts, and it was clear that when all the
monastery's land was
expropriated for the Via Veneto area ( now full of
high-end shopping and
hotels, and embassies) they never got over that loss.
The friary was razed
to make way for a government office.
Also went to
the Palazzo Barberini which is full of art, and got to see some
famous
Caravaggio paintings there. It is right off the Piazza Barberini,
built by
the Barberini family long ago. The photo above is of the staircase – or I should say ONE of the grand staircases – in this Palazzo.
When I came back, I was moved from my
teeny tiny room with no windows (only
a little skylight) to a beautiful big
room with a tub, sliding patio doors
and even a balcony with a patio table
and umbrella. Yeah!
The room however smells like the remnants of a
thousand Italian men's
cologne who have stayed here over the years. You
probably wouldn't even
notice it, but well… I have an incredibly
sensitive nose. It's not a totally
unpleasant smell, but I wondered if I would reek of 1000
men's colognes when I
left to go to the reception at the embassy.
The reception Thursday afternoon went well. My short looping presentation on "Quilts in
America" was
enthusiastically received. You can't bring any camera or even
iPhone into
the embassy because of the strict security, so I don't have any
photos yet.
There was an official photographer and I am supposed to get
those
photos.
I came back to my room around 6 pm and fell into a jetlag coma. Friday morning
is the big
presentation. It was really interesting to go past all the
security and go
into the embassy. I wasn't able to take a tour around the
facilities – they
wanted us to just stay in the reception area.
Bella Roma… so lovely and so fascinating to be
among so much beautiful
history with every step. I always think of the movie
"Roman Holiday" when I
am here.
Ciao!
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