1. "La dolce vita stroll through the heart of Rome."
2.Ancient Rome: San Clemente, Colosseo, the Forum
4. St. Peters Basilica, Vatican Museum, and the Pope's blessing in the square.
6. Borghese Gallery
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My
"Seven Days In Rome" was an utter delight! My
book-making is a mix of handmade papers, journaling, sketches, and photographs
of a myriad of things that inspired these pages. It is pocketed, folded,
popped-up, and windowed -- sorta like Rome, with unexpected doorways
(great doorways!) into new experiences, or a round-the-bend pop-up novelty.
It is full of textures, mosaics, marbled floors, sculpted doors, and
storied frescos of the life in this city. |
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And the art! And do get me started on the food... it is so much a part of this trip. More on that throughout. Roman piazzas are splendid, with gatherings of people, monumental obelisks, and one impressive fountain after another. |
 On our get-acquainted "Dolce Vita" walk; I'm at the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini . Piazza Navona. |
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| ~ Getting
around this scrapbook: * Some images & dialogue in Italics are repeated transitions to or from other sections (just follow your interests) *Many images link to larger ones in the Portfolio of Photos - just click them *Your browser may "block content", (usually a pop-up window at bottom of screen). Allow it to move features on this page (opening doors.) It may take a few moments to load. *It seems I.E might display spacing better than Chrome or Firefox, and have more options for viewing. * Hint: If you widen your browser window, you may see more of the background collage |
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Views,
Preps, Tips, & End Note: I always
resonated with the "back door" perspective and
chose this trip to focus on Rome. Then to see Rick in person when
he visited our local university a few years ago helped refine my plans.
His talk was impressive (3 hours!). The last link of this scrapbook offers
some views, tips, and end notes.
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When we arrived, we oriented ourselves to finding our way around, testing
for the best gelato, experiencing the Metro, and exploring the piazzas. Roomie, Susan, and I walked and
walked and found fountains, tratorias, and a great Sicilean Deli/bakery/gift
shop (see Piatti) in a mid-block mall. The art
in the gift shop included work from local artists, which we were trying
to find. The senora there was pleased to practice her English and so we
talked about ceramics, weaving, and glass. We
found great food from pastas to pizzas and hunted for pumpkin flower fritters
(a special treat). Susan later discovered an enoteca near our hotel that
sold wine by the litre, straight from a huge keg, direct from the tap
to your own €5 bottle. And it was a good wine. We
found ourselves outside the Colosseo (Built when! How...!) Later when
our group met there, we learned more about it's construction and uses.
Our guide at The Forum also gave more of the story and with our free time,
I climbed Palatine Hill above the monuments to find what I thought was
a picturesque villa and a beautiful garden/orchard. Here, I had time to
sit between the fruit trees on an ancient bench and sketch.
We got our initiation on the crowded Metro (Susan jumped on, doors slammed
in my face and she was gone.) I found her waiting for me at the next stop
and we ventured out to explore the piazzas. On this first evening's solo exploration, we became part of an intriguing passegiatta. I'm impressed with the Italians' sense of style, window designs (this season's color seems to be all black), and the moving-imagery backdrops for the clothing or shoe displays. People do not go out without looking their best, and it seems everyone is fashionably thin. (Don't know where they put all that pasta.)
Coming out of one church, we'd find another just across the street, or down the block. So many, yet each seems more impressive than the last. And what makes each one so distinctive? (Chiesas/Churches)
And the food! The delis especially enticed with layers of paninis, pastas,
cases of cheeses and meats hung to age, pizzas (multi-colored doughs,
waiting for their toppings, cut with large shears, then baked), pastries,
and caramella e vino (candy and wine).
When we met the group the next day we again had a try at the Metro and
all 26 of us landed at the right spot at the right time. Stephanie led
us on a looong trek to our first dinner, on the way passing through a
maze of piazzas and narrow streets, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza
Barbarini, and the Church of Maria Maddalena. To find our ristorante,
we literally went down back allies, through a back door, down a cavernous
stairway to an underground room ...
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The
book began with preparing pages by mixing paper pulp and screening a
few sheets that would hold the photos and text. I like textured surfaces,
so added some colored yarns, petals, cotton fibers, seeds, etc. These
will hopefully blend with the images. That
remains to be seen.... continuing The Tour... 
RE:
The Metro. It took some getting used to. With the group - sometimes we got split into separate cars, sometimes we squeezed on in tight crowds, but were strung out the length of the car, holding onto rails, straps,
or our neighbor's sleeve. Word would pass down the line how many stops
we had left. But a big time-saver in avoiding lines and confusion was
having a week's Metro Pass. Worth it's weight in gold.
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(Side
note: the two scariest things to me were getting around alone without
knowing the language [& me without a phone], and the Metro....) 
