May 6, 2016

Bus and blue line to the airport.  Read in Trip Advisor that lines were terrible in the International Terminal, and they were correct.  We purposely left early just in case.  Checked bags, which was a breeze and got in the loooong security line.  It wrapped around both sides of the check in areas.  Frequently you would see a frantic passenger trying to move ahead.  One guy,   way in the back, said his flight left in an hour.  Good Luck.

Got thru it in a little over an hour.  Ray got frisked because he had his pick pocket proof pants on with about 13 zippers, many hidden.  All in all it was not bad.  One of the TSA gals must have had a bad day.  She was yelling almost the whole time.

Headed for the bar for a beer and some snacks.  Met a lady from Wisconsin going to Poland to volunteer to teach English.  She is only staying for 2 weeks, so not sure how much help she will be, but sounds like a good time.  Another guy next to us was heading home to Finland.  Talked a little hockey.  We knew more than he did.

Full flight on SAS.  Nice airline.  Arrived on time and all was good.

May 7, 2016

Got to Rome without a glitch.  Took express train from the airport to rail station.  Our apartment was about a 5 minute walk from there.  A gritty neighborhood, but that doesn’t bother us.  Heck we lived in Lakeview for about 12 years.  We liked the location cuz it has multiple bus route, both metros, and all the trains, both local and international.  Ray has us doing alot of train travel this trip.

Found the grocery store and got some breakfast food.  Our apartment has a full kitchen, but we really just need the fridge and one burner.

Unpacked and headed out for food.  The food hawkers are out in full force trying to entice you to come into their place.  Very annoying, as are the guys selling roses, wooden bowls, selfie sticks and phone chargers.  The worst ones are the guys trying to get you to do the HOHO buses. 

Settled on a nice outdoor place very close to home.  What else, pizza, pasta and beer.  All good and reasonable.  A nice go to place and we returned Tuesday night for a repeat meal.

Back home to go to bed.  A long couple of days.  Oh, and the weather is lovely.

May 8, 2016

English Mass at Our Lady of Angels and Martyrs.  Really close to home.  Ray does his research and it pays off.  Paulist priest Fr. Steve.  Nice homily.  The bulletin recommended a restaurant, so we kept that info.

The agenda today included the Borghese Gallery.  You need to have reservations and are limited to 2 hours in the gallery.  The structure is beautiful.  It was the Borghese family home.  Wonderful paintings and even better sculptures by Bernini.  Ray has pictures that he will add to the blog.  (Way too many.  Grab a coffee before viewing).  Ray here, I do take too many photos, so we are including the “express viewing albums” so we can post them before we get back home.

Lots of family activity in Borghese Park where the gallery is located.  Bikes, Segways and walkers. 

The remainder of the day was spent walking around.  Saw a fashion exhibit with the centerpiece made out of empty water bottles.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Roamed around the Coliseum area.  Dinner was just okay.  I had a lovely veal saltimbocca and Ray tried slices of steak with pears.  His was not so good.  Plus the waiter tried to stiff us by adding a tip.  Not done here.  We didn’t pay it and he got huffy.  Will not return.  Eating outdoors is fun.  Great people watching and nice weather to enjoy.

 

2016 05 08 Rome 

 

May 9, 2016

Orvieto here we come.  Going to the Duomo to see one of our 1001, The Last Judgment by Signorelli. 

To get to the town you need to ride a funicular, since the city in high on a hill.  From there you can either walk a little further uphill or take a bus.  We walked.  My Garmin is working overtime.  No guilt drinking the beer this trip.  

Walked by shop after shop of ceramics, wine, olive oil.  A shopper’s delight.  Cute outdoor cafes.

Got to the piazza of the Duomo.  Filled with tour groups waiting to get in.  We walked over to a lookout area over the countryside to try to use our selfie stick.  What a disaster.  We should have practiced.  Had some feline visitors.  Ray took some pictures for our daughter-in-law to coo over.  Very clean cats, not the ratty kind you sometimes see out wandering around.

Headed into the Duomo to see our painting.  Check.

Walked around some more around the town.  Took a picture of me under a boar’s head.  It has been on facebook for a few days now. 

Found a totally cute place for a snack of proscuitto and melon with some of the best beer we have had since we arrived.  A Belgian beer brewed in Italy.  Dark gold in color with a really bold flavor.  Nice.

Back to Rome and visited Santa Maria del Popelo. 

Dinner at the restaurant recommended by Father Steve.  I guess Rick Steves recommends it too, because there were several Americans there with Rick Steves travel books.  I had a pork roast and Ray had veal saltimbocca, since he was jealous of my meal last night.  The waiter was about 80 years old.  Dessert was something called mimosa, I think.  A light sponge cake with citrus flavor and some cream layers.  Not sweet enough for Ray.  Oh yes, and beer.

We are eating breakfast in the apartment.  Usually just cereal fruit and coffee.  Snack or not during lunch time and have a late dinner. 

 

2016 05 18 Orveito & Santa Maria del Popolo 

 

May10, 2016

 

Big day today.  Visiting too many places.  First stop the Cappuchin Museum.  The ticket lady made me cover my shoulders because she said it was a sacred place.  I took my portrait scarf with me for just such an occasion.  I was sleeveless today.

Saw a painting Ray wanted to see.  He is on a Caravaggio hunt.  I am not as interested.  I like his work, but won’t cry if I miss one.  Ray will cry.

Went to the Cappuchin bone exhibit next.  This is just creepy.  No pictures allowed.  I am sure you can google it.  There were about 3-4 rooms with displays of thousands of bones made into art, I guess.  One room was vertebrae, another was pelvic bones, jaw bones.  Lots of skulls too.  I didn’t like it, but I guess I am glad I saw it.

Walked over to the Barberini Museum to view some paintings.  Of course one of the areas was closed at this time, and one of our paintings was in that area.  We were told to come back later in the day.  We left, had a snack at an Irish Pub…Yes, we did, and proceeded to the Dora Pamphili Museum.  All of these places are so ornate.  I think the crooked cardinals all had lovely residences.  Ray will correct me if I am wrong.

Hit 2 more churches to see those darn Caravaggio’s and returned to the Barberini, where the area we wanted to go to was open.  YES!!

Forgot to mention that we wanted to take the metro to begin our day today, but the metro stop at the Termini was so crowded we turned back and just walked.  Lots of uniformed guys and gals with assault rifles all over the place.  Lots of different uniforms too.  Police, military branches.  Even saw some sailors, and mountain soldiers.

Exhausted.  Walked over 7 miles.  Dinner at the place we visited on our first night.  It was packed.  They were bringing out more tables as we sat there.  Beautiful weather, so everyone wanted to eat outdoors.

 

 May 10 2016 Rome blog

  

May11, 2016

Big day today.  Going to visit the city of Tarquinia to see the Etruscan Tomb of the Bulls.  Ray made special arrangements for us to see the tomb.  There is a public area and a private area.  Of course our painting is in a private area.  Ray’s contact met us at the train station (by the way I saw a wild boar roaming the countryside on the train ride here) and took us up to the Etruscan burial grounds.  Don’t ask what this cost.  YOLO, right??  Anyway we saw the Tomb of the Panthers as well as the Tomb of the Bulls.  Our painting was of a bull very mad at 2 men having sex.  Ray will post a picture eventually.  He is taking many pictures, of course, and we are trying to pare them down. 

After the visit to the tomb, we headed back to town to visit the Archeological Museum for a short time.  Caught a bus to the train station which was a ways out of town, and met quite a character sitting in the station.  This guy had all his belongings with him, of course.  He smelled like a combination of pee, BO and a touch of garbage.  I sat next to him because he looked interesting and it was the only seat available.

I think he spoke to me first.  An American, who said he has been travelling for about 50 years.  He looked like it.  He liked Tarquinia cuz it was a nice quiet town.  When I asked where he was from originally he said he didn’t know.  That was my first clue that maybe he was a bit off.  He thought maybe Wyoming, or perhaps Indonesia. 

A young nun walked by and he started talking to her.  They appeared to know each other.  He spoke only English, no Italian, so the conversation was difficult. 

Our train arrived shortly, so we bid him farewell and good luck.  I wish I had taken a picture with this guy. 

Back into Rome around 4PM and we had previously purchased a combination ticket for the Corsini Museum as well as the Barberini.  We are leaving for Naples tomorrow, so we had to use the ticket before it expired.

Ray has a bug up his butt about seeing all the Caravaggio’s in the world.  Another list for him, not me.  There was one at the Corsini, or so we thought.  As we found out earlier on this trip there is a special exhibition of Caravaggio’s in Tokyo, and the one at the Corsini is there.  His work is fantastic, and his technique of light and dark is phenomenal.  Ray will post some pictures here, but the photo will not do them justice.  There are none at the Art Institute of Chicago, but a few years one was on special exhibition.  The Supper at Emmaus.

Dinner back in our neighborhood, packed and getting ready for the terrors of Naples.

 

May 11 2016 Tarquina 

 

 May 12, 2016

I started writing these entries on the train to Naples.  Took about 2 hours and I got as far as Tarquinia in the narrative.  It is hard to recall all the experiences, but we have been so busy there is no time to write. Right now it is May 16 and we are taking the morning off to catch up on stuff, like doing this.

Anyway the area around Napoli Centrale is like a Fellini movie.  Weird, gritty sometimes scary.  Our hotel was quite close, but it was super nice and super cheap with a lovely breakfast buffet included.  I’m all for food included, especial if it includes salami and cheese and good bread.  I like the savory breakfast.  Ray had about 4 different sweet things.  Opposites attract.

Our day was gonna be a doosey.  Multiple museums and multiple churches.  Ray said I would be walking on bloody stumps at the end, and he was correcto mundo.  Over 8 miles.  Love my Garmin watch to keep track of all the madness. (It keeps track of my sleep too, and my swimming if I find a pool and a swimsuit). 

So, as usual, one of the museums had a section closed off and wouldn’t open until 8PM.  One of our 1001 paintings was in that section.  There is more to the story about this particular museum, which will be revealed on May 14. 

This museum is the National Archeological Museum, and it really is magnificent.  Other museums we visited were the Pio Monte and Capodimonte.  Capodimonte is far from the city and high on a hill. A beautiful setting.  We broke down and took a taxi.  We never take taxis, but there was no good way to get there by public transit.  Public transit is so much more fun.  But like our son, Jude, says the problem with public transit is the public uses it.

After the Capodimonte we taxied back to our hotel so I could revive.  After a few hours we headed back out to the Archeological Museum to see our painting hanging in the previously closed section.  Actually, it was a fresco.

Back home and had a very delicious dinner at one of the many marvelous restaurants in Naples.  Had a fish that was so fresh.  I’m sure it was caught that morning.  I posted the picture on facebook, but Ray will post here too.  Back to the hotel to collapse and get rested up for our trip to Barletta in the morning.

 

May 12 2016 Napoli blog  

 

 May13, 2016

Caught the shuttle to Naples airport to get our rental car for the 3 hour trip to Barletta to see 1, yes 1 painting on our list.  The trip was painless, but the tolls are a killer.  About $18 for 160 miles.

Barletta is a nice little town on the Adriatic Sea.  We walked to the beach and could easily see Croatia from the shore.

Our painting is in the Pinacoteca Giuseppe de Nettis, a small museum.  We were the only patrons and were chaperoned throughout the room by 2 museum workers.  I guess they don’t have cctv, but somehow I think that would be cheaper than 2 guys working all day for 2 patrons.  The painting was very nice and Ray will post a picture. It was funny being followed around.  Lucky for you no photos were allowed in the museum.

Walked around town a bit and settled at a small café.  Shared a sandwich which took forever to prepare.  We did not care though, since we were seated next to a young girl who we found out was a hospice nurse.  Jobs are not easy to find in Italy, even for nurses, so she felt fortunate.  She said many Italian nurses move to the UK or Germany for work.

Drove back to Naples with only a slight glitch and a few cuss words.  Missed a turn, and it is not real easy to just turn around.

We got back to the hotel just in time for what I guess was Happy Hour.  Had beers and the server kept bringing out nuts, bread with boiled eggs and bacon baked into it, olives, salami, ham.  Way too much stuff.  We were the only ones in the very small bar, and the beers were super cheap.  We ate so many snacks that we didn’t go out for dinner, just gelato.  I had a new flavor that was marvelous…granny smith apple.

May 13 2016 Barletta

 

 May 14, 2016

Ok, now this day was something to behold.  Headed to Paestum to see a really cool Fresco.  It was about an hour away by train.  This town is so tiny.  The rail station is a short walk out of town.  It took 10 minutes or so. 

Got our combination museum and archeological ruins tickets, and proceeded to ask the ticket taker where “The Diver” was in the museum.  She told us it was not there, but in Napoli at the National Archeological Museum.  You remember, the one we had been to twice on Thursday.  No notice on the website for Paestum, and we didn’t notice anything about it when we visited the museum in Naples.  I was pissed and left the museum without entering.  We walked through the ruins, which are truly marvelous.  3 very large temples standing.  Again, Ray will post pictures. 

I settled down and we returned to the museum.  It is nice if you are into archeology. 

We headed back to the rail station to catch the train to Naples, so we could then hop on the metro and go back to the museum to see The Diver, before we had to pick up our left luggage and take the train back to Rome.

They had this lovely fresco hidden away.  I don’t think too many people ever see it.  It is on our 1001 list.

Got back to Rome around 9PM and were met by the person in charge of the apartment we are renting.  It is really nice.  Big living area, good sized bedroom and fully equipped kitchen. 

Had dinner at the restaurant just below our apartment. It was packed.  Had good beer and pizza to die for.  Didn’t like the fact that they added a 20% service charge.  We didn’t argue like we did at one restaurant where we got not so good service and didn’t pay it.  We won’t go back to the restaurant.  There are too many other good ones just steps away.  And besides, I will cook in this apartment.

May 14 2016 blog Paestum & Napoli

 

May 15, 2016

Sunday morning and off to Mass.  Very crowded this week, not like last week. 

Took the bus to the Capitoline Museum.  Thank God we bought the monthly pass.  These 7 hills of Rome are bad for the elderly.

Saw 4 brides in the courtyard.  This must be the place to come for pictures.  I don’t think it was that great, but there was a church next door, so maybe they got married and just popped over to the courtyard.

Ray got into a spat with a French woman about going ahead of her when a new line opened to get tickets.  She didn’t move, so we did.  She thought that was rude.

This place is like all the others, very cool, and guess what, one of Ray’s precious Caravaggio’s was not there, but in Tokyo. 

The sculptures are the real stars of this museum.  Pictures to follow.

One more event today.  The Catacombs of Pricilla.  This was a guided tour of catacombs, and it really was a highlight of the day.  One of our paintings (a fresco) was there, or else we probably would not have gone.  At the end of the tour we discovered that it was pouring rain outside and we left our umbrellas back at the apartment.  Luckily we got a bus close by and I waited at the Termini (the rail station) for Ray to run home and get umbrellas.  A few blocks away.  Great people watching here.

I cooked for the first time since we arrived.  Good stuff.  A quiet night of surfing the net and catching up on the antics of the Donald.

 

May 15 2016 Rome blog