Sarah and I got up fairly early to catch the train to Rome. We were no taking the Eurostar which takes about two hours, we were taking the regional train that took almost four hours for half the price. Sarah made some delicious omelet sandwiches for the trip and we were off. We would be spending the better part of four days in Rome and Sarah had made a large list of things to see. We'd both been there before (I had been there once and Sarah had been there about four times ) so there wasn't much need to see things like the Colosseum or St. Peter's Basilica. There were a lot of churches that Sarah wanted to see and a few other odds and ends that we had never seen before.
Our first stop after checking in at the Flann O'Bryan Rooms was the 16th century basilica church called Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. It was built inside of the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian. It was a huge church with a surprisingly large open space.
This is just one of three transepts in the church. I did not think that it appeared so large from the outside.
Sarah marvels at the immensity of it all. For those of you who don't know, as I didn't before I first went to Rome, many of the churches do not let people enter if their shoulders are showing, their shorts/skirts are too short, etc. So Sarah always brings a scarf to make herself presentable. I've seen a number of people get turned away, but the best situation is when they are made to wear cheap, paper clothes.
While there, we stumbled upon an interesting thing on the floor.
This line (called La Meridiana) that runs through the church was used until 1846 to regulate the clocks of Rome.
This little spot of light apparantly tells you what the time is, but I couldn't find it anywhere on the floor.
Our next stop was not to the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, but to the crypt below it. The remains of thousands of Capuchin friars were exhumed and brought to the crypt when it was built. They stacked the bones into huge piles and decorated the crypt with them. They used pelvic bones, ribs, vertebrae, skulls, and every other bone to make all kinds of amazing patterns. Some were disturbing, and some were actually beautiful. They also had some of the friars in their robes either laying or standing. It was pretty small (only about five or six rooms), but it was amazing.
Our next stop was not to the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, but to the crypt below it. The remains of thousands of Capuchin friars were exhumed and brought to the crypt when it was built. They stacked the bones into huge piles and decorated the crypt with them. They used pelvic bones, ribs, vertebrae, skulls, and every other bone to make all kinds of amazing patterns. Some were disturbing, and some were actually beautiful. They also had some of the friars in their robes either laying or standing. It was pretty small (only about five or six rooms), but it was amazing.
Unfortunately this was one of the places that had a very strict rule about taking pictures, so I had to get these images online.
On the way to our next location we walked by the Piazza Barbarini. I seem to remember sitting at this fountain with Sarah's class from SCAD, but we didn't have time for such nonsense on this trip.
We went to the Church of Trinita dei Monti next. I actually don't remember anything about it other than that it was on top of the Spanish Steps. The only other time I had been there we approached it from the bottom, so this was a new way to see it.
Not being from the younger generation and never owning a camera until this year, I have not come close to mastering the art of the self photo. This is probably my best ever attempt.
At the bottom of the Spanish Steps there was a random choir group singing songs in English. They drew quite a crowd. I led them in a wonderful rendition of Stanglehold by Ted Nugent before Sarah and I continued on our way.
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