Rome

Roma 9/27-30
Seen on a plate today: Though we didn't arrive until after 8 and it was 10 before we hit the streets for dinner, we did find a totally fun place to eat; Scoglio e Frioglo, Modeled on something between Capt. Nemo's and an cave decorated by a ancient Roman sailor, we ate an assortment of the usual Italian food so often mentioned in this area over the past month, various pastas and veggies and assorted goodies... The highlight of the meal though was the interior decorating. This leads me to the embarrassing admission of what was seen on a plate tonight... Now, don't get me wrong, we've loved all the Italian food these past few weeks, but tonight we really longed for good old American food and while we passed right by the Hard Rock Cafe twice today, around 8:30 this evening we failed to pass by Planet Hollywood and succumbed to cheeseburgers, French fries and a Caesar Salad just the way they make in at home. YUM.

San Pietro's Basilica ~St. Peter's Pope [?] Pius the 9th. was sort of an angry looking guy....	Bernini's spectacular 7 story tall alter sits directly atop St. Peter's tomb and contrasts with the magnificence of the mosaic work Note the lettering around the base of the dome, each letter is 6' tall!	Michelangelo's Piet�, carved when the artist was only 24 years old! My apologies for the picture quality, it's behind bullet proof glass and some distance from where I was standing....
Well, enough about the beauty of St. Peter's, now to a small fraction of it's dark side. Note this gruesome depiction of torture found on the bronze front doors of the basilica. This was one in a series of about 6 scenes on one door next to the exit. Some of the other doors contain ghastly scenes like these and much of the bronze for all the doors [as well as the alter] was plundered by the Pope from churches all around Italy.	No day of sightseeing would be complete without a quickie "feast typical". Seen on this plate today was [upper left clockwise] lasagna, penne with corn, black olives, basil & zucchini, mixed grilled veggies, cappuccinos, risotto with black & green olives, corn, carrots, and mushrooms	Lovely fountain in Piazza Republica....
Romans figured that if they butt two amphitheaters together they could create a venue big enough to hold 50,000 people and with their clever engineering of access stairs and so forth were able to fill it and empty it as fast as we can with today's contemporary super-stadiums	There were interesting uses of scaffolding and iron work in many places to facilitate the support of the Coliseum, as well as to provide access to current visitors....	There was at last one grinning Christian there that was glad the lions were no longer feasting on her or her relatives......
The Arch of Constantine, built in 312 AD commemorates a military coup but more importantly, the acceptance of Christianity by the Roman Empire! Constantine had a vision that he could win a battle against Maxentius under the sign of the cross and when he succeeded he legalized Christianity....	As reported on CNN [our only English news source], Rome leant it's voice to the anti-war demonstrations held around the globe today. To us, a majority of the 30,000 protestors seemed to be the national communist party, but the news reports that there were environmental and other parties represented as well. It was interesting to note how many seniors were marching, it wasn't just the young. "Enjoy the revolution with a Coke">>> Where there's fire, there's water....
Bernini was quite the busy contractor around town. This is one of two of his in the Piazza Barberini	Boar with human children suckling.	The bones of some 4000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870 were used to decorate the Cappuccine Crypt's 5 or 6 vaults....
Pictures were forbidden, so the quality of those I snuck weren't all that great. This was so bizarre it really has to be seen to be believed! It is really quite artistic. All the patterns on the walls we made of bones as well...	This Faun statue was found in the Emperor of Halrian Villa and is thought to date to about 120 AD	Little Jane is dwarfed by these enormous columns, among the tallest left in what remains of the Roman Forum
I regret that I haven't taken more time to photograph some of the door knockers in Europe. This one was to nice to miss....	The monument to Victor Emanuel, as you can see by the tiny people at the base of the picture, is enormous! Indeed the entire building is unbelievably large!	Trevi Fountain got no coins from us, but judging from the size of the crowds, it rakes in plenty!
Piazza Navona These shots were poor because it was getting dark and we never got back during daylight. Quite a lovely piazza with three fountains and several incredible buildings, lots of restaurants and filled with artists displaying their art.....	These 4 mosaics were on a wall around the outside of the Roman Forum and show the size of the Roman Empire at four different dates. I had thought the pictures would have caught the dates in the lower left of each, but alas.. Nonetheless the first one I added an arrow pointing to the tiny circle around Rome, the rest is obvious!	Scrolling images spiral up this 2nd century column in honor of philosopher Marcus Aurelius
I had forgotten to include this picture the other night. Our last night in Milano my cousin Laura took us to the Iper Market. It was a super-sized super market with several other stores all open to a common area. Sort of like a mall without walls. Anyway, the food area was spectacular! There was a huge open air spice area that I came to shortly after entering. I was so impressed I pulled out a camera and snapped a picture. To my surprise and dismay an employee came rushing over to me and told me photography was strictly forbidden. The picture tells the story, though it really only shows 1/4 of the spice area. It was just one of the many roped off areas where you were waited on... We bought 5 bottles of top quality olive oil, 2 old balsamic vinegars and 1 1/2 kg. block of Reggiano Parmesan for $48!
*Seen on a Plate Today ~~~ The final chapter ~~~*
OK, this was the last official "Seen on a Plate", they used to be ribs in San Francisco. Along with potato skins and Cajun lamb chops, this was the last meal we ate "on the road".... but wait, there's more...	Thanks to the greatest house sitter in the world, Greg Tierney, and a splendid client/friend, Bruce Tapley who thought to leave us a great bottle of Chardonnay in our absence, this last picture is what we had for dinner the night we got home, on our new tablecloth from Italy no less! Tomorrow we start our diet and won't be posting any more "seen on a plate" stuff... at least for a while. If you would like a CD with all of the "other" pictures from the trip, at least the focused ones, in high resolution, send an email and let me know and I will burn you a copy... I probably won't get them all worked down for a week or two, but there are over 700 total [I am sure only 1/3 will end up on the CD]....

That's all folks, we're home... that's all she wrote and the fat lady is singing!