Yesterday's promised rain finally arrived last night, long after we were were in for the evening, and it was gone by this morning.
Our first stop was the Minor Basilica of Santa Prassede, a 9th century gem whose original mosaics in the apse, arch, and a side chapel just glow. The small chapel, dedicated to St. Zeno, is entirely covered in mosaics, and the opportunity to see them close at hand was extraordinary.
A few blocks away, we stopped in the church dedicated to Sta. Prassede's sister, Santa Pudenziana (We're meeting some new saints on this trip!), is sunken below street level, and seemingly ignored by tourists. Its apse mosaics are lovely but not the "wow" of the little chapel we'd just left.
Then, it was on to the Four Fountains, each carved into a corner of an intersection, giving the requisite church there its name, San Carlos alle Quattro Fontane. This small church by Borromini is notable for its oval dome coffered with geometric patterns.
Just down the block is Sant' Andrea al Quirinale, designed by Bernini as part of the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. Its Baroque style, crowned with a golden dome, is representative of both Bernini's work and the Jesuits' Counter-Reformation efforts.
St. Andrew is across the street from the Quirinale Palace, once a papal summer home, now the official residence of the president of Italy. In the Piazza Quirinale, we had a view over the rooftops to St. Peter, and saw the noon changing of the guard at the palace entrance.
Down a staircase and a couple of blocks away, we joined the throng at the Trevi Fountain, by far the most crowded place we've been yet. The crush of people convinced us that coins were surely being hurled out of the fountain, rather than tossed into it!
In stark contrast, the Spanish Steps were empty! The explanation was the only possible one, and a common one in this city: they are undergoing restoration. Nevertheless, the crowds filled the Piazza di Spagna at the base of the steps and the Via Condotti and other shopping streets radiating from the square.
We escaped the Saturday shoppers by strolling on our favorite Roman street, Via Margutta. Just three blocks long, it's a quiet stroll between Spagna and the bustling Piazza del Popolo. Lined with small art galleries, boutique hotels, shops, cafes, and flower-draped doorways and windows, it's the perfect backdrop for well-dressed Romans dining, shopping, and walking their impossibly tiny dogs.
Back in the real world, we stopped in Santa Maria del Popolo to see the Bernini sculptures in the Chigi Chapel and two Caravaggios, the Crucifixion of St. Peter and the Conversion of St. Paul.
We have read about EUR, a Fascist era development on the outskirts of Rome, for many years, but never visited it on our previous trips to Rome; this afternoon, we remedied that. EUR was conceived by Mussolini in the 1930's to celebrate the rise of fascism and be home to the World's Fair of 1942. The Fair never took place, a casualty of World War II. In the postwar period, Roman authorities decided to establish a new urban center of business, cultural institutions, and governmental offices and undertook the completion of unfinished buildings and the construction of others, along with parks, museums, and housing. The most emblematic building, one that dominates the scene, is the Palazzo della Civita Italiana, sometimes referred to as the Square Colosseum. Last year, the fashion house Fendi moved its headquarters to it. We wandered around a bit and found the area, including a large wooded park, to be very quiet on this Saturday afternoon.
That about did it for us, so we headed back to Trastevere via Metro and bus. Happy hour revived us, and we headed out for dinner at a place we'd loved on our last trip here. I think we ordered the same dishes, which were wonderful, then and now; we came home with almost as much as we ate!
The rain made a feeble showing as we walked to and from the restaurant, but not enough for us to open our umbrellas. Thunderstorms are in the forecast again for tomorrow; let's hope they're as shy as today's were.
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