Italy Day 4-Driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

Our morning started with an early departure from our lovely b&b and a taxi to the car rental office. We drove east out of Rome toward the Abruzzo region--a mountainous region off the tourist map. The city of L'Aquila was hit hard by an earthquake in 2009 but it was a city I have wanted to visit since we were in Italy in 2007.

The church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

The inside of the church was collapsed and pillars were being held up by straps. Notice the space heaters--this is high in the mountains and very cold. I can't imagine what it is like going to church here!

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

Driving through the mountains of Abruzzo

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

When we reach the Adriatic coast, we turned north to enter the Marche region. This region is even more untouched by international tourists than Abruzzo. Some people refer to it as "Tuscany without tourists". Tuscany is just on the other side of the mountains so the geography is very similar. The biggest difference in the two regions, in my opinion, are the prices of lodging and food.

We rented an apartment at Olio di Vino, an agriturismo (a working farm). The farmhouse was very old (I can't remember how old, but several centuries)

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

The apartment was very spacious and a lot more than I expected.

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

From 12/23/11 Italy Day 4: driving through Abruzzo to Le Marche

We ate dinner at a local restaurant that night and came home to build a fire in the fireplace to keep us warm!

To see all our photos from Day 4 click here

Italy Day 3-the Vatican

On our trip to Rome four years ago, we visited the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, but did not make it inside St. Peter's Basilica because of the line. We also did not get to do what we wanted to do most in Rome: the scavi (excavations) tour of St. Peter's tomb underneath St. Peter's Basilica. Getting reservations for this tour is hard because only 120 people per day are allowed. You must email months ahead of time and wait for a response.

The guided tour lasts about 90 minutes and ends next to Peter's tomb. It is very fascinating and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Rome. The excavations were carried out between 1939-1950 so the discovery is pretty new. Here is the abbreviated story:

After being crucified, Peter was buried in a hillside necropolis, a city of the dead. This was a place, where wealthy pagan families buried their dead. In the 4th century Emperor Constantine eventually became a Christian and began the construction of a church over the tomb of St. Peter.

In the 16th century, the present basilica was built on the site. As time went on, the memory of the necropolis beneath the basilica vanished. In 1939 workers digging a tomb for the deceased Pope Pius XI, broke through a wall beneath the church and found the necropolis. Pope Pius XII ordered the excavation of the necropolis. Since the necropolis is the foundation of St. Peter's Basilica, the entire area could not be uncovered without the possibility of having the Basilica collapse. Work continued for a decade and on December 23, 1950, Pius XII announced the discovery of St. Peter's tomb. On June 26th 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the remains of St. Peter had also been discovered.

There are, of course, no photos allowed in the necropolis so I don't have anything to show you except an excellent video tour I found on the Vatican website. It takes a bit of navigation but watch the introduction and then use your cursor to move about the necropolis. Watch here.

The tour takes you through several family burial mausoleums and ends at St. Peter's Tomb. These mausoleums are interesting because some of them have signs that let you know that the family was Christian (Ivy painted on the ceiling, a sunburst painted on another). If I remember correctly this was the way the family showed they were Christian. They were tricking the pagans into thinking they were actually worshipping "the sun".

When you arrive at the tomb you see a small hole in a wall with a red light (denoting this is St. Peter's tomb). You are allowed to look through the hole in the wall and there you can see two plastic boxes, holding 18 small bones of a man somewhere between 60 and 80 years old. The feet were missing, having been broken off at the ankles. St. Peter was crucified upside down, and missing feet are typical because the body is chopped free before burial.

Here are some photos of St. Peter's Basilica

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

Directly over St. Peter's tomb:

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

Castel Sant'Angelo

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

A statue on Pont Sant'Angelo

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

Pantheon

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

And my new favorite church in Rome: Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, considered the only Gothic church in Rome. Very unassuming from the outside:

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

It was so dark inside it was very hard to get a good photo

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

For dinner we went to Roma Sparita in Trastevere, near our b&b. It was a treat--we all had the cacio e pepe (literally cheese and pepper) served in a parmesan bowl. If you are in Rome, go there!!!

From 12/22/11 Italy Day 3--Rome: Vatican

Italy Day 2--churches, churches and more churches!

Since we have been to Rome before I was determined to make this visit new and different for us. One of our favorite things about Europe is the ornate cathedrals and today I planned on going to churches we had not seen on our last trip.

Our first stop was Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Santa Cecilia was martyred sometime around 175-250 AD. This church was built over the ruins of her house. Her body was exhumed twice and both times was said to be incorrupt. The second exhumation in 1599 was carried out in front of several witnesses, one of which was a sculptor. He made this statue of her body as he saw it:

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

The church had one of the most beautiful crypt's I've ever seen

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Our next stop was across the Tiber River at San Nicola in Carcere. This church is unique because it contains 2nd century BC ruins inside the exposed walls

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

We walked up a really cool ancient street that ascends the Aventine Hill called Clivo di Rocca Savella

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

The road led to the church of Santa Sabina which I liked for the ceiling

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Just down the street from Santa Sabina I had a tip to look through a keyhole in a big green door for a special surprise: a view of St. Peter's Basilica perfectly framed by this keyhole. It is magnificent. I could not get a good picture through the keyhole click here to see the view for yourself!

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Next we took a taxi across town to Piazza Barberini to see Bernini's Triton Fountain

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Up the hill we came to the intersection of the Quattro Fontane (Four Fountains). Each of the four corners of the intersection contains a fountain installed between 1588-1593.

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, designed by Borromini in 1634, stands at the intersection as well

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

It was a very small church but the dome was really impressive

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Just down the street is another small church, the Baroque church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, designed by Bernini in the 17th century.

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

and the ornate cupola

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

We stopped to eat lunch at this great restaurant, Trattoria Valentino, although you'd never know the name from looking at the ancient sign outside

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

It seemed to be filled with locals, which is exactly what we wanted. This restaurant had very few items on the menu, but all were spectacular. They offered scamorza cheese about 15 different ways and we tried four of them. One of our favorites was scamorza with walnuts and apples.


After our lunch stop we walked to Basilica di Santa Maria di Maggiore, the largest Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome (and one of the most famous churches in Rome)

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

I really loved this pink building behind the church

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Just down the street from Santa Maria di Maggiore, I stumbled upon what is now my favorite church in Rome! It is overlooked by it's more famous neighbor, but more people need to see this church: Santa Prassede (It was incredibly difficult to get good photos in this church because it was very dark, please click the link for better photos)

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

The most magnificent thing about this church are the mosaics, all from the 9th century!

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

Our next stop was the Basilica di San Clemente. This church does not allow any photos inside so please click the link to see pictures. This church should be on your must visit list because it has some of the best preserved excavations that I've seen in Rome. The main basilica is 12th century, and for a fee you can go down to visit two layers of excavations: the middle layer is 4th century and the bottom layer is 1st and 3rd century! Truly a must see in Rome!

We made a quick stop in the Monastero dei Santi Quattro Coronati where a vespers service was going on (no photos) and then walked to the Colosseum so we could get a night time picture (just like on our honeymoon!)

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

I like to go to the Colosseum at night because seeing it in lights is beautiful and you miss most of the tourists that are there during the day.

Finally, it was dinner time. We got an excellent recommendation from Marco, the owner of our B&B. He sent us to Pizzeria Ai Marmi (which translates to Marble Pizza, because all the tables are marble). It seemed to be more of a locals place in Trastevere and there was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. Marco said he had been going here since he was a child! If you go, make sure you get the Zucchini blossoms and also the Carciofi alla Romana (fried artichoke).

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2

From 12/21/11 Italy Day 2