I wasn't expecting THIS much snow!!!!

No wonder these poor river gods in Piazza del Popolo look disgruntled -- snow in Rome! And a lot of it (especially for Rome.)

It began to fall mid-day Friday and continued through the night. I was really shocked when I rose at 7 a.m. Saturday to see how much snow had fallen. Parts of Rome saw up to 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) of snow, the most seen here since the mid-1980s. The City of Roma ordered cars without chains off the streets, and many buses just couldn't make it up Rome's hills.

I had an appointment early Saturday morning for a chest X-ray, due to my raging cough, and the clinic was near Piazza del Popolo, allowing me to get these photos. The clinic was understandably flooded with real emergencies, so I'll return next week.

Meanwhile, I'll stay home and wait for the snow to pass -- unlike many Romans who are running about taking photos of this rare phenomena.

A few days in Assisi

With my brother visiting me in Rome for three weeks, we have the time to indulge in some very Slow Travel!

A few days ago, we headed up to Assisi, one of my favourite places, so Kelly could see the hometown of St. Francis and its many beautiful sites.

It was a bit cold up in the mountains, as you can see by the ice on this poor lion in the fountain in Assisi's central piazza!

But we also had clear blue skies most of the time, perfect for exploring:

Such a beautiful town!

And I always love the reliefs on Assisi's ancient churches:

Thanks to my blogging friend Annie, I now keep an eye out for lovely street shrines. This one stood a little too directly in the sun, so Mary and baby Jesus are in shadows. Still, it was lovely and very well kept.

Best of all, my dear friend Letizia came down to pick up my brother and me and take us up to her beautiful home so Kelly could see the gorgeous countryside above Assisi -- and taste her delicious crostada!

Want to buy a palazzo in Rome?

My brother Kelly is visiting from Canada (for three weeks -- gulp!) So, I haven't had any spare time to blog.

But I did come across this article from Britain's Daily Mail, which I found fascinating. By my calculations, the asking price would be about $50 million.

"A magnificent Renaissance palace grafted on to the top of an ancient Roman theatre has been put up for sale in Italy for 26-million pounds.

"The Palazzo Orsini in Rome is being sold by the family of an Anglo-American artistocrat who sheltered escaped Allied prisoners of war during the Second World War. Its asking price is thought to make it the most expensive property currently on sale in the Italian capital, and one of the most expensive in Europe.

"And you can understand why when you consider palaces like this only come on to the market once every few hundred years.

"The 11,000 sq ft property has frescoed staterooms, a ballroom, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a library, a dining room, a terrace, a separate penthouse and cellars.

"The building, with a garden full of fountains and orange trees, is built on top of the still-standing stone and marble shell of the Theatre of Marcellus, dating from the 1st century BC,  which resembles a mini- Colosseum.

"Named after Marcus Marcellus, the nephew of Emperor Augustus, the open-air auditorium allowed 11,000 spectators to watch dramatic and singing performances.

"It was allowed to ruin over the centuries as a series of noblemen and their families moved in before the Orsini clan made it their home in the 1600s. They built a palace on top of the ruins of the ancient theatre and gave it its current name, Palazzo Orsini.

"The daughter of an American diplomat and an Anglo-Irish peer, Dame Iris Origo was born Iris Cutting in 1902 and became a marchesa after marrying an Italian aristocrat, Antonio Origo.

"Her book about her wartime experiences in Tuscany, 'War in the Val'D'Orcia, an Italian War Diary', is regarded as a classic.

"During the war she bought an estate near Siena in Tuscany with her husband and looked after refugee children and local families displaced by the fighting, as well as escaped POWs and Allied airmen who were trying to make their way through German lines.

"The diary she kept of her experiences from 1943-1944 was critically acclaimed and described by a New York Times reviewer as 'remarkably moving' when it was published in 1984 – four years before she died, aged 85.

"The palazzo, which she rented and then bought in the 1950s, has an illustrious past. Construction of the Theatre of Marcellus, which could seat 20,000 people, was begun by Julius Caesar but it was completed in 11BC by the emperor Augustus, who named it after his favourite nephew."

Museo Ebraico di Roma

Rome's Jewish Museum, part of the Great Synagogue (Tempio Maggiore) is a fascinating look into another culture, religion, and tradition.

Rome's Jewish community is integral to the city's history, woven into its social fabric. So it seems odd that I hadn't ever visited before!

I confess it was, in part, because I was a bit intimidated and frankly, didn't realize how simple it was to visit. Go to the museum entrance, pay the 10-euro entry fee, and a guided tour (in English or Italian) that includes the Great Synagogue and the intimate Spanish Synagogue, is included.

When I mentioned this to my friend D., who is visiting from Ottawa, she was also keen to see it. We've been doing a bit of exploring of Second World War sites in Rome (including the memorial commemorating the Ardeatine massacre) so we continued with our theme.

Of course, the history of the Jewish people in Rome long predates the Second World War and the infamous roundups that occurred in the Ghetto in 1943.

Rome has had an uninterrupted Jewish community for 20 centuries -- 2,000 years! Records and artifacts dating as far back as 1555 are included in the museum, as well as descriptions of the history of the city and its Jewish population; and explanations of cultural and religious traditions.

From the museum's website:

     "In the Middle Ages, during the papal rule, Rome hosted an important Rabbinical Academy and was a center for the production of precious illuminated manuscripts. The Jewish Community counted men of science and culture in its midst, scholars who were a bridge between Latin culture and Islam.

     "In 1492 the expulsion of the Jews from Spain encouraged in Rome the encounter of two important but different traditions: the local and the Sephardic from the Iberian Peninsula.

     "The following years saw in Europe tensions and religious wars that caused the worsening of the conditions of the Jews of Rome. In 1553 the burning of the Talmud was ordered. from then on, and for over three centuries, possession and reading of the most important book for Jewish culture was forbidden. This contributed to the cultural (decline) of Roman Judaism.

     "In 1555 Pope Paul IV Carafa ordered that all the Jews living in the State of the Church should be locked up in the ghetto: a prison-quarter, in which the Jews had to live after having lost all their civil rights. They could not own property, they couldn't choose the job they wanted, couldn't have a friendly relationship with Christians.

     "The ghetto of Rome was created on the Tiber banks. The other ghettos of the Pope were opened in Ancona and Avignon. Between 3,000 and 7,000 people lived in the area, depending on the periods. The population was made up of artisans, rag-sellers and the poor, but also of bankers ( till 1682) and businessmen selling art objects and furnishing: textiles, furniture and carriages.

     "In 1870, when the State of the Church fell, Rome was united with Italy and the ghetto was opened and soon after demolished. For the Roman Jews it was the beginning of the emancipation: the most visible result of this period was the construction of the Great Synagogue, inaugurated in 1904 and built on the area of the former ghetto.

     "The Fascist Racial Laws of 1938 abruptly ended this period of tranquillity. In 1943 the Germans entered the City, deporting 2, 091 Roman Jews to Auschwitz.

     "The community only started to recover from this grieving in the years after the war. In 1967, with the arrival of many refugees from Libya, the number of the Jews in Rome raised to about 15.000 people and it has remained stable since.

     "The Roman Jews have suffered a terrible terrorist attack in 1982 - a child died and many people were injured - but have also rejoiced in 1986 for the visit to the Great Synagogue of the Pope John Paul II."

   

What the well-dressed Roman is wearing this season.

Hooves and horns are optional, as is the goat side-kick with the second outfit (to follow.)

Please note the elegant drape of the lion skin and cunning display of claws.

Here, we see two paws draped with a certain insouciance, across the Roman man's chest.

And the lion's head and teeth add a jaunty touch at the top!

This faun may be young, but look how he exhibits his bold fashion sense with the cloak styled from a horned goat (as his sidekick looks on.)

But I think the tail really makes this outfit!

The visitor on the right can look through GQ all he wants; these boys are too fashion forward to even be in print!

Again, hooves and horns are optional but this more mature satyr is going all out!

In addition to his full-fur thighs, the satyr has selected a small animal (perhaps a cougar) as his minimal shoulder wrap. Perhaps the furry thighs keep this satyr warm enough as is.


Photos taken today at Rome's Capitoline Museums

Boxing Day sales in Trajan's Markets!

Okay, the Mercati di Traiano have been closed for many, many centuries so there were really no Boxing Day sales to be had. Forgive the lame joke; perhaps I got too much sun today clambering among the ruins!

But it was interesting to have a good look around these markets, which are located conveniently close to my house. A relatively new museum, the Museo die Fori Imperiali, was opened a few years ago over part of the ancient markets, to display artifacts found during various excavations.

Trajan's markets were built in AD 100-110 for the Emperor Trajan, as part of an entire Trajan's Forum; which was, in turn, part of the system of Imperial Forums. Those included the fori of Caesar, Augustus, Nerva, and the Templum Pacis.

And, of course, there's the magnificent Trajan's Column, which tells the stories of the Emperor's exploits and great victory in the Dacian Wars, in a spiraling series of figures. Better than a comic book or graphic novel!

The Pope and me: Christmas Eve at the Vatican

It was quite a show: St. Peter's, perhaps the largest church in Christendom, packed right up to the mosaics with devoted laypeople, awestruck priests and pretty young nuns, dignitaries, a few babies, and me. A cafeteria Catholic, by my brother's description (because I pick and chose what aspects of the Catholic faith I can accept, and what I must reject.)

We were all there to join the Pope in celebrating Christmas Eve Mass, in the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica (photo above from Reuters.)

I just thanked the Lord, in all sincerity, to finally have a seat in which to place my tired old self. Almost three hours queuing in the Piazza San Pietro was more exhausting than I had expected. The line was enormous, snaking twice around the vast piazza as those of us who had been fortunate enough to get a ticket waited to actually get inside.  

First, the wind came up. Then, the rain began -- not heavily, just enough to give us all a chill. My feet began to really hurt.

Fascinated, I watched as two young priests -- one Irish, one French -- moved up and down the line, trying to find a couple of spare tickets so they could get inside for the Papal Mass. A woman from Austria asked me where she could find the Vatican.

And when officials finally opened the doors of St. Peter's Basilica, it was like some midnight madness sale at an electronics warehouse. People actually sprinted through the security area and raced up the enormous steps to get inside and grab a seat. Many were still left standing at the back throughout the two-hour long Mass and many, many more were left outside.

The music was divine, the setting so very beautiful. The Pope, who entered to applause, was wheeled up to the main altar of St. Peter's while standing on the motorized platform that he now uses. According to media reports, the Vatican explains the platform helps the Pope to conserve his strength, allows more people to see him, and protects him from attacks such as one two years ago when a woman jumped at the Pope on his way in to Christmas Eve Mass, knocking him to the floor.

The Pope delivered his homily in Italian, lamenting the commercialization of Christmas. Rather than reducing the occasion to a shopping experience, people around the world should rediscover the true meaning of Christmas in the humble birth of the Christ child.

According to media reports, Christmas Eve Mass with the Pope was moved up to 10 p.m. from midnight several years ago to spare him a very late night that is followed by an important Christmas Day speech.

I had a long walk home after Mass, about an hour through the still-bustling streets of Rome. It felt so good to be there, and to still be here today, and to know that I'll be here tomorrow.