Rome Monday

Monday was a day for wandering. One reason for this is that most of Rome is closed on Monday. Almost all the museums are, and some of the other venues we wanted to see were as well. It is also important to note that plenty of churches close between 1:00 and 3:00 PM.

We started out from the apartment and headed down Vittorio Emmanuel to take ourselves roughly to the St Mary in Victory church. That is where Bernini’s statue of St Theresa in Ecstasy is located.

But before we got there, we walked by the Largo Argentina, which is famous for its cats. The way I heard the story is that the city was building a metro stop, and came across some Roman Ruins. This is what they got!



We then walked up the Corso, had a coffee, and stopped by the Palazzo Barbieri. It was closed, of course, but we had been in there before. The last of the Barbieris was still living there until the late 1990s.

A quick glance a the four fountains, and we soon found ourselves at the small Santa Maria della Vittoria ((St Mary’s of Victory) church with the statue mentioned above. Nice small church with an incredible statue.

Then we walked over to the Baths of Dioclitian and the Santa Maria della Angeli (St Mary of the Angels) church, whose only redeeming feature is a Meridian Line.

A quick wander around our old neighborhood, and we had lunch at Target Pizza.

We quickly walked down to se St Mary Maggiori, where Bernini is buried, and they have Jesus’ crib.

Leaving SMM, we wanted to go to St Peter in Chains to see the Michelangelo’s Moses (the one with horns) and St Peter’s chains. But it was closed.

We walked down in front of the Coliseum via a back route usually covered with Gypsies. No Gypsies! We didn’t have any intention of going into the Coliseum, but we did want to walk through the Forum. Well, nowadays you have to buy a ticket! It was €9 for the Forum, the Coliseum, and the Palatine Hill. Since all we wanted to do was walk through, instead we walked around.

En route home we stopped at the St Mary Cosmadin church. This is where St Valentine is interned. (it is also where the Boca de Verita – Mouth of Truth – is located. Made famous by the movie Roman Holiday)

We tried to stop at the Campo di Fiori and pick up something for supper, but all the stalls were just shutting down. We got some peaches, though. They are excellent!