To Visit and Revisit ~ To see again

Today I wanted to see how difficult it would be for me to walk to the Stazione Termini from my apartment because I leave on Saturday morning for Puglia.  It’s really no problem at all, even with luggage so that plan is done!  Anyway, Stazione Termini is my old stomping grounds, the hotel I like to stay in for short visits is right there and so it made me think about this time 6 years ago when I was in Rome, on my way to Viterbo, as a FIDA.  So magical.  I was reflecting on that time as I visited the churches and museums around there and I remember being SO captivated AND so grateful. 

And I still am!

How can one be unmoved by Santa Maria della Vittoria and its exquisite Ecstasy of St Theresa by Bernini?

How can one walk through the magnificent Palazzo Massimo, one of the National Museums of Rome, and not be gobsmacked by the aesthetic of Roman sculpture?

And the countless faces, some of famous people and many of just anonymous Romans?  All those faces.  It is said that Rome had more statues than people.  Forse, si?

And then to head over to the Diocletian Baths because maybe this year, maybe, they might be open.  Alas, no.  However, right next to it is the glorious Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.  Massive, huge columns, and seems to be full of a golden mist. 

According to legend, in 1541 a Sicilian monk named Antonia del Duca had a vision of the Archangel Uriel among the ruins of these roman baths.  We love it when Archangels drop in because it’s usually with such awesome style.  Apparently Pope Pius IV thought it was v v groovy so he commissioned a church to be built where this vision occurred…. And he got the big guy, Michelangelo, to design it. 

But one of the super interesting things to see is this ‘meridian line.’  During the 18^th century, Pope Clement XI caught that 18^th century fascination with gadgets and science and astronomy and he assigned Francesco Branchini to build a sundial of sorts.  The Pope wanted to ‘check the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar, and to have a tool with which to predict Easter with serious accuracy.  Every day at noon, the sun shines through a small hole and casts its shadow on the line.  Too fabulous.  There is another one of these at Santa Maria Novella in Florence. 

 I am so inspired!  The human imagination….. wow.

My dinner was not really imaginative, but it was buonissimo. Pappardelle with pesto and zuchini.