Post-Apocalyptic Rome

7/20/08

Since it was a Sunday we figured that the only appropriate thing to do was to church hop. So we went to St. Ivo (closed despite the sign displaying their apparently incorrect opening hours), Il Gesu (which we caught Mass at but because we know neither Italian or Latin barely understood although Bobby could decipher what part they were at by what the people were doing) and then up to the Quirinale (Bernini decorated this one) and then to Bobby's favorite, Quattro Fontagna. It was done by Borromini and features an oval-shaped dome instead of a circular one. It is quite a small church but it is all white inside and is definitely the most tastefully designed of all the churches we have seen. Bobby got some absolutely awesome shots of the sun coming in through the windows at the top.

After the church we grabbed a quick bite from a student-geared cafe recommended by our guide book. Because we had the book in our hands they gave us free drinks and potato chips. We ate our lunch in the park that sits on top of the ruins of Nero's Golden House. There appeared to be some sort of Mexican or Spanish soccer tournament taking place as huge families speaking Spanish and grilling carne asada were watching the game being played on the dirt field.

After the Nero Soccer Game Bobby and I ventured out to EUR. EUR is Mussolini's exhibition city and is basically a grouping of wide streets, obelisks, mosaic propaganda and large white futuristic looking buildings. The place was eerily empty and so we ended up filming a short film set in our post-apocalyptic surroundings pretending that any car that passed by was full of vigilante with machine guns. After EUR we ventured out for our final dinner in Rome. Traditionally we had some proscuitto pizza and finished the meal with frutti di bosco and chocolate fondente gelato.