mistero...

What is this mysterious object? Anyone who's been to Rome has seen it virtually everywhere...
Today is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community, and the topic of this month is MYSTERIOUS OBJECTS. Please click on the link to see more mysterious objects from around the world!

pigneto_1

Pigneto is the "it" contemporary culture neighborhood. I like the relaxed vibe, the rainbow of cultures that populate its humble perpendicular alleys and wide tree-lined streets, the shabby-chic bars and edgy boutiques that sit adjacent to the old corner shops that still sell buttons and zippers to local housewives. To spend a lazy day at Necci, window shop at the Iossieliani flagship store, or just for the great restaurants and wine bars, I take numerous buses and cross the train tracks into the gritty pedestrian-only Via del Pigneto, and stroll in the footsteps of Anna Magnani and Franco Citti, in the original filming location of Pasolini's Accattone and Rossellini's Roma Città Aperta.

arrivederci

Our vacation in the breezy Tuscan getaway is over, alas.
We return to a sweltering Rome, with the memory of pink sunsets in our eyes, wet bathing suits, and enough stored energy to tackle the challenges of the Fall.

Arrivederci, Villa Rucellai...

musei vaticani

unità

Italy celebrated its 150th anniversary as a unified nation last week, and it was a holiday. Green, white and red flags and decorations fluttered everywhere, schools closed for the day, and many people took Friday off for "ponte."
Here is the relaxed line for a table at a typical Roman trattoria.

altar of peace

Richard Meier museum, housing the Augustan Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis is an altar to Peace envisioned as a Roman Goddess. You can see a portion of it to the right of the picture. It was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return of the Roman emperor Augustus, from territories now known as France and Spain. It was then consecrated 4 years later to celebrate the peace established in the Empire after Augustus's victories. The altar sought to portray the peace and fertile prosperity enjoyed in Rome as a consequence of the Pax Augusta, The Augustan Peace.

The 2006 Ara Pacis Museum, designed by the noted American architect Richard Meier, was at one point in danger of being demolished or relocated to a suburban site.

Rome’s newly elected Mayor, Alemmano had announced at a news conference that “Meier's building is a construction to be scrapped.”

What is your opinion on this Roman controversy?

In the meantime, while you ponder this, head over to Newton Area Photo for more  

Weekend Reflections

auditorium parco della musica {1}

three giant armadillos

"The most fascinating adventure for an architect is constructing a concert hall."

~Renzo Piano

Up a gentle slope above where part of the old Olympic Village housing development used to be, stand the Rome Auditorium's three music halls; a sequence of large armadillo-like volumes of different sizes. The three "harmonic chambers" are immersed in a 50 acre green area and embrace a large theatrical cavea–an open air 3,000 seat amphitheater–which hosts many different events and seasonal activities, from outdoor performances in the summer to an ice skating rink at Christmas.

I like to come here and either hang out at the ReD cafe sitting in one of the pointy whicker pod loungers, or enjoy the sunlight with my son in the elevated playground.

I'll be posting more images of the Auditorium soon.

tombino

Rome manhole cover

S.P.Q.R. stands for the Latin phrase, Senatus PopulusQue Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome" referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic.
S.P.Q.R. is the motto of the city of Rome and appears in the city's coat of arms, as well as on many of the city's civic buildings, manhole covers, drinking fountains and municipal establishments.

fango

reflections in the mud

It has been raining so much that the river Tiber has reached alert levels. When the water exceeds the containing walls, substantial areas of the city become vulnerable to the river's occasional transgressions.
Last year around the holiday season, Rome feared the Tiber would burst its banks after days of rain and thunderstorms. The mayor declared a state of emergency after severe storms flooded underpasses, disrupted train and flight services and killed one person.
Hopefully this year this won't happen.

suburra

Rione I

The Suburra is the modern Italian name for a neighborhood of Rome, also known as Rione Monti; it is Rome's oldest district, a patchwork of ancient Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and other architectural styles that cover 2,500 years of history. In Antiquity, the Suburra was a dangerous, seedy lower class area that was also notorious as a red-light district. There were however also dwellings of more distinguished families, and this is shown by the fact that Julius Caesar was born here.
La Suburra lies in the dip between the southern end of the Viminale and the western end of the Esquiline hill, the Quirinale and the Colle Oppio.

cinquecento

Fiat 500, the original

This rusty and battered old Fiat 500 has been parked in the same spot for years. I walk by it every day. I have noticed the interior upholstering is well-cared for and frequently dusted. The flyers and ads planted under the windshield wipers get cleared off every so often. It is not an abandoned car. I'm curious of its story.