Josh and I went to visit the church situated up above the adjacent Piazza Michelangelo -- Santa Maria di Aracoeli. It's located up a very long flight of stairs (124 to be exact) -- enough to dissuade Charlotte from venturing out of the car and into the rain. So we left Charlotte and Olivia in the car and took Avery on our expedition.
Santa Maria di Aracoeli (St. Mary of the altar in the sky) was built on top of the ancient Temple to Juno and dates back to at least the 6th century. It's 22 columns are taken from various ancient building; it has a fabulous fresco by Pinturichio from the 1480's in one of the chapels; and its elaborate ceiling with naval motifs, commerates the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni who's dragon crest is found near the altar. The church is best known, however, for an icon with apparently miraculous powers --the Santo Bambino -- a 15th century olive wood figure of the Christ child carved out of a tree from the garden of Gethsemane (the original was stolen and a replica now sits in its place). Josh was very taken with this church, and it was really very lovely. We had Avery hunting around for the skull and crossbones carvings on the tombstones located on the marble floor.
By the time we returned to our illegally parked car, the kids were all grumpy and tired. We went home for lunch. Then, Charlotte went to swim practice; Avery took a nap; Olivia played on the laptop; Josh watched the Giro; and I took a bath!
Tonight we went with Brad and Janice to a restaurant in centro called Grana. We all agreed the food was excellent; much better than last night. And, in honor of the Giro finish, we ordered our favorite wine: the Rosso di Montalcino (today's stage was a muddy finish in the town of Montalcino).
Tonight was the Notte dei Musei when all the monuments and museums in Rome are open for free from 8pm to 2am. We had a big evening planned. After dinner, we first we took our guests to see the Pantheon. It was kind of cool to be there while it was raining out since the rain comes right comes in through the oculus. The lack of crowds was also welcome. Then, we walked over to Piazza Navona to see Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiume (representing the Nile, Danube, Ganges and the River Plate). Here, we coordinated a meeting with our friends Jules and Carol along with another high school friend of Josh's who was visiting from L.A. Together, we walked over to visit the Palazzo Altemps.
Afterwards, we left, Jules, Carol and Mark, and drove over to the Mercati di Traiano -- Trajan's market. Built around 100 AD, this structure housed the shopping area for the ancient people of Rome, where free wheat was distributed alongside taverns and grocer's shops. The upper levels of the market were used for offices while the lower part, in front of Trajan's Forum, had shops selling oil, wines, seafood, groceries, vegetables and fruit. Later, medieval houses were built on the top floor. The restoration of these ruins is wonderful and also offers fantastic views of Trajan's Forum and the Vittoriano. Tonight, in honor of the Notte dei Musei, the face of Trajan was projected on to one whole side of the market. Similarly, as we drove by, we noticed that the Piazza on the Campidoglio was completely lit up in blue. Undeterred by the on-and-off-again rain, tons of people out on the street, and many were inside the Museum that is Trajan's Market as well.
By the time we left, it was after 1am, and we were all tired. Time to go home. When we arrived, we were greeted by a couple of slugs in the kitchen; they too needed refuge from all the rain.
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