September's Postcard from Rome

After a long August break which took in five countries, planes, trains and boats, and lots of lovely friends and family, I went back to work first thing on Monday bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with a metaphorical case of newly sharpened pencils. My first appointment was at 6.15am at the Bulgari Hotel (which has a statue of Augustus on permanent loan from the Torlonia Collection in the lobby).

A pre-dawn Fascist evocation of Augustus opposite his Mausoleum on Monday morning. “…where the spirits of Augustus flit on the breezes…”. Piazza Augusto Imperatore

I was there to meet clients of the inestimable Bellini Travel for a private early morning spin around the Vatican Museums, just us and occasional folk wielding mops as we explored the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. Not a bad start to the new school year, so to speak.

Augustus, from the Torlonia Collection, Bulgari Hotel

During the course of the rest of the week I’ve taken folk to the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, the Jewish Quarter, churches across the Caelian Hill and in the Campus Martius, the (relatively) new Museum of the Forma Urbis, Trastevere, and Ostia Antica.

The Belvedere Torso, Vatican Museums

The “School of Athens”, Raphael, Vatican Palaces

On Tuesday afternoon I talked to a charming group exploring Rome and Assisi with The Catholic Traveler about Aeneas and Romulus and the origins of Rome in the Forum Boarium (more here in my first, free, podcast episode, and in this post Salt, the She Wolf, and Spin which has now emerged from its paywall).

“Mouth of Truth”, Santa Maria in Cosmedin during a downpour

We hid in the glorious Santa Maria in Cosmedin as the heavens opened and spoke of, well, pretty much everything from Tarquinius Priscus to Cosmatesque floors. The storm had scattered the crowds at the Mouth of Truth so folk were able to recreate the Roman Holiday moment too.

Dramatic light just before the storm, Santa Maria in Cosmedin

The reward after the storm

I also managed a free afternoon at the beach, with a foray to pay homage to Aeneas at Pratica di Mare, the site of ancient Lavinium, and an evening visit to see Patti Smith in concert at the ancient theatre at Ostia Antica. Relentlessly on-brand!

Baths of the Cisarii (cab drivers), Ostia Antica

The less direct but much more atmospheric (and bumpy) road to the beach

Christ in Judgement (and the heavens being rolled up by the angel in the top left corner: That’s All Folks!). The Oratory of St Sylvester, the Basilica of Ss Quattro Coronati

Vespers, fan, and quattrocento tabernacle (possibly by Andrea Bregno)

Late Imperial nymphaeum, Roman Houses under Ss Giovanni e Paolo al Celio

Cosmati work and wedding flowers, Ss Giovanni e Paolo

Public conveniences, Ostia Antica

Pyramid of Cestius, Porta San Paolo

Madonna del Parto, Sant’Agostino

All in all a splendid rientro: rich in variety, and in super company!

Tanti saluti da Roma!

Agnes