THE HAND OF GOD.

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Stefano

Sistine Chapel: the hand of God and Adam by Rome City Apartments

One of the key visuals of the Sistine Chapel (click here for a virtual tour of the Chapel) in Rome is the hand of God, and nobody would argue if we call Michelangelo, maybe the greatest artist of all times, the “hand of god” in the field of the fine arts. More recently the Argentinian football player Diego Armando Maradona, maybe the greatest footballer of all times, called himself the hand of god for other reasons (click here to see why). But as we don’t want to be blasphemous we will not call Michelangelo “the hand of god” and we will not call Diego Armando Maradona “the foot of God”, which would be more appropriate. As we don’t think we’re entitled to give a last judgment about the issue represented by the behavior of Maradona on the playground, we’d rather recount the chronicle of the making of the Sistine chapel, an absolute masterpiece of Arts which was made possible by the encounter of two hypertrophic egos such as Michelangelo Buonarroti and Pope Julius II. Continue reading →

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BREAD AND CIRCUSES.

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Stefano

The Colosseum as it was by Rome City Apartments

“Rome has been restored to herself” wrote the Spanish poet Martial when the “far-seen amphitheater” was nearing completion. “What was formerly a tyrant’s delight is now the delight of people”. The tyrant’s colossal column, the figure on the summit replaced by that of the sun-god, still stood nearby and it was possibly this, rather than the vast size of the Colosseum itself, that gave the amphitheater its name. The measurements were daunting. Its oval ground area, 617 feet long by 513 feet wide, enclosed an arena 282 feet by 177 feet. The surrounding walls rose in four storeys to a height of 187 feet. The top floor, an enclosed, colonnaded gallery, was reserved for women  and the poor, who sat on wooden seats; the floor immediately below this, also enclosed, was reserved for slaves and foreigners; beneath this were tiers of exposed marble seats, the higher for the middle class, the lower for more distinguished citizens. Just above the level of the ringside were the boxes of the Senators, magistrates, priests, Vestal Virgins and members of the Emperor’s family. High overhead on the roof of the topmost gallery were sailors expert in the handling of canvas whose duty it was to pull across a coloured awning to protect the spectators from rain or the heat of the sun. In all about fifty thousand spectators could be accommodated.
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It’s a kind of Magic.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Stefano

Rainbow Magicland in Rome by Rome City Apartments

Today some monsters came and took me and my sister and daddy and mommy to a magic place. Daddy says that they took us to a magic third dimension. At first I was a bit scared but then I jumped into daddy’s arms and he gave me a big hug so I was no longer scared.  I decided that I would be princess Belle, even if I like more Princess Aurora, and my sister princess Ariel, but without the fish queue as otherwise she could not walk. It was a marvelous trip and I liked very much the Ice cream. The Winx get their Ice Creams at the Frutti Music Bar, I’ve seen this on my daddy’s IPAD. We traveled with a space ship and after a while we arrived in front of the entrance of the Rainbow Magicland in the countryside of Rome, a city where there is also a countryside and the Colosseum, an old place where the gladiators were fighting and people were looking at them. The Magicland is an area where there are many magic things and where Bloom and Stella and Flora and Musa and Aisha and Techna are living. Also Roxy is there; the other Winx are telling her that she is a fairy but she doesn’t believe it, as she thinks she is a human being. But I think she is a fairy as I’ve seen in an episode that when she gets angry she turns into a fairy. But the real Winx are living in another planet, not in Magicland I think, but I ‘m not sure.

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I’M NOT AN ALIEN, I’M AN ENGLISH MAN IN TRASTEVERE.

Posted on April 27, 2012 by James Whiting

The church of Santa Maria in Trastevere by night - Rome City Apartments

Trastevere – the perfect stepping stone for discovering Rome’s treasures. Across the Tiber from Rome’s most famous attractions lies the neighbourhood of Trastevere.  James Whiting discovers another Roman jewel not to be missed.

Located in the nook of the west bank of the River Tiber, across from the old walls of the city, and just south of the Vatican, Trastevere is surely the most romantic, colourful neighbourhood to visit in Rome. But there’s more to discover than most visitors expect.

The charming cobbled streets, flanked by charismatic medieval houses, are awash with local and international sightseers by day. Come nightfall, bars and restaurants buzz with a hip mix of Italians and tourists. Narrow, zig-zagging laneways create a chaotic maze in which it is easy to lose your way… unless you have a good map and a seasoned navigator.

Initially, this town was not governed under ancient Rome and was named after its location across the river – tras translating as across, and Tevere the Italian name for the River Tiber. Despite its gentrification, the village within a city retains its rough, rustic edge. Continue reading →

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A MAN: THE FACE OF ROME, THE SOUL OF ITALY (Part 3).

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Stefano

The Liberty apartment by Rome City Apartments

In 1965, in the last episode in black and white of The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles sang “She’s got a ticket to ride“, but no one could imagine that the happy ride of the Western bourgeoisie was to finish soon. The first stop was felt sharply in 1962 when the Americans had been awakened in the middle of the night with the cold sweat of a nuclear fever of Caribbean origin. But then the sea eagle knocked out the Siberian bear and it seemed, at least for a while, that everything would continue as before. One morning, however, the world woke up and discovered that John Kennedy, the hope for a better world, had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on 11 November 1963, 12.30 local time; then it turned out that Vietnam was a dirty war and soon the young Westerners discovered that the dreams of Martin Luther King had been killed before they were even born, and so they chose to screw up the world built by their fathers, and therefore the ’68 arrived. The sons decided to disown their fathers and preferred to declare themselves the flower children and to make love instead of war; it seemed that the pollen of the flower children could also take root in the east, and in fact there was a very early spring in 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia . Soon, however, the spring flowers of Bohemia were crushed by steel and in the east everything started again, just as before. In the West, however, change and social conflict crept deep into the 70s and  the world will never be the same again. Continue reading →

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A MAN: THE FACE OF ROME, THE SOUL OF ITALY (Part 2).

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Stefano

 

Alberto Sordi and Claudia Cardinale

If in antiquity the world ended with the Pillars of Hercules, in the 50ies the border of the world is the Iron Curtain. Everything is simple, so to speak: on one side the good ones, on the other side the bad ones. Obviously, on which side are the good ones and on which are the bad ones is just a matter of points of view. The raise of Communism, despite the death of Stalin, seems unstoppable and soon Cuba will become a thorn in the heart of the United States. The Reds have already figured out that we’re living in a small planet, so the Sputnik is rocketed into the space. Despite western propaganda pictures the Bolsheviks as ready to turn into Dr. Strangelove, Sting, with the power of poetry, will ask us years later “Do the Russians love their children too?”. Despite this, those were times of optimism and economic growth in the Western world, and the fundamental values ​​of the middle-class families were not yet questioned. Certainly, the raise of Elvis the Pelvis brings a fresh and non-conventional sensuality in the air . Those were years when, due to the emergence of a strong and extensive middle class, modern democracy lived its best years. However the duo Mc Carthy – Hoover begins to sow a poison on the slippery ground of the individual rights: according to this poisonous concept, in some “emergency” cases, a democratic state may suspend the respect of the democratic rights that he had established. The problem, as we shall see later, is to ask who and when and for how long – and in what circumstances-may determine exceptions, that may not remain exceptions once disregarded, whatever the reason.

 

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A MAN: THE FACE OF ROME, THE SOUL OF ITALY (Part 1).

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Stefano

Alberto Sordi in the movie "An American in Roma", by Rome City Apartments

Rarely, if ever, an actor can be so strongly identified with a city, so one can say: Alberto Sordi is Rome and Rome is Alberto Sordi. Alberto Sordi is the Roman par excellence, and perhaps more: he represents the “average” Italian, the Italian character in all its aspects, in all its facets, both positives and negatives but, allegedly, for the sake of the comedy, in the scripts of his films a greater emphasis was put on depicting the defects of the Italian character. In over 150 films spanning 61 years of Italian history, from 1937, the year in which he appeared for the first time on the big screen with a small part in the costume drama “Scipio Africanus“, to 1998, when he turned his latest film, “Incontri proibiti“, Italy has been radically transformed, often going through dramatic changes. In 1937 already blew the winds of war in Europe, but Fascist Italy seemed relatively sheltered, Mussolini was carrying on an imperialist policy for the first time in modern Italian history and the consequences will be dire. In 1998 we are at the eve of the third millennium, Italy has already experienced periods of powerful economic growth as well as economic downturns, the habits and customs are radically changed, we have already entered the era of the Internet and, soon, another dramatic event will ensure that nothing more will be as before.

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FOLLOWING THE ETRUSCAN PATHS.

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Stefano

The beach of Fregene by Rome City Apartments

It’s no doubt that spring and summer are the best times to visit Rome. In addition to the many attractions offered by the Eternal City  -and that everyone knows- starting from the Colosseum to St. Peter’s, from Piazza Navona to the Spanish Steps, etc., you will have the opportunity to make trips in and around the city. We already have suggested some in this blog such as Ostia Antica. But there are many others and in this article I want to propose a day trip on the northern coast of Rome, visiting Cerveteri and Fregene. It is worth noting that this trip is ideal for families with children, because they will have the opportunity to freely enjoy the beautiful beach of Fregene and the magnificent Etruscan countryside around Cerveteri. We recommend renting a car to enjoy this day of freedom, since the area has not decent transport connections. From the center of Rome go west through the Vatican, then take the Aurelia and enter the GRA (Grande Raccordo Anulare), take the GRA direction Fiumicino and the join the Rome-Civitavecchia motorway. After a few kilometers you will find the exit for Fregene.

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Is the glamour of Via Veneto fading away?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Paulanthony

Anita Ekberg in the 50ies by Rome City Apartments

Via Vittorio Veneto winds majestically  upwards from Piazza Barberini and is flanked by imposing, century old magnolia trees, laid  upon colourful, tastily arranged flowers beds,  whose leaved branches provide the much needed shade for explorers  in the hot summer months. The street takes its name from the victory of Italia over the Austrian-Hungarian empire in 1918, which took place in the city of Vittorio Veneto, in Treviso, in the north of Italy, and marked the end of the war. It’s famous, above all, for its association with the world renowned, Italian film director, Fellini, who immortalized this street in the hearts of the Italians and the world with his film, The Sweet Life ( La Dolce Vita) , in 1960, featuring  the incredibly beautiful  Swedish actress Anita Ekberg and the Italian actor, Marcello Mastroianni, who, by the way,  is one of few actors to have ever twice received an award as best actor in Cannes. In short, this street has always been frequented by  celebrities and the high life, thus you’ll find gracious, elegant bars whose inviting canopies  litter the sidewalks, the staff in waist-coats and  uniforms,  calmly attending their next VIP. One of my dear friends, Michael, always stays here in a rental when he comes to Rome because of the memories it inspires.

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THE MYSTERY OF THE GANGSTER ENTOMBED IN THE ROMAN BASILICA OF SANT’APOLLINARE.

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Stefano

"Renatino" and Sabrina Minardi in the TV serie.

This is a story of angels and demons, but it’s not a fiction by Dan Brown. It’s reality. However, we would have preferred it to be just a fiction with a gangster, a bishop, a politician and a teen-age girl as main characters, so to speak. A fiction where those that were supposed to play as angels preferred to act as demons and the demons remained demons. In short: it was hell, with still no redemption on earth, just for the pure one, teen Emanuela Orlandi that disappeared the 22nd of June 1983, when she was going back home from her music class, around 7.30 pm, in the mild temperature of a Roman early summer evening. Yesterday Mr Uòlter Veltroni, former mayor of Rome for nearly 8 years and runner up at the Italian political elections of 2008 Vs. Mr. Berlusconi, added a new chapter to the criminal saga of the Banda delle Magliana, by officially asking to the Interior Ministry in charge, Mrs Anna Maria Cancellieri, how comes that a gangster, “Renatino” de Pedis, is entombed in the papal crypt of the Roman basilica of Sant’Apollinare, without the necessary permission of the same Ministry. The entombment was made in 1990, more than 20 years ago.

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