22 Martedi: Jewish Ghetto, Capitoline Museum and Runny-Egg Pizza

Monday night it rained and Dan & I were treated to the mercy of nearly silent streets. Tuesday we planned to use our second day's worth of free admission and transportation on our Roma cards by seeing the Musei Capitolini. The Roma Archaeologica Card is a smart way for folks with an interest in antiquities and art to see major sites with discounted admissions and transportation. You will pay 11 euros for admission to the Colosseum and 7,80 for the Capitoline Museum, so the Card is well worth its 20 euro price. Unless of course you go to MACRO, but that's another story.

We began with a quick breakfast, followed by downloading and e-mailing at Good. At some point I began to be really interested in the doors in Rome. Most doors, whether they're to residences, shops or restaurants, are double doors that open inward and are often decorated. Some have interesting knockers (!), some have decoration of some kind above or around the door, and many have a grating above the doors themselves. Most of them look quite old, and it's disconcerting to see people in modern dress coming out. They aren't all lovely either, some are dark and look as though their purpose is to close something in or out, something very old.

We found some postcards and stamps at the tobacchi and I began to write cards and mail them out to my folks. So far I'd found souvenirs in Rome to be problematic. Either you can buy expensive designer clothing and accessories, or beautiful, fragile glass that will get crushed on the way home, or you can buy the wildly tacky stuff that is everywhere. Some of my favorites included the Colosseum keychain that resembles a tiny pair of dentures, the boxer shorts or apron featuring the frontage of Michaelangelo's David (some feature David's enhanced frontage), many gladii (Roman short swords), and calendars of stills from Roman Holiday or of cute priests. I even managed to get a postcard of an areal view of the Colosseum filled with spaghetti that I sent to my friend Wulfie who appreciates the tacky and the absurd as much as I do.

We headed off through the Jewish Ghetto, visiting first the remains of the Portico d'Ottavia and the Teatro di of Marcello. Both, like many of Rome's antiquities, are in the process of ongoing excavation, and entrance is fairly restricted. Augustus improved upon an existing structure during the first century BC to create the Portico, and named it in honor of his sister. It was later used for several centuries as a fish market. The nearby Theater of Marcellus is particularly interesting as one of those buildings in which the many layers of reuse and addition are clearly visible. This rounded structure on which the Colosseum is modeled is comprised of registers of arches, many of which have clearly been restored. Atop the ancient part one can see the medieval fortifications added much later.

The Musei Capitolini, the world's oldest public museum, is actually a group of three buildings, the Palazzo Nuovo, the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the center Senatorium. The Musei are set around an open piazza designed by Michaelangelo, bounded by twin statues of Castor and Polux and centered by a bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius. The Palazzo Nuovo is filled with statuary, including the Dying Gaul. The Palazzo Conservatori houses bronzes and Renaissance art and bronzes,in particular the Capitoline She-Wolf. In the courtyard are impressive chunks of the much-photographed Colossus of Constantine, and Dan and I were able to get a photo together in front of his sizable head. We had a chilly lunch of tramezzini atop the Nuovo, where one could see some one of the best views of Rome, including the Forum and the rooftops with San Pietro in the distance. Somewhere between the buildings (?) we found an underground passageway filled with epigraphy and excellent restrooms.

That night we treated ourselves by splitting a pizza capricciosa with runny egg at Cave Canem. In addition I enjoyed the ravioli with butter and sage that I'd been dreaming of for months and Dan had pasta with sausage and mushrooms.