third day in rome (july 28)

the great coffee place paola´s dad took us to (i actually liked the coffee).


some churches poala´s dad took us to.


Paola’s dad came into town, and spent the day with us today. he had to come in on official business anyway, so it was convenient for all of us. we met up with him, and had lunch around one oclock.

before that, we tried to go to john cabot university to speak with a dean there. john cabot university is an american university here in rome. in fact, it is right around the corner from where we are staying, so it was easy to get to. paola’s dad had called a friend of his (who teaches there) for me to see if i might get a job teaching philosophy there. it is certainly a long long shot, but a shot nonetheless. the person with whom i wanted to meet with was having a meeting, so i didnt have an opportunity to meet; perhaps tomorrow.

after having lunch, the three of us went around trying to see whatever might inspire us to look deeper. with paola’s dad as a sort of guide, it added interesting points to what would have otherwise been over looked. there were churches that he took us to that were very interesting (to me) that i am certain we would have missed. the first church was san luigi de franco, a french church. the other three churches had names that i dont remember, but i would remember how to return there. the three churches (despite the fact that the first was closed) all had great paintings by carravaggio (one of my favorite painters, as i have previously stated). the french church was closed (as luck would have it, it is closed on thursday afternoons), but has three paintings based on st. matthew’s life (i think i know the paintings, based on paola’s dad’s description, but i’m not sure). in any case, he took us to another church that we had passed by on the first day here, but had no desire to enter. if we had, as we did today, we would have seen a great painting by caravaggio. it was of two peasants bowing before mary, who is holding a young jesus. as with all of caravaggio’s paintings, it has a great show of contrasting light. also, as is in a lot of his work, there is some sort of vulgarity (for the time). the feet of the peasants are in the foreground, with the bottoms facing the viewer, and are dirty (as peasant feet would be), as are the feet of mary, a peasant herself. this sort of thing was frowned upon in caravaggio’s time, and that being the case, many of his paintings were rejected by the church, and those who had commissioned him to paint. the same holds true in the paintings in the third church that we went to. the first painting was the crucifiction of st peter, who was the first pope, and an apostle of jesus (whose name is used for st peter’s basilica in rome, that we went to yesterday), and was crucified upside down. again, there is great contrasts of light, and realism and naturalism that was not looked favorably for such religious themes. in the second painting in the same church, someone is being trampled by a horse. (again, i know it was a religious figure, but i was unable to find out who it was since just at that moment, they kicked us out of the area in the front of the church (where caravaggio’s paintings were) to the back becuase a wedding ceremony was about to start (it was a rather small party, but impressive nonetheless since a real service was being preformed in one of these great churches). the vulgarity in this picture is that the horses rear end is in the foreground, and takes up most of the pictoral space, and as such, was considered improper for a church (despite the fact that it now resides in one).

certainly teh paintings impressed me. but what also impressed me was that in all of these little churches that can be found around rome, great works of art can be seen in a real setting as it was inteneded (as opposed to a museum). i am sure that there has to be some sort of book published that tells about all of the art of various artists that can be seen around rome, or italy, or europe, or whatever have you. it would take a bit of research on my part, but if there is no such book, i think that i should write it and try to publish it. it felt so much more real to just walk into a church that is accessible to everyone, and see a great masterpiece of art.

paola’s dad also described to us all sorts of interesting architectural facts about the different buildings around town that we passed. one was the current french embassy. i saw it and took a picture. there were two cops out front and one of them had a machine gun (a curious site that we see at different points throughout the city). he saw me take the picture then pointed at me to go to him. apparently people are not allowed to take pictues of the embassies. he spoke to me in italian, but he might as well have been mumbling jibberish the whole time. in any case, i understood that i was to erase the picture from my digital camera. the whole time he was yelling, or at least raising his voice to me. i kept telling him ‘ok, ok’ to let him know that i was complying, and that i erased the picture (i even showed him), but he kept on rumbling to me. as he walked away, i began laughing, and apparently he looked back at me with a scowl (so paola and her father said, but i didnt see it). i didnt mean any disrespect towards him, but i did find the whole situation funny, especially how he was so serious, and upset. in any case, i took it to mean that i had merely been unlucky. afterall, right next to me, one other person was photographing the same building, but he had the sense to walk away from it afterward; we walked towards it. i believe that they are just bored, and have to take up their time harassing some people every now and again in order to feel that they are doing their job; they have to feel important too, and i am sure that the machine gun helps as well. not having initially meant disrespect, after the fact, i was glad that i did laugh, and that he heard it. in order to feel really important, he probably should have shot me.

one the way home, paola’s dad remembered that he had to stop to get some coffee. initially, i didnt not understand what was so difficult about this. afterall, there are about a million coffee places in rome (places that just serve little shots of espresso and also have some pasteries), and i thought we could go anywhere and get a cup. paola’s dad stressed, though, ‘no, i need to BUY coffee,’ which i still didnt get, but then realized that he wanted to get coffee beans to make coffee at his own home. this i could understand. but we were right next to a coffee place, and i saw that they sold beans inside, so i pointed this out. he refused this place, and i guessed that they didnt sell the brand that he liked. he corrected me. ‘no, there is a place that has their own special blend, and it cannot be found anywhere.’ this sort of attitude i had grown accustomed to with him: i realized that he was a food connosieur, so i accepted, and we went to the special place. i didnt get the whole thing, but then again, anyone who knows me knows that i dont really care much about food anyway; that is, i am the exact opposite of a food connosieur. (in this regard (and in fact, in many others), i realize that i am in the minority, so i do understand when people say that they need some specific food product, even if i have never had such desires.) so we go to this place, and i notice a clipping from the new york times posted on their wall. it basically said something to the effect like, ‘new york city has no good coffee; in fact, to get a good cup of coffee, you need to go to this specific place in rome; it will be worth it.’ paola’s dad, knowing and understanding that i am his exact opposite when it comes to food appreciation, insisted that i try a cup of espresso from this place, despite the fact that he knew that i didnt really care for coffee anyway. because he acknowledged this fact, i had to oblige, and try a cup. like i said, i dont really like coffee anyway, but man, was this some good espresso! i had to give it to him, and thank him for making me try a cup. so the next time i am in rome, i will go back to sant eustachio for a cup of coffee.

after all of that, we stopped close to our home, and had a large orange juice. paola had been waiting ever since wwe got here to stop in for a glass at this specific place. sure enough, the orange juice was good, as it was fresh squeezed just after ordering it. after eating, there was just enough time for paola’s dad to get his mail, and run after a bus for the train station. all and all, it was a good, informative day.