Pizzaiolo Time in Rome

Pizza baking in the oven

Holidays in Italy should include learning about what makes Italians proud, such as the proper preparation of a famous Italian culinary miracle, the pizza. Arrive early in the morning to an authentic Roman restaurant in a quaint part of town and meet the Master “Pizzaiolo” personally. Your day will be filled with learning, tasting and actually cooking authentic Italian pizza as well as a class in the best selection of drinks to accompany pizza. This is a family friendly event so you can bring the kids too, especially if you like the idea of one day being pampered by the little ones as they recreate wonderful Italian pizza for you in the heart of your own home. Learn how to properly prepare the dough and see the different types of original pizza ovens used by the professionals. Lunch is included so you need not worry about packing any snacks.

Mass at the Vatican

Italians are very religious people, loving life and all the beauty it has to offer. A visit to the Vatican in Rome is something all travellers should try to do on any Italian holiday. Located in Vatican City, home to the Pope, the Vatican is one of many special attractions in Vatican City including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. You can attend Mass at the Vatican any day of the week at 9am, 10am, 11am, 12 noon and 5 pm on Monday to Saturday with Sunday Mass offering more times but equally more busy. You can enjoy Mass with the Pope on Wednesdays if you book tickets in advance. Tickets are free and ticket booking is only required for crowd control.

Paint like the Pros with Painting Classes in Rome

Art class in Rome

Italian holiday goers can only admire Italian artisans of the past as they etched their impressions throughout Italian architecture. Artists, such as Raphael, painted and sculptured Italian culture into unforgettable pieces of art, worthy of any artistic eye. How would you like to learn how to paint just like these great artists? Okay, you might not get to reproduce anything near the technical and artistic skill of the The Parnassus but you can give it a try by taking part an art workshop in Rome. Learn from top Italian painters with classes ranging from half or full day time slots to a full two week tour incorporating a two week workshop.

This post was written by Martin.  He is a keen traveller who one day hopes to have visited every country in Europe. His site Low Cost Airline Guide is particularly useful when planning your next Italian holiday.

images by: Chodaboy, florianrieder & __maurice

Caravaggio, whose real name is Michelangelo Merrisi, was a very interesting character in the history of art as well as the history of Rome! Caravaggio has been the subject of a great many number of books (see below for a list of recommended reading) over the centuries, and his work has seen a resurgence of interest in the past couple of decades. His paintings are quite extraordinary for their time because of the exceptional realism, theatrics and use of lighting (tenebrism) in his works. Like Bernini, Caravaggio had a way of capturing “the moment” in his works, and they are definitely worth seeing on your trip to Rome.

Rome is fortunate to have the most number of Caravaggio paintings than any other city in the world, dispersed throughout Rome in museums, chapels and churches. While it might be easier to see all of Caravaggio’s works in a single museum, trekking through the streets of Rome not only allows you to explore the Eternal City but also to experience Rome as Caravaggio might have done as well as seeing Caravaggio’s works in the context for which they were created. Typically, works of art were commissioned for homes, chapels and public display as a way for patrons to demonstrate their wealth, power and prestige. As I discussed in my piece on Rome’s fountains, artwork often survived centuries beyond the life of the patron, and not only did these works of art serve their patron during his lifetime, but they continue to serve as vestiges of their power and wealth today.

Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

A great place to start your walking tour would be in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, the French national church in Rome and not far from the Piazza Navona. In this church you will find three works of Caravaggio as well as frescoes of Domenichino (Bolognese School), featuring the life of Saint Cecilia. In this church, Caravaggio’s works are located in one of the chapels. Chapels were often purchased by wealthy patrons in churches that had special significance for them, as is the case with Matthieu Cointrel (or Contarelli, in Italian), a French cardinal who instructed upon his death that the chapel be decorated with scenes from the life of his name saint, Matthew. It took quite a long time for Contarelli’s chapel to be decorated, and the Pope at the time, Clement VIII, felt that the national church of France should echo the recent conversion of the king back to Catholicism. Wasting no time, the clergy of San Luigi dei Francesi, fearing that the Pope’s wishes would conflict with wishes of the now deceased Cointrel, pushed for the chapel to be quickly decorated before the Pope’s wishes could be executed. Caravaggio created three paintings for the Contarelli Chapel all centered around the life of Saint Matthew: The Calling of Saint Matthew, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew. These three paintings took Caravaggio three years to complete (the contracts were signed in 1599 and the final painting installed in 1602), and you can see how Caravaggio agonized over them with the exquisite attention not only to the details but also the scenes themselves, creating a sense of theatrics and emotional energy that are hallmarks of Italian Baroque art. Caravaggio also understood his environment, taking into account the church’s low light levels (the interior and chapel are quite dark) in producing works which allow the central theme of Saint Matthew to come out of the darkness.

Madonna of Loreto (Madonna of the Pilgrims), oil on canvas

As you leave San Luigi dei Francesi, head north to the Church of Sant’Agostino in Rome. Not only does this church have a work by Caravaggio, but the church is worth seeing in its own right with its marble facade built from marble taken from the Colosseum as well as a fresco by Raphael of the prophet, Isaiah. The sole work by Caravaggio, Madonna of Loreto (oil on canvas, c. 1604), is located in the Cavaletti Chapel within the church. Here we can see one of Caravaggio’s most distinctive works because of the way in which it depicts the Virgin Mary (barefoot) and the Baby Jesus (nude, barely covered by a cloth, as if to emphasize the mother and child’s poverty). Caravaggio also uses as the model for his painting a known courtesan (who, it is argued, appears in several of his other paintings). The use of this figure as a model for the Virgin Mary is ironic given the congregation of Sant’Agostino regularly featured courtesans of Rome. Also, the locale in which these two iconic figures are placed is controversial with Caravaggio placing them in what could be a slum rather than the usual regal setting that the Virgin and Child are usually placed. Note also the placement of the pilgrims as they kneel before the Virgin and baby. Their bare feet jut into the foreground of the painting, which isolates the Virgin and Baby Jesus by displacing them further into the paintings background, even when they are clearly the subject of the painting. This is a common technique of Caravaggio’s works as he goes to great lengths to push the viewer of the work away from the subject matter much the same way that a stage separates actors from the audience.

Head north once again to the Piazza del Popolo and the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, which contains two of Caravaggio’s works in the Cerasi Chapel: The Crucifixion of Saint Peter and The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus. The Cerasi Chapel is an excellent example of contrasting styles during the Baroque. Cerasi commissioned Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci to decorate his chapel, two artists with opposing styles during the Baroque period in Rome. This chapel provides us with an excellent comparison of the the artistic currents in Rome at the time, the one camp who painted in the style of Caravaggio, while the other, who like Annibale, sought a revival of Renaissance use of color and light. Again, we see Caravaggio use his surroundings to his advantage, knowing full well that his works would be viewed from the side rather than straight on and constructing paintings to reflect this. The subject matter of Peter and Paul, two of the central founders of the Catholic Church who represented martyrdom and conversion, two tenets in vogue at the time that these works were commissioned. The church itself also contains frescoes by Raphael in the ceiling (Creation of the World) as well as sculptures by Bernini and works by Pinturicchio.

Head back south to the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini which houses Saint Francis in Meditation, a work recently attributed to Caravaggio although there is a fierce debate over whether this work is Caravaggio’s or not. Controversy swirls over whether this is even a work by Caravaggio at all, but documents show that during a lawsuit, one of Caravaggio’s contemporaries testified that he lent the artist a monk’s robe, perhaps the same robe worn by the model in this painting. This helps us to understand the work but also to narrow down the state when the work may have been completed, roughly between 1602-1604. After seeing this work in the church, head over to the Palazzo Barberini, which houses not only another copy of this work (which many art historians believe is the true Caravaggio) but a handful of others by the artist. Judge for yourself which work you feel is the true Caravaggio while taking in the sites and splendors of the Palazzo Barberini. The church itself is also worthy of a visit with its altarpiece by Guido Reni as well as the crypt and ossuary!

Judith beheading Holofernes, oil on canvas

While at the Palazzo Barberini, be sure to check out one of Caravaggio’s most striking works, Judith beheading Holofernes. In this painting, Judith, being urged on by her maid, surprises the sleeping Holofernes and begins to decapitate him. Caravaggio’s stunning realism captures the murder in a most grizzly fashion, capturing a popular Biblical theme and taking it to new dramatic heights. Even the blood spurting from Holofernes’s massing neck wound is so real, with Caravaggio presumably having witnessed a public execution or two that were common in Rome at the time. Caravaggio’s painting is a snapshot of the most dramatic and tense moments in the story: The young Judith, with her furrowed brow and tense arms, pulls back on Holofernes hair while her maid waits to help her clean up the mess while the doomed Holofernes, his eyes bulging, his face contorted in pain and his mouth crying out!

As our tour of Caravaggio’s works through the streets of Rome concludes, you have not only learned and experienced the works of this enigmatic artist but have also visited and explored Rome’s environs!

NB: An exhibition entitled Caravaggio a Roma is being held at the Archivio di Stato di Roma until May 15, 2011!

Further reading:

There is a lot on Caravaggio but the following books (all in print and available from your favorite bookstore) are excellent resources for learning more about this artist:

• Caravaggio, Michelangelo M, F Marini, and Miriam Hurley. Caravaggio. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 2006.
• Puglisi, Catherine, and Caravaggio. Caravaggio. London: Phaidon, 2000
• Schütze, Sebastian, Michelangelo M. Caravaggio, and Benedikt Taschen. Caravaggio: The Complete Works. Köln: Taschen, 2009

Don’t forget to download mTrip’s Rome Travel Guide for your trip navigation!

This tax is imposed on all visitors to the city – that is, anyone who is not a resident of Rome, including Italian visitors arriving in Rome from other parts of Italy. On a recent Italian radio program, 24 Mattino, the mayor of Pisa, Marco Filippeschi, also indicated that it is something that they are looking at closely. Don’t be surprised if you see this tax pop up in places like Venice, Florence, or possibly in Milan!

How much tax are we talking about?

Before we get into numbers, you should be aware that the tax must be paid in cash (this ensures that the tax is not eaten up by credit card processing fees nor will it creep into the bottom line of hotel operators). This “tax” is not added onto your hotel bill so be sure to have some euro notes at the ready when you’re about to check out. This tax is also collected at campsites so if you’re looking to save some money, consider staying in a youth hostel which is not required to collect this tax. Another way to avoid it might be to find a short-term apartment.

Four and five star hotels will be required to collect an additional 3 euro per night per person. Three star hotels and below will be required to collect 2 euro per night per person. Also, tickets to museums, sites and attractions will cost non-Romans an extra 1 euro. Children under 10 years of age are exempt from the tax. You might consider the amounts to be small, but consider a group of four adults staying for six days in Rome at a four star hotel: that’s an extra 72 euro! The good news is that the tax is only collected on the first ten days of your stay (five, if you’re staying in a campsite). So for the longer visitor, the tax stops after ten days, but the majority of visitors to Rome probably don’t stay longer than 10 to 12 days.

So the bigger questions:

1. How much will this tax affect tourism? Most believe that this will have very little effect on the numbers of people who come to the city each year. As it stands, the city is poised to earn just under $300,000 per day!

2. Such a tax existed in Rome twenty years ago. How long will it take before it is repealed?

3. Would such a tax cause you to rethink your travel plans?

As they say in Italian, offre spunti di riflessione! (That’s food for thought!)

Let us know what you think in the comments..

See…

The Art: Venice is renowned for its modern art and most notably for playing host to the prestigious Art Biennale which showcases works by the biggest names in the art world and launches the careers of the up-and-coming. The 2011 Biennale (the event is staged every other year and this year is the 54^th International Art Exhibition) showcases exhibitions, installations and events held in the historic Arsenale, in national pavilions, and public gardens across the city. Whatever time of year you visit, the Peggy Guggenheim Museum (Dorsoduro 701, Fondamenta Venier dei Leoni), which houses a stunning collection of 20^th-century art, is a must-see.

The Landmarks: Run through Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square), with thousands of pigeon wings flapping above your head, then take a seat at one of the cafés for the perfect people watching opportunity and caffeine fix. Take a tour of the interior of the stunning St. Mark’s Basilica, and the Campanile (the belltower of St Mark’s), visit the Doge’s Palace, and if you’re here on a romantic break, steal a kiss on the famous Rialto Bridge. By all means treat yourselves to one gondolier ride to glide past the palaces and churches of Grand Canal but for general sightseeing, travel like the locals and go by vaporetti – small ferry boats that plough up and down the main canals with numerous stops across the city.

The Islands: Tear yourself away from Grand Canal and explore the islands that dot the lagoons around Venice. For picture-perfect photo opportunities, take the ferry for a trip to Burano, a pretty island famous for its brightly-coloured fishermen’s houses and lace making. Take a stroll around the harbour and visit the lace-making museum (Museo del Merletto). Or visit Murano, an island town close to Venice’s northern shore, famous for glassmaking. Here, you can visit the many glassmaking factories, watch the artisans at work and buy beautiful glasswares and jewellery direct from the factory shops and showrooms that line the main canalsides. To learn more about the island’s history of glass-making, visit the Glass Museum (Museo del Vetro).

Be seen at…

The Carnival: While Carnevale celebrations in all other towns across Italy are made for kids, in Venice this annual shindig is very much an adult affair with lavish costume parades, mulled wine and cocktails and the famous masked balls. Hotels encourage their guests to join in by at least wearing a mask – readily available in stores throughout the city – and you can enjoy free entertainment and public shows around St. Mark’s Square and watch costumed characters parade through the streets. The 2011 Carnival runs from February 26 – March 8 and if you want to go to one of the masked balls, book your tickets well in advance – they sell out fast.

The beach: The Lido, an 11 km long sandbar, which separates the central part of the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea, is Venice’s beach and home to swanky hotels including the Excelsior and Hotel Des Bains, the setting for Thomas Mann’s classic novel Death in Venice. Most of the beaches are private, but you’ll find two public beaches situated in the northern and southern ends of the island. The gritty sands aren’t particularly pretty by usual Med holiday standards but the Lido is the place to be in summer and it’s always packed in high season.

The bar: Of all the bars in Venice, it has to be Harry’s Bar (Calle Vallaresso, San Marco). Synonymous with the city, this up market watering hole across from the famous Cipriani Hotel was graced by the likes of Proust and Byron and today is no stranger to celebrities. Soak up the atmosphere but steel yourself for the bill, which will back a bigger punch than its signature Bellini cocktail – a cheeky blend of fresh peach juice and prosecco.

This post was written by Natalie Walsh, travel expert at Specialist Italy Holidays website www.citalia.com

Value is most definitely the order of the day at Ai Sportivi, however. On the student-friendly Campo Santa Margherita in the Dorsoduro area, this rambling restaurant has a few outdoor tables facing the square, two large inside rooms – and a trellis-covered terrace tucked away at the back. Follow the locals and head for the intimate atmosphere of the terrace.

On the menu are plenty of pizzas with toppings sure to suit even the most imaginative customer (the Mozart with rocket and prawns, anyone?), as well as pasta options and meat and fish dishes. Pizzas and pastas come in at around €10, with simple choices such as the Margherita costing even less. Portions are generous and the quality far higher than you may expect from the price. Add to this the friendly, accommodating service (including an individual umbrella escort from terrace to indoor table during a storm one night!) and the lack of service charge, and Ai Sportivi’s a definite winner.

Fontana di Trevi

The fountains of Rome are an attraction that simply cannot be missed in Rome because they are virtually everywhere you go. Some are simple with a practical purpose while others, like the Trevi Fountain (La Fontana di Trevi, and pictured to your left), are so magnificent in their splendor that you would have to be asleep not to notice them.

The fountains of Rome speak volumes about the city’s past, and each fountain has a story of its own. Visiting these fountains requires almost no effort on the traveler’s part, since many of them can be seen as you make your way to the various sites and landmarks in Rome without any effort on the traveler’s part to see them. Many of these fountains are located in piazzas or in front of many important churches and basilicas in Rome.

Fountains were often used to showcase the wealth and power of the many patrons who lived in Rome over the centuries and reflected the influence and control exerted on the city’s rich cultural heritage. Very often the fountains served as propaganda “tools” for the noble families and papacy in Rome. Let us not forget that the fountains also had a practical purpose by bringing water into the city. Before the advent of having running water in the home, Rome’s denizens would go to the fountains to collect their water, and those who brought water to Rome could easily curry favor with the populace. Even today, much of the water that pours into Rome’s fountains is potabile (drinkable), and many consider the water to have restorative properties.

Rome’s Most Splendid Fountain

You simply cannot go to Rome and not see the Trevi Fountain, because it is simply breathtaking no matter what time of day you visit. The Trevi Fountain is well marked and easy to find in Rome – just ask anyone, from a tourist to a local – and you will most certainly be pointed in the right direction. If you are in the historic center, just follow the signs, and it will not take you long to reach it! Once you arrive, you’ll be struck not only by its size but also by the intense drama that unfolds as you view the fountain and the crowds of people who come each year to photograph it, spend a quiet moment, or simply to toss a coin into the waters of the Acqua Vergina! Be sure to turn your back to the fountain and toss a coin over your shoulder because, as legend has it, this will ensure a future return to Rome.

The Trevi Fountain is often mistakenly attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. While Bernini played a part in the development of the fountain’s design, it took almost a century before Bernini’s plans could be realized under the guise of Nicola Salvi, whose ideas are seen today by so many thousands of people each day. The fountain is a “swan song” to the Baroque era of Rome because of the cultural and artistic shifts to Paris that took place after the death of Bernini in 1680. Salvi attempts and, for the most par,t succeeds in salvaging the Baroque ideas of theatrics, drama, and energy in his creation.

Papal Power With Fountains

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

The Four Rivers Fountain (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, pictured to your right)wasdesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose churches, architectural works and fountains can be found all over Rome. Bernini’s works are hallmarks of Baroque period and are always so striking and captivating, and this splendid fountain located in the Piazza Navona is no different. The fountain represents the four major rivers known to the world during Bernini’s time: Nile, Ganges, Danube and Plata.

Bernini was awarded this commission through a competition and designed this fountain that represented the papacy’s power throughout the known world. Each of the statues represents a river on each of the four known continents: Nile in Africa, the Danube in Europe, the Ganges in Asia and the Rio de la Plata in South America. A granite obelisk rises from the center of the fountain which art historians believe is meant to serve as a conduit to the heavens, whereby the divine power (and, by association, that of the Pope in 1651) would spread throughout the known world.

As with many sites and monuments in Rome, legends and lore can often play a part in the history of Rome. One such “story” is constantly retold by many scholars. Bernini’s fountain stands next to Francesco Borromini’s façade on the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone. A popular “urban myth” often bandied about is that the statue of the Rio de la Plata is holding its hand up, as if in fear of a possible collapse of Borromini’s façade. Since the Church was completed four years after the fountain, this is probably not the case and simply a serendipitous occurrence on Bernini’s part.

Fountain Of A Sinking Ship?

One of my favorite fountains in Rome is the Fountain of the Old Boat (Fontana della Barcaccia, pictured below), located in the Piazza di Spagna. Easily reached by a metro stop on Linea A, the Piazza di Spagna is one of the most crowded and sought out attractions in Rome. On a hot summer day, it is almost possible to miss the fountain completely because it is such a draw to the thousands of people seeking relief from the heat. This fountain typifies the Baroque by using sculpture and stone to create mood, tension and drama. The commission to design and construct the fountain was given to Pietro Bernini, the father of the great Gian Lorenzo. Bernini – father and son – sought to break away from the “severe and repetitive” style of Giacomo Della Porta, an architect and sculptor who died twenty years before. Pietro Bernini and his son sought to break away from the Della Porta’s style by borrowing from local lore.

Fontana della Barcaccia

The fountain is meant to represent a boat which had run aground near the fountain’s present day location. It is said that in 1598 the Tiber (Tevere) flooded and washed a boat near where the fountain now sits. After the water receded, the boat remained, and this lone boat is said to be the inspiration for Bernini’s creation. The travertine boat appears as if it is sinking, filled nearly the brim with water, leaking “slowly” from several “holes” as well as over the sides of the boat while only just remaining “afloat” in the pool which sits below the marbled structure. Bernini honors his patron (as many of the fountains in Rome do) by sculpting two blazing suns which shoot water prominently toward the center of the “sinking” vessel.

One could write volumes about Rome’s fountains. They serve as a gateway into the city’s history and culture, its past and present, and work not only to bring water into the city but also to beautify, refresh and enhance the Eternal City of Rome. Take note of the fountains as you meander around the streets of Rome as they convey much of the city’s past and will continue to do so for centuries to come.

If you are interested in learning more about Rome’s fountains, several books have been written about them. If you are interested in further reading, consult Wikipedia or the following books:

• Castria, Francesca. Squares and Fountains of Rome. Milano: Electa, 2007
• Cope, Frederick, and Maurizia Tazartes. Fontane Di Roma. Ginevra-Milano: Rizzoli libri illustrati, 2004.
• Pulvers, Marvin. Roman Fountains: 2000 Fountains in Rome : a Complete Collection. Roma: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider, 2002
• Rendina, Claudio. La Grande Enciclopedia Di Roma: Personaggi, Curiosità, Monumenti, Storia, Arte E Folclore Della Città Eterna Dalle Origini Al Duemila. Quest’Italia, 283. Roma: Newton & Compton, 2000
• Symmes, Marilyn F, and Kenneth A. Breisch.Fountains: Splash and Spectacle : Water and Design from the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Rizzoli International Publication in association with Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1998.
• Forthcoming: Rinne, Katherine W. The Waters of Rome: Aqueducts, Fountains, and the Birth of the Baroque City. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.

Centurion Palace

Palazzina Grassi

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The Festival kicks off on June 13th with an Opening Gala featuring performances by Robert McDuffie and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. The Festival comes to a close on June 17th, marked by not-to-be-missed performances by Stephen Prutsman on piano, Amy Schwartz Moretti on violin, Julie Albers on cello and a few other notable musical extraordinaires.

For the past seven years the most legendary musicians have been brought in to perform classical and contemporary masterpieces from different musical worlds, combining the traditional with the modern in one brilliant festival unlike any other cultural experience in Rome.

Click here to view the program for June 2010 & have a look at the Festival’s YouTube Channel to get a taste of the talent!