Fascists, Fascists... Everywhere

Friday morning, the entire Villa went off to Rome for the weekend with our history Professor. The intent was to meet an Italian historian who specializes in urban development in Fascist history.. Yeah... not as exciting as it sounds. We went to out hotel first and got settled before heading out on a long... hot... bus ride 3 miles outside the city center to look at the EUR center forum where Mussolini sought to establish basically, a Fascist city center that reflected the modern ideology and the Roman roots of the fascist regime. All of the buildings are in white marble, very block like, orderly, systematic... boring... Especially because the entire complex is a business center now, so there isn't much exciting going on out there now anyway. We spent a while wandering around until it became clear that we weren't really listening anymore. So thankfully, unlike Linda (art history professor), we cut the afternoon short and were free to roam! Below is part of the Fascist complexIn our chunk of free time, Mar, Sarah and I went to a few churches that are 'must-sees' but I didn't have time to see last week. The picture below is Sant'Ignazio which has a funny story. The church commission wanted to build this new magnificent, opulent church in Rome. They built this gorgeous base with lots of gold and frescoes and sculpture... yet ironically, they ran out of money before they could finish the dome. So they hired a painter to paint an illusionist ceiling of a dome. Seen below. It's pretty good from one spot, but has gotten dirty and looks less and less like a dome and more like a painting.

Outside another church, Sant'Agnese, which is in front of the Fountain of the Four Rivers (well known Bernini sculptures mentioned in Angels and Demons) The church was beautiful but it was much more interesting outside because of the following story. Apparently, Bernini and the architect of the church, Borromini, were at artistic odds. Bernini thought the exterior of the church was hideous, so it is rumored that the figure behind me in the picture below was shielding his eyes from the ugly facade. I thought it was too funny, so I had to imitate that! (it really wasn't ugly...)
After a few churches, we had to stop at an internet cafe so Sarah could 'find' her parents later, while there I saw a nun on the net! It was just too funny, the juxtaposition of conservatism and technology!
That night, Sarah was supposed to meet her parents at the train station, but never found them (poverina!) so we all met up and went out to dinner and yum!!! My new favorite thing is artichokes... I've always loved them, but fried artichokes are famous in Rome, specifically in the Jewish Ghetto. I basically had artichokes at every meal in Rome... fabulous!!Then we got a couple of bottles of wine and settled down in our hotel room to watch a chick flick! What a night!

The next morning, we met with our historian again who took us on our first stop, the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. This part of the tour was actually fascinating because we saw the balcony where Mussolin greeted the crowds the the piazza. As he was describing fascist propaganda, a neofascist parade began in front of us. A bunch of crazy men in bright blue outfits on cars drove by with flags and played loud nationalistic music. Talk about good timing!!
The historian also told us that when the monument was built, and when Mussolini decided to 'set up camp' in the building by the Colosseum, he basically ruined the ancient Roman Forum. 80% of the forum was destroyed or covered by the creation of the monument and by the creation of the imperial road that leads from Mussolini's building straight to the Colosseum. It's so sad that so much was lost... but it introduces a good point, regardless of fascism... how do we balance modernizing with preserving history? Food for thought...I have to note here that I am not wearing a jacket.... It may not be particularly interesting to anyone, but the fact that finally, the weather was nice enough where I didn't need one! WOOT!!!!

After wandering around the Roman Forum, we went a few miles north of the city this time to the sports complex that Mussolini created to foster the new strong Italian man. Unfortunately, everything was closed, but we got a quick glimpse at the Olympic Stadium. While waiting for the historian to get his thoughts together and try and talk his way into the stadium, Sarah and I had to indulge ourselves in another photo montage... here's one from he selection of many! For the afternoon, Mariana and I wandered Via del Corso, got lunch and went shopping! Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain to get gelato at a world famous site that was 'discovered' by the NY Times. It was fantastic and such a wonderful day! We met up with two others to take the train back Saturday night so I could spend all day Sunday writing a paper... for my fascism class.... somehow I managed to relate pseudo-Futurist/Cubist art to the fascist regime! yeah!
A dopo!