That fateful day 27 July 2011

Some dates come back every year and it brings back a flood of memories. One such day was 27 July 2011, the day I left Rome to return to Canada.  W and the puppies had left 10 days prior and I was alone at the apartment, it was empty all our belongings had been packed up and shipped to Canada by boat, I had a so called pack-up kit, which meant I was camping at home. But I simply went out a lot to enjoy my last days in the Eternal City.

On the morning of the 27 July I was all packed and when the driver arrived, I took the suitcases and walked out, only after I closed the door behind me, did I suddenly realize that was it. We were not really ready to return to Canada, I had been away for many years at that point and did not see what there was to return to frankly. It has to be said that when you live in a foreign country or on various continents for many decades coming ''home'' is meaningless. Where is ''home''? Rome was home to us, I could not imagine another home. We had a home in Warsaw, in Cairo, in Mexico and Chicago.

Reesie died in Rome and that is where he is buried. We had wonderful friends and a busy social life. In returning to Ottawa we had to re-invent it all and with some difficulties. It has been two years now and we have kept a strong bond with Italy and Rome. I can understand that for someone who has not lived abroad, it may be difficult to understand. We did not take the trip of a lifetime, our life was one long and enjoyable adventure around the world. So often when I hear someone say something or a piece of music or taste a dish or some wine, it brings back memories. Per example I can never listen to Madama Butterfly without thinking of the Summer Opera Season at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome and that evening when in the open air we saw this giant moon rise over the ruins and the Roman Pines as the music of the first Act was playing. http://www.operaroma.it/eng

However upon my return to Canada I was seriously thinking of retiring, so Rome was our last post.
Not that I regret retiring, on the contrary. We continue to travel but it will never be quite the same as living in a foreign country and having a life style which suited us fine.

Here are some photos of our street and neighbourhood.

                                          Our street Via dei Villini

                                          the driveway at number 26.

                                          a corner of the living room

                                part of the view from our balcony terrace, at each sunset we would be entertained          by small dancing bats as we finished dinner and then the owl would make his usual hoot hoot noises.

At the end of the street were the massive Aurelian Walls, built by Emperor Marcus Aurelius. We were outside the walls. Outside the walls of Rome until 1910 meant the countryside, after 1920 suddenly the city expands and with the arrival of Mussolini to power in 1923 entire new neighbourhood spring up in what was once considered countryside. The grand homes of our neighbourhood where built around 1880 and 1900 and all considered to be villas in the countryside.  Some of these villas were small palaces and built by the Italian Nobility and well to do families with great gardens often the size of a city park, like at Villa Torlonia now a public park. Today many have been converted into offices or apartments. The gardens where sold separately to make way for more buildings. They are still grand in architecture and design, memories of a bygone era. We loved to walk the dogs looking at these places. It is an easy city to walk in, everywhere there is something to look at, a view, often designed as if a theatre set.

 former villa converted into the office of the Actors Guild on Via di Villa Patrizi

 Beautiful fresco on a former villa now a condo building on Via Savoia

 modernist style building now a condominium Via di Villa Albani

Some like this villa has a roaring lion perched on its roof.

 I always like this little villa with its pompeian red walls and wysteria growing on the facade.
Those neighbourhood streets were quiet and it was nice to simply walk along them. There was always something to observe and the changing light of day made it more beautiful.

 Side entrance to the Italian Presidential Palace, formerly the Royal Palace on Via del Quirinale. The inscription above the door mentions that 3 Popes built this palace as a then Papal summer residence on the ruins of the great Temple to Isis, Innocent XIII , Alexandre VII and Clement XII. The Carabinieri police guard is wearing is ordinary summer uniform. At the back a Corazzieri Guard.

Corazzieri in gala uniform on the terrace of the Quirinale Palace. You would see them at functions.
Certainly elegant, dignified and stylish.

Porta Pia taken so many times to enter into the City down Via XX Settembre. Today this ancient gate of Rome is at the centre of the City. Nero took this gate when he fled Rome with his Pretorian guards in hot pursuit. Garibaldi entered Rome with the Bersaglieri Regiment liberating the City from the Popes.

Not in our neighbourhood since it was at the other end of town across the Tiber. Could not resist, the Vatican Academy of Sciences, this building is a copy of Nero's palace built 500 years ago by St-Charles Boromeo as a pleasure palace for parties etc... He was the wild nephew of the Pope. Located inside Vatican grounds and not open to the public. The mosaic are made of coloured sea shells by the thousands, imagine the picking on the beach and sorting out afterwards. We had a special private visit of the Academy, what an incredible place for a party.

All in all nice architecture, lots of style, elegance and beautiful memories.  

Una Passeggiata alla Villa Torlonia

Villa Torlonia on Via Nomentana outside the walls of Rome near Porta Pia. This great estate was until 1945 the summer residence of the Princely Torlonia family, great supporters of the Fascist movement, like so many of the aristocratic families in Italy.

Porta Pia (in antiquity was known as Porta Nomentana)

As of 1926 Prince Torlonia invited Benito Mussolini to live in his palace, renting it out for 1 lira a year. The Prince who was elderly retired to a smaller pavilion in the park called Casa delle Civete, (house of the owls). When the Duce fell from power in July 1943, the estate was attacked by the mob and all the buildings were ransacked and burned. The wife of Mussolini and his children fled, the Torlonia family had moved to their other palaces. The Allied forces, namely the British army occupied the palace for a while as of 1944 but left in 1949, in the attic of the palace where army clerks worked, one wall is covered in rather beautiful pastoral scenes, drawn by a soldier. Villa Torlonia is not very far from the seat of the British Embassy at Porta Pia. The estate was left in a state of total abandonment until 1999, quite the eyesore in the centre of Rome.

Villa Torlonia entrance gate on Via Nomentana.

Then the mayor of Rome had the idea as a cultural revival and with the help of the European Union to restore the buildings of the estate. This restoration project has been on-going now for 12 years and is nearing completion.  I decided to take a walk around the Villa Torlonia to have a look and see the evolution of the project since we left Rome in August 2011.

the Moorish green house completely restored as it would have been in 1890

coloured glass, painted stucco and ironwork, an extravagant building for exotic trees.

The idea of this restoration of the estate on Via Nomentana was to show how a great family lived in the 19th century, with the commuting between the city residence and the outside the walls country residence.
The Torlonia family has other palaces in Rome, one very near the Vatican State now used as an administration office for their estates and properties in Italy, the other at Villa Albani, a baroque palace with gardens even larger than those of Villa Torlonia currently serves as their residence. They also have very large farm estate by the airport at Fiumicino with spectacular ruins of the ancient port of Rome which connects to the Tiber River.

The private theatre of the Torlonia family now restored, the column holds the ashes of Princess Torlonia who had this grand building built.

I took a walk around the park to see the main theatre built as a ballroom, dininghall and concert, theatre for the Torlonia to entertain large groups of friends. The other building I wanted to see was the Moorish house, an arabic style building which housed exotic trees and plants during the winter, a rather elaborate green house. The other green house, known as the lemon tree house is on the other side of the park, it is now a restaurant, this building once housed all the orange, lime and lemon trees during the winter. In the 1930's Mussolini used it to host the different officials of Italian colonies who came to Rome to pay homage to the King-Emperor of Italy Vittorio-Emmanuelle III. The large stables and carriage house is now used as administrative offices, the library of the Prince is used for exhibits of rare books and prints.

The Prince lived in this house on the grounds of the estate while he rented out his palace to Mussolini. Very eclectic style.

The main house which dominates the estate has been beautifully restored, though unfurnished, with the exception of one bedroom, the rest of the original furnishing long ago disappeared. The bedroom in question is that of Mussolini and his wife. He lived in the house for 20 years with his family. It gives the visitor a very good idea of how the wealthy and powerful lived. The estate also has fake roman ruins and temples, it use to have numerous statues, all gone except for a few. Villa Torlonia is only one of the many great estates that once graced Via Nomentana. The story of the Torlonia family is also interesting, a rags to riches story, commoner is elevated to Prince of Italy. If in Rome, I recommend visiting Villa Torlonia.

Two stories

Rombo = Turbot
Spigola = sea bass.
Alici = Anchovy
cozze = mussel

These are the fish most commonly found in Italy in restaurants. The alici = anchovy is the other common fish, this is not the salty anchovy found in North America and so disliked, who has not heard the famous whine no anchovy on my pizza. This is a fresh fish bought at the market like any other fresh fish, it is often simply grilled or it is served in a lemon and fresh parsley dressing. The Alici is larger than a sardine same color. As for the Spigola or the Rombo, most often they are grilled or baked and served with roast potatoes with some rosemary, there is also a Sardinian recipe which comes with a sauce made of celery, black olives, fresh tomatoes. As for pasta very often and by far the most popular dish is spaghetti with fresh tomato and mussel = cozze sauce.

Spigola baked with roasted potatoes.

So last night we had a spigola baked and served with roasted potatoes, one spigola is enough for 2 adults. It's a very good fish, rich texture, a little fat, in a word delicious. Very easy to do at home and simply served with a bit of lemon juice. We had a rosé Emira from the Lazio, the province around Rome, Tenuta Tre Cancelli Vineyard.

Today we went to visit the newly renovated Braschi Palace which houses a branch of the Rome Museum. Because this year Italy is celebrating 150 years of Unity as a country, (1861-2011) with the victory of the Italian people and the forces of Garibaldi putting an end of the theocratic government of Pope Pius IX. The Holy See installed a theocratic government from the 4th century to 1860 and put down many revolts by the Italians who wanted a democratic government. Currently there is a special exhibit on the Risorgimento (re-birth). The exhibit shows the many battles, all very bloody opposing the Pope to the Italian people. The Pope called on Spain, France and Austria, 3 Catholic countries to suppress the Italians.

Triumphal return of the Pope to Rome, April 1850, escorted by French troops. Notice the lack of ordinary folk.

(from Wikipedia)
Palazzo Braschi is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the civic museum of Rome.

The famous Bersagliere regiment breaking through Porta Pia 20 September 1860, thus liberating Rome.

It was built by the papal nephew Duke Luigi Braschi Onesti, to designs by Cosimo Morelli. The site was purchased in 1790 by Braschi, supported by funds from Pope Pius VI; Braschi demolished the 16th-century palace that Giuliano da Sangallo the Younger had built for Francesco Orsini in order to erect his own from the ground up. Construction was suspended in February 1798 during the Napoleonic occupation of the city, when the French temporarily took possession of it until 1802 and confiscated the recently-acquired collection of antiquities it contained (though Braschi was reimbursed for them). In 1809, when Rome was declared an Imperial city by Napoleon, Duke Luigi moved into the palace and was declared mayor.

The new King of Italy, Vittorio Emmanuelle II of Savoy, pointing to Rome City Hall, Campidoglio.

On his death in 1816 the palace remained unfinished and the family funds depleted. In 1871 the Braschi Onesti heirs sold the building to the Italian State. During the Italian fascist period, it was used as the political headquarters of Benito Mussolini. After the war, it housed 300 refugee families and many of the interior frescoes were seriously damaged by the fires they lit to keep warm. 

Piazza Navona, looking at the Palazzo of the Embassy of Brazil and the church of St-Agnes in Agony.

Afterwards we had lunch in Piazza Navona, something we never do because the prices are x2 what they would  be in any other restaurants in Rome, you pay for the view, but we did not feel like walking around. It was a very nice warm day today around 16 C not bad for winter in Rome.