BigWeather's Blog

Awoke about 8a and went upstairs for breakfast — eggs, hot dog sausages, lemon cake, and coffee.  Quite good.  Left the room about 10:00a and headed up Via Nazionale towards Roma Termini.  As Genetta wasn’t to arrive until 11:40a I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the church at the end of Via Nazionale that incorporated parts of the absolutely massive Baths of Diocletian (which could accommodate up to three thousand people at once) into its structure.  Not only that, a couple of adjacent structures were directly derived from the ancient marvel.

Basilica built within and from the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian

Turning right towards Termini there was a row of semi-permanent corrugated metal stands selling books, albums, and the like.  One of the stands had historical comics (in Italian, of course).  One called Alix set during the Roman Empire caught my eye.  I had to wait for what seemed like ever for the seller to finish talking with another guy but eventually got my chance to engage him in conversation.

Stalls near Roma Termini station

While his English was a little rough it was a dang sight better than my Italian and we managed to have a conversation.  We talked about historical comics (including a WWII pulp one that he favors) for a bit and when asked he’d never heard of Vasco, a French comic set in Middle Ages Italy that I’d like to find more copies of.  I decided to buy all three Alix for 20 euros — not sure if it is a great deal but it’s far less than the MSRP and I was happy.  One is about Spartacus, another about ancient Roman Egypt, and the last about barbarians and the Roman Empire.

Piazza della Repubblica, a major plaza near Termini and the Baths of Diocletian

Books in hand, I headed to Termini, getting there about 11:20a.  Parts of the terminal were under construction so I couldn’t stand right at her arrival platform.  Luckily, however, we were able to find each other after a small delay.  We took a taxi back to the room at the Hotel Bolivar and got her luggage squared away then headed to Le Lanterne, a restaurant not far from the room.  Genetta had spaghetti al cabonara and strawberries with whipped cream while I had the linguine al funghi porcini.  Mine wasn’t great — the mushrooms were a little slimy and the noodles kinda hard.  Oh well, can’t win them all.  Besides, nothing a little gelato couldn’t fix!  Genetta had dark chocolate and oreo while I went with my favorite coffee.

Oh, look! Mandatory Torre delle Milizie shot!

Headed back to the room and took a taxi across the Tiber to the suburbs just northwest of Rome to visit VIGAMUS, a video game museum.  I was kind of ruined and sculptured out at this point and so was Genetta — we figured we’d relax and go to the video game museum, a bookstore specializing in role-playing games, and a comic book / book store, all in the same area.

Entrance to Rome’s VIGAMUS, a video game museum

A note to anyone going to VIGAMUS — it is hard to spot.  It is in the basement of a building and one needs to look out for the banner above.  After descending a flight of stairs we came upon a very small room with a counter and a few things for sale (sadly no magnets and the books were only in Italian).  Beyond that were three or four rooms with displays containing various computers and consoles as well as games.  There was also a special exhibition room and a larger room for people to give lectures and presentations.  Finally, there were a few rooms with consoles, computers, and arcade games set up for play.

So many wonderful Infocom games depicted here!

Brutal Legend, on of my favorite games, in Italian

Display of Infocom treasures

The walls were decorated in theme, lots of video game art and characters.  While small it left a good impression on me.  There was a broad selection of computers and consoles on display and it covered many of gaming’s earliest games — Infocom and other text adventures, Atari and Intellivision cartridges, a selection of PC games, etc.  There was also concept art from “Alice Madness Returns” and “Lollipop Chainsaw” and a few other games.  Large statues of Lara Croft, a character from Dark Souls (I think), and others were about.  There was some space dedicated to the video game crash of ’83 as well as the New Mexico landfill where many Atari 2600 cartridges (most famously E.T.) were buried.

Asteroids cartridge for the Atari 2600, one of my favorite pieces of video game art

E.T. Atari 2600 cartridge recovered from the New Mexico desert

Concept art from “Alice Madness Returns”, one of Genetta’s favorite games

The exhibition was Assassin’s Creed.  There were playable stations of all of the entries set up, surrounded by various collector’s editions stuff as well as a couple of large statues and some concept art.  Genetta and I had a blast playing through some of Assassin’s Creed II in their version of Florence, having just spent a lot of time there.  While it certainly captured the feel of Florence it most definitely didn’t feel very accurate.

Assassin’s Creed on exhibition

Assassin’s Creed concept art

One of the rooms of VIGAMUS

There was little on display about the Odyssey2, sadly, and I thought that their treatment of the RPG genre was very light.  There was a single glass case with some Witcher series items in it but almost nothing else RPG-wise — no Wizardry, no Bard’s Tale, no Ultima (very surprising as Italy is known to be a hotbed of Ultima fandom), no Baldur’s Gate, etc.  Very surprising.

An example of the informational wall text, this about Pitfall!

Space Invaders, an oldie but a goodie

Another look at one of the rooms in VIGAMUS

I was tempted by one of the books in the bookstore but as it was Italian I decided to pass.  I kind of regret that now, it was pretty neat.  Oh well.

Leaving VIGAMUS we walked the short distance to Avalon Roma, a bookstore selling role-playing games.  They had quite a bit of Savage Worlds stuff as well as The One Ring (which makes sense as the primary game design is by an Italian).  They also had a version of Dungeon World with nifty tabs that would make it a lot easier to flip through.  They also had Paizo adventure paths as single hardback books for 60 euros, a substantial savings over buying the six softcover books individually.  There was also a crazy-looking RPG based on modern horror in an alternate history that had among other source books one about the American South.  Their treatment of taboo subjects here in the US like the Klan was shocking.  Not that it was favorable to them or anything, just that it was in a RPG source book at all was eye-opening.

The proprietor, Vittorio (I think that is how it is spelled), was extremely nice and we talked at length about Italian RPGs like Kata Kumbus and this other one that was a grim dark treatment of Renaissance Europe with the walking dead.  Sadly as I don’t read Italian — and was accompanied by Genetta who wasn’t shy about reminding me about that fact — I had to pass on buying any books.  I did, however, buy a cloth map for Kata Kumbus that was basically Italy rearranged, even down to the place names.  A nifty souvenir!

Walked a little farther to Pocket 2000, a bookstore with comics, toys, etc.  It was stuffed wall to wall, to the point that it felt like a maze.  They had a good selection of stuff and plenty of historic comics including more Alix.  Once again Genetta reminded me that I don’t read Italian so we left without buying anything.

Pocket 2000, a book store with comics, toys, and the like

Headed south towards Vatican City where Genetta convinced me to get us a taxi.  Despite it being a Saturday there was crazy traffic and (because it was a Saturday) many pedestrians milling about.  We also saw a Lamborghini, though I suppose they aren’t crazy rare in their homeland!  We also saw a column erected by Marcus Aurelius before 193AD that I hoped to go back and see.

Back at the hotel we rested a bit then headed out to Ristorante Petrucci for dinner.  We had the garlic bread as an appetizer.  Genetta had veal with fries while I had spaghetti with bacon and tomato sauce that was quite decent.  Once back at the room around 8p we packed and I worked on the blog.  We then Facetimed with Michelle and wished Darby a good trip to London.  Finally I watched Italy and Germany play in Euro 2016 (1 to 1, Germany won on penalty kicks) while Genetta slept.  I finally turned in about midnight.

Hotel Bolivar sign at dusk

Woke up on my second solo day just after 8a, lounged about and finally ate breakfast around 10a.  Went light with a croissant, toast, and some tasty coffee.  Left the hotel at about 11a (which leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe, our always leaving the hotel later than I’d like wasn’t due to the family) and walked past Trevi Fountain.  It wasn’t running as it was being maintained, which led to a different photo opportunity.

Trevi Fountain under maintenance

Headed to the Piazza di Spagna, a plaza in front of the famed Spanish Steps.  In the middle of the plaza was a fountain shaped like a ship, Fontana della Barcaccia, erected in the 17th century.  On the plaza was also the home in which the poet John Keats died of tuberculosis at the young age of twenty-five.  Sadly the steps themselves were closed for cleaning, but I could still see the 16th century church Trinita dei Monti at the top with the Obelisco Sallustiano, an early Roman Empire obelisk crafted in imitation of the ancient (even at that time) Egyptian ones, in front.

Fontana della Barcaccia in front of the Spanish Steps

Trinita dei Monti church at the top of the Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps, closed for cleaning

The house where John Keats died

Next I headed up quite a slope and some steps toward the Villa Borghese’s gardens.  On the way I took a picture of a palace with soldiers in front.  They motioned me towards them and asked me to delete the picture as they were concerned about security, which I did.  The gardens were quite peaceful and due to the trees cooler than walking about the streets of Rome.  There were many exotic plants, marble busts of many famous people, an arch, and fake looking Egyptian obelisks, temple facades, etc.  There was also a nice round pond with a fountain in the middle.

Simple but cool fountain on the way to Villa Borghese gardens

View of Saint Peter’s Basilica from near the Villa Borghese gardens

Round pond with fountain in the Villa Borghese gardens

A short distance to the north was a more natural, irregularly shaped lake with a “temple” built in 1786, Tempio di Esculapio.  The temple was flanked by statues releasing water from tipped over urns which people renting boats rowed out to see.  It was quite peaceful.  Next I walked past a museum with modern art — kept on walking!  Also nearby were “academies” for Egyptian, Belgian, and Romanian studies and art.  The Egyptian Academy’s entrance was particularly neat, covered with hieroglyphs.

Boating on one of Villa Borghese gardens’ lakes

Tempio di Esculapio, built in the late 1700s, in the gardens

Birds perching on every surface they can find!

Facade for the Egypitan Academy in Rome

Rome public light rail

I finally arrived at the Villa Giulia, built by Pope Julius III in 1551-1553.  The grounds were nice with formal gardens and an elaborate covered walkway surrounding them.  The real treasure lay within, however, as the villa housed the largest collection of Etruscan artifacts in the world.  The Etruscans lived in central Italy (Tuscany and Lavio, north of Rome) from the 9th century BC to about 291BC when Rome conquered them.  Through many displays the museum described the various ages of Etruscan civilization and the huge influence that the Greeks had on them.  This was particularly apparent with their pottery, which shifted from having black figures to red figures just as Greek did.

Walkway around the courtyard of Rome’s Villa Giulia

Detail of the walkway’s ceiling

Greek-inspired Etruscan vases on display in Villa Giulia

The best known piece of Etruscan art was housed there, a sarcophagus depicting a husband and wife.  There were also a reconstruction of an Etruscan tomb that was really neat as well as several temple facades that were rebuilt with the original masonry.  One fascinating piece of art was a temple facade depicting “Seven Against Thebes”, a play by Aeschylus first performed in 467BC.  It even has one character, Tydeus, cracking open another’s (Melanippus) skull and feasting on his brains — ancient Walking Dead!  Also on display were chariot pieces, shields, spears, and other really interesting grave objects.

Sarcofago degli Sposi, Sarcophagus of the Spouses, very famous Etruscan art

Depiction of “Seven Against Thebes” — yes, that guy is getting his brains munched!

Reconstructed temple facade with original masonry

Another view of the museum’s artifacts

About 3p I headed back into the sunlight and south to Rome, passing through the north gate, the Porta del Popolo.  Beyond was the Piazza del Popolo, the center of which had one of the oldest obelisks in Rome, from Heliopolis and the time of Sety I.  Augustus had it moved to Rome and erected in the Circus Maximum in 10BC but it was relocated to the plaza in 1589.  Amazing.

Another of Rome’s transportation options

Piazza del Popolo, on the northern end of Rome

The sun behind the ancient Egyptian Obelisk of Sety I

Backside of the Porta del Popolo beyond the obelisk

Walked back past the Spanish Steps and near Trevi Fountain, getting back to the room around 4:15p.  I Facetimed with Michelle some and learned that she and Addison had had quite the time with customs in Charlotte.  I goofed around some, enjoying a siesta to rest my feet, Facetiming with Genetta as well to confirm her arrival the next day.  Headed to dinner at about 6:30p or so to a place called Melo’s.  They weren’t open, however, as it was quite early for Italian dinner, so I wandered around the forum a bit as well as visited my favorite tower, Torre delle Milizie.

Elevated covered walkway, Rome

The obelisk and church at the top of the Spanish Steps in the afternoon sun

Detail of the obelisk

Yet another view of the Torre delle Milizie (this won’t be the last)

Interesting lamp seen while strolling about Rome

Finally I ate at about 7:15p.  It didn’t go so well.  First, I thought the water was asking if I wanted a glass with my water, I was like “sure, of course…” but he had asked if I wanted gas — carbonated water.  Blech!  I also felt awkward eating spaghetti in the near-empty restaurant, I guess I never learned how to eat it properly as the proprietor took pity on me and showed how Italians eat it — by twirling the pasta with a fork on top of a spoon.  I never really got the hang of it.  Kind of an awkward meal all around, but not that bad tasting.

Stopped by and got some gelato from the place adjacent to the restaurant but even that wasn’t great.  Headed back to the room by 8:30p and blogged and watched soccer (Wales 3 – Belgium 1) and listened to music until 3a (why?!) — their internet still sucked!