Al sole...(In the sunshine...)

While out walking one day I heard music and saw a crowd of people in Piazza Del Qurinale and went to check it out. This square has the Palazzo Del Quirinale, a palace that is the seat of the presidency of the Italian Republic. I lucked upon some sort of procession. The soldiers/officers were marching in formation while their band played marching songs.

Afterwards, I walked to the Museo Nazionale Delle Paste Alimentari. A museum dedicated to Italy's best-loved and best-known food... The Pasta Musuem! A museum after my own heart! I took an audio guided tour that traced the history and evolution of pasta. Unfortunately, there was no tasty sample of the finished product waiting at the end of the tour.


My favorite exhibit was a painting with the words "200 gr. di pasta con un cucchaio d'olio ed un pugno di fagioli, oppure 200gr. di pasta con olio e formaggio, in qualsiasi parte del mondo ad un costo di circa L1000 al giorno sono sufficienti per la vita di una persona". It says "200 grams of pasta with a spoonful of oil and handful of beans, or 200 grams of pasta with oil and cheese, in any part of the world at a cost of about 1000 Lira (about 50cents)
a day is sufficient for the life of a person.


Unfortunately, with all the famine across the world this painting is still relevant today.

I then walked to the Giardino Del Quirinale (Park - pictured) to rest, write in my journal and people watch while I waited for Sant'Andrea Al Quirinale church to reopen for the afternoon. Sant' Andrea is said to be Bernini's favorite church. He asked to be taken there when he was near death.


It was absoulutely beautiful. It has a elliptical central hall with 8 small chapels on the sides. Sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows illuminate the church and side chaples, beautiful rose colored marble and gold and stucco. There was also a beautiful crucifix where for some reason I thought to light a candle and say a special prayer for a special person I unfortunately had not been able to meet in this life. The main chapel and dome are pictured.

On my way home I stopped at Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio church (last picture) at the Trevi Fountain. The fountain was completely packed but the church was absolutely empty....and peaceful.

I went home and read the paper while snacking on Nutella and toast. The photo gallery portion of the paper had one large color picture. It was a photo of the dinasaur in front of Chicago's Field Musuem dressed in a Chicago Bears football jersey...number 54. Even Rome is getting into the Superbowl spirit!