jscarbary

We will be in Rome from April 1 - April 10. We are me, DH (42 y.o.), DS (17 y.o.), Mom (70 y.o), and Aunt (62 y.o.). We will be staying in an apartment on Via del Corso & Via Frattina (near the Spanish Steps). We will also be spending one night (2 days) in Florence. I know that I am missing lots of things but here is our current itenerary. I have named only the "big things that I want to see with the rest of the time in the day to wander around the area, eat, sit and people watch, . . .
Friday: arrival at FCO 7:45 a.m., get into apartment, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navonna, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon
Saturday: Coloseum (hopefully hypogeum), Fourm, San Giavanni in Laterano, Santa Maria in Cosmedin/Bocca della Verita, Via Margutta
Sunday: Borghese museum, Santa Maria del Popolo, the zoo (maybe depending on the weather)
Monday: Scavi tour, St. Peters, Vatican Museum (after 12 pm), Sistine Chapel
Tuesday: Trastevere, Isola Tiberina, Ghetto
Wednesday: FLORENCE - the Duomo, the Baptistry, San Lorenzo, Leather Market, Ponte Vecchio
Thursday: FLORENCE - Uffizi, train back to Rome around dinner time (bet 5-6ish)
Friday: Appia Antica, Catacombs
Saturday: ???

What am I missing?

Thanks, in advance for all of your help.

maitaitom

Capitoline Museum in Rome.

sarge56

Oh my, how can you go to Florence and not see the David?

According to your plans, you were going to spend the whole day at the Uffizi on Thursday? IMHO, you might want to consider adding the Accademie (Michelangelo's David resides there, as well as other beautiful pieces, many by Michelangelo and DaVinci), but you really should visit Santa Croce. It is close to the Uffizi and is the final resting place to Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo. You really should not miss this church. (Nor the Accademie, in my opinion.)

Finally, consider spending sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo. It is high on a hill west of the Arno and is THE perfect place to view Florence at sunset. There is little more beautiful in the world. (We taxied up and bussed down.) Since you will be trying to catch a train on the second day, you may want to put this into your first day schedule.

Buon Viaggio!

sarge56

@Tom- OH GOLLY, I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU POSTING!!! Best wishes!

tenthumbs

downtime! sit in one of the Piazzas for coffee or a glass of wine.......my sister and I went to a deli and got cheese, bread and wine; we sat near one of the fountains and had a lovely picnic and just watched the people. It was one of the most memorable moments we had in Rome!

kybourbon

Via Margutta is by the Spanish Steps so you should go by there while in the that area to avoid backtracking. You can also combine both with Santa Maria del Popolo (via Margutta almosts connects the two with a very slight detour).

For Florence, the Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio are close together so those should be combined.

jscarbary

Sarge, I wasn't expecting to spend the whole day at the Uffizi but I just don't know where else to go. I don't think that my Mom & my son will want to spend too much time in museums. So I figured that we can see the David copy and tons of other Michaelangelo's in Rome. Thank you for the sunset suggestion and Santa Croce. They have both been added to our list of must see's.

Tenthumbs, I am definitely planning on downtime. Our first trip was to Paris and was very short so we didn't have time to just sit and watch the people go by.

Thanks.

ggreen

IMO, you have a good amount on each day, and have identified all the must-see's. I never seem to have that "extra" time when I travel, but since you do (on Saturday), you might want to leave it open. That way, you can do any end-of-stay shopping or see anything that might have slipped through the cracks the other days.

However, if you do want to plan something for that day, you could make a day trip out to the ancient Roman seaport of Ostia Antica. Another suggestion slightly less far away is to traipse across the grassy field that was the Circus Maximus and over to the "Protestant Cemetery". It's very beautiful in its own right; among others, the poets Keats and Shelley are buried there.

And two FYI's, in the chance you aren't already aware of them:
- You must book your Galleria Borghese tickets in advance, and the timing of your allotted time is very strict: they actually close the rooms and remove all the visitors between one scheduled time and the next. You're not allowed to bring *anything* in, even a purse, but there is a secure check-in there (and we put our passports in our pockets, just in case!). Sooo worth it to go.
- Almost all of the churches have specific opening and closing times too, many being open in the morning only. Make note of these timings and give yourselves enough time to get to the churches and then inside. (For example, there was a line to get into the crypt of Santa Maria della Concezione.)

I sooo hope you get to the Accademia, even if all you do is see the David!!! I haven't been to Florence in 20 years and most of it now is a blur in my memory EXCEPT David (and Botticelli's Venus at the Uffizi, at the time recently restored). In my memory, he's at the end of a gallery, light flooding around him. And so tall! ...Where is there a copy in Rome, in the Vatican holdings? IMO, *much* better to see the *original*, in a museum that's not too overwhelming. (The Vatican Museums are overwhelming!)

* * *
MTT, welcome back!!!

mamcalice

Don't limit yourself to the David copy. There is really nothing like seeing the original in its beautiful setting in the Accademia. It does not take a very long time and it is well worth it - if I could do only one thing in Florence, it would be to visit the Accademia. The Piazza della Signoria (where a copy of the David is located) is one of my favorite sights in Florence but it is not the place to see David. It is, however, a nice place to have lunch on a beautiful day with the sun shining on the Palazzo Vecchio.

sarge56

j- as you can see, many people will tell you that there is no experience like seeing the original.

The Accademia is a small museum. But there is nothing small about David. But what was more impressive to me are the line of works started, but not completed, by Michelangelo. They line your path up to the David. THOSE pieces tell you so much about the man/the artist that you don't get from his completed works. You can see the way he thought/his raw and God-given talent in those works.

It won't take you an hour to get through this museum. (I spent at least 1/2 hour just looking at David. He mesmerizes.)

Hope you can squeeze it in.

maitaitom

"But there is nothing small about David."

Well, actually there is, but Viagra wasn't around in the early 16th century.

charnees

Yes, those figures at the Academmia are stunning. Michelangelo was quoted that he did his sculptures by looking at a block of stone and removing everything that did not belong. It is so vivid in those figures! do not miss them.

And in Rome, the Palatine Hill, where all the famous Romans lived, looking down on the Forum.

ggreen

sarge56 & charnees, those unfinished marbles and the David are exactly what I remember from Florence, 20 years on. The bodies twisting and turning in the half-carved stone as if trapped and waiting for the sculptor to pull them out... The forms mirroring what Michelangelo was quoted as saying. And then at the far end of the space, David graceful and bathed in light, towering above it all.

cathies

I don't want to sidetrack this post - but TOM, SO GLAD TO SEE YOU POSTING!!!


Now, to Florence, don't settle for the copy of David, it's just not the same. My hot tip is to postpone your trip back to Rome by just a little bit. Go to Accademia at about 4pm or 4.30pm if you can and by then all the bus tours etc will have vanished and you will only have a little wait (10 minutes) or so to get in.

Ackislander

1. You won't be able to do everything on your list on Saturday.

2. What are your plans if it rains? Hard?

tarquin

After finally seeing the original David only because there was a good exhibition at the gallery, I found I much preferred the copy, which is well placed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. David was not designed to be seen from virtually underneath, his proportions are distorted and peculiar looking with huge hands.

daveesl

Going back to your original question. Here are a couple of very interesting and seldom visited churches that have had a substantial impact on western civilization.

Santa Pudenziana and Santa Prassede. Both of these "sister" churches are about 1 block from Mary Maggiore.

In the apse mosaic, Pudenziana holds some of the oldest Christian mosaics in Rome. Unfortunately, in the 1500s, when the church was re-done, the ends were cut off. It is located on Via Urbana.

In Prassede, the Chapel of St. Zeno has caused much argument for better part of 900 years. You will find a mosaic of four women. 3 have the square nimbus (halo) around their head. This means they were dead when the mosaic was made. The fourth woman has a round nimbus (meaning she was alive). This is Theodoro. You will notice next to her going vertical is Theodo and horizontally you will see the word "Episcopa". Episcopa technically means Bishop. This one mosaic has caused a huge split in its meaning on the place women held and could hold in the Catholic church. Some scholars say this is proof that Theodoro was a bishop or priestess. Others say it simply implies that they was the wife of the Bishop of Rome, like Presbytera means wife of the Presbyter. She was also the mother of the Pope. This one mosaic held a substantial meaning in the reformation. To get to Prassede, exit Maggiore, turn right, cross the street and go to the little side street. Turn left and soon you will see a very unassuming entrance on the right.

Here is why they are called sister churches, even though they are not several blocks from each other. Prassede is named after Praxedes. She and her sister Pudenziana are believed to be the daughters of Senator Pudens. If this is the case, they and their family sheltered Peter during part of his time in Rome and were among his first converts. Pudens is discussed in 2nd Timothy of the Christian Bible.

The shame about Santa Pudenziana is the poor condition it is in, which is the case with many small churches throughout Rome.

If you want to see an absolutely stunning example of architectural perfection, go to San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, located on the corner of Via Quattro Fontane and Via Septembre XX. This was Borromini's first independent commission as an architect and he used this very small church as a way to prove his genius. The outside is amazing, with it's serpentine facade, but the interior is what will take your breath away. Borromini, instead of using huge amounts of gold and other adornments created a piece of architectural perfection, primarily using stark whiteness and the dome is a study in geometric genius. If you go there, you'll see what I mean.

You may also want to visit my website for lots of free info on Rome

www.passagetoroma.com

dave

RJD

I also recommend San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane for a moving experience. Nearby in Sante Maria Della Vittoria in a small side chapel is the Bernini St Therese. See Kenneth Clark for a graphic and revealing description.

spiceolife

I'd say condense your Rome a bit, DEFINITELY cut the zoo (the zoo in Rome is really nothing worth going to), and take another day trip either Tuesday or Sunday. Push the things on one day to the other day, hop and train and do Oriveto or Spoleto for the day. Both are fantastic and will give you something truly lacking from your itinerary: an authentic medieval city that is not 100% full of tourists. That's not to say both Orvieto and Spoleto have NO tourists, but if you do a quick google search, you'll find that they are beautiful little hilltop towns with great food and wine and everything you'd want out of a little Tuscan escape--but in Umbria (so cheaper, more accessible). I'd STRONGLY consider this, you won't regret it

TDudette

Santa Maria della Vittoria (spelling?)

MaiTaiTom: You think that was small? LOL Welcome back!