Thursday 19 March 2015

Ancient Stones and St. Joseph's Cream Puffs
Sometimes I dream in Italian

Papaveri
The scarlet petals
of Red Poppy flowers
reach towards the sky
in the archeological area
around Teatro Marcello
in downtown Rome.

The Quadriga atop
the Victor Emmanuel Monument
in the background sits high
over Rome's Campidoglio,
the original "Capitol Hill".

Foot path
leading from the Portico of Octavia
down to the last remaining arches
of the Teatro di Marcello.

The Theater of Marcellus was built
under the Roman Emperors
Julius Caesar and Augustus.
The later named it in honor of his nephew Marcellus.

Ancient Corinthian columns
have withstood the ravages of time and man.

These theatre arcades
have seen almost 2000 years of history,
times of peace and prosperity,
and periods of local upheaval and despair,
invasions by barbarians from the North
and threats from the Carthaginian warriors
under Hannibal from the South.

Its walls have been built over again and again,
serving among others as base for a fortress
and a beautiful Renaissance palazzo and
for various apartment buildings.

It seems a miracle
that anything has been left standing.
Rome's archeological areas
have been used for centuries as ready quarry,
where anyone could haul off
the most precious remnants of ancient glory
as if they were common building materials.

Who knows,
the costum of using the open meadows
throughout centuries as cow pastures
may have saved some of these treasures!
Cows at least are not in the habit
of demolishing ancient temples
and whatever they left behind
may have caused the grass to grow faster
and cover the marble witnesses
to human history.

Can you picture a monument
to the cow as patron saviour
of archeologically rich areas?

Oh yes, I hear you!
I apologize,
I got carried away by history.
Please sit down and enjoy a cappuccino at the pleasant
"Antico Caffè del Teatro di Marcello"
where oldfashioned good service
and great coffee wait for you.

Romans celebrate St. Joseph's Day today with special sweets:
I got busy in the kitchen and baked
"Sfinge di San Giuseppe" -
St. Joseph's cream puffs -
for you.
Buon appetito!

*

My Rome
Repost from March 2009
Images and Text © by Merisi

*


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23 comments:

  1. As an occasional archaeology worker, I say this is a wonderful post. And with a surprise ending.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I miss Rome, my old hometown, a whole lot.

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  2. love! makes me want to me there

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  3. I would love to see Rome.

    The cream puff looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should plan on seeing Rome soon!

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  4. Oh, yes! I want to be there right now, too!! So beautiful and such great captures, Merisi!! Thanks as always for sharing!!

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  5. What a treat for us. You take us from beautiful flowers and ancient monuments to a great cup of coffee and a wonderful pastry.

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  6. What a rich history and beautiful photographs. Love that pastry shot!!

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  7. Wow, i love how you described some portions of the ruins, which maybe most others don't notice. I love how you shot them in angles not as common as the rest. And i smiled when you asked about the monument of the cow,I recall the she-wolf feeding the twins put as a monument. I've been there but my shots are the common and my narrative so mediocre, hehe. And...how do we repost our old posts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Andrea!
      Rome was my hometown once, and I still miss living there.
      As far as reposting old posts is concerned, there are two methods that I know of:
      Go to your old post, into html mode, and copy the concent, the title, and the labels (all separately, one after each other) into a "new post" page.
      Alternately, you can go back to your old post, html mode again, go to "schedule" and change the date, then click on "update" at the top right.
      Questions? Please ask. I can send you screenshots or someone else may be able to explain it better.
      Cheers,
      Merisi

      Delete
  8. James, Williamsburg, VA20 March, 2015

    The second photo of the foot path is truly magnificent. Thank you for the wonderful St. Joseph's Cream Puff and
    the cup of coffee. You can come to our place this afternoon and have a slice of my lemon coconut cake with
    raspberry layers and I'll also give you a cup of Julius Meinl coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      Truly wished to be able to share a slice of that lemon coconut cake with you. ;-)

      Delete
  9. If I'm ever going to be in Sicily again, I know I want to be there for St Joseph's day to eat the special pastry they make for that day. I don't know if its the same pastry for Rome. But to this day I've not forgotten what I ate on St Joseph's day!

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    Replies
    1. I'll have to ask if the Roman pastry is different from the Sicilian!

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  10. I've always wondered how to repost after 10 years of blogging. Now I know. Thanks.

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  11. Everyone talks about Paris being so special, only those who has been to Rome or has lived there know how special Rome is. The ghosts in Rome are so plentiful, you can invoke anyone of their spirits, Julius Cesar anyone? St Peter, St Paul, the other saints, the Popes, the painters, the martyrs, the Christians.. Rome is very very special. If you've never been, your next trip is to Rome!

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  12. 4th attempt ....

    you baked? wow .. wiping the drool off my keyboard

    ReplyDelete

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