Liberation Day is a national holiday in Italy that is annually celebrated on April 25. It marks the fall of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic and the end of the Nazi occupation in Italy in 1945, towards the end of the second World War.
So.......everything is closed except a lot of the restaurants and museums. There are a range of celebrations going on (none of which we saw) and people generally treat it as a festive occasion......although there is still a somber note cast regarding the terror of the Nazi occupation. Bittersweet in many respects.
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| open the shutters........first view........sunny again! |
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| wisteria is waning but still beautiful |
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| but this is why Andrea's allergies are giving her fits! |
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| what was the architect thinking? wonderful imagination! |
We thoroughly enjoyed the slower pace. There was much less traffic and it seemed a lot like a Sunday. The weather continues to be spectacular, so we decided to go for a walk in the Villa Doria Pamphili Park near us. It was wonderful to see all the families out enjoying the weather.......folks and families of all shapes and sizes!
We stopped on the way back for lunch at Bar Gianicolo. We got a great table on the sidewalk and just hung out for about an hour......wonderfully lazy.
We also took a stroll down to the Fontana dell'Aqua Paola and enjoyed the great views of the city. A little siesta time was followed by a couple of hours in the studio.
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| view of our villa from the front steps |
The evening turned out to be a great adventure 'downtown.' We had planned a dinner with Jeffrey and Eleanor, Joe and Cathy, and possibly David. We made a last minute suggestion to head out a bit early and try out the roof bar/terrace at the Minerva Hotel. We had read great things about it. We got a cab (Umberto at the gatehouse called for us) and we got there easily, around 7:15. The roof terrace was fantastic. We were also fortunate to get there before the evening rush (sunset) and were able to get a good table. Things got crowded quickly and it took a while to get our drinks, but it was all very enjoyable. The views were amazing, right behind the dome of the Pantheon.
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| amazing view from the roof terrace of the Hotel Minerva |
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| Andrea and Eleanor |
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| Borromini's St. Ivo alla Sapienza........our favorite spire in Rome |
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| Amazing to be this close to the Pantheon dome at sunset! |
We ended up running a bit late, but called the restaurant, Al Pompiere, and told them we were running late. This is a place that Jeffrey and Eleanor had been to a couple of times in the past. It took us about 10 minutes to walk there from Hotel Minerva.
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| Monte Bianco to finish the evening.......fantastic! |
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