San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane ~ by Francesco Borromini

Happiness lies in thinking or doing that which one considers beautiful.

~Hazrat Inayat Khan

I studied it in art history. San Carlo, with it's notable, undulating, travertine, facade, that seems to scream out to the world, "So, you think you've seen the counter-reformation? You aint seen nothin' yet!" 

Francesco Borromini, the tormented genius, designed this masterpiece for no charge, as a thank you to the Holy Order of the Trinity, who'd given him his first commission (If I understood the story correctly.) It was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini in 1634. There was very little space for the church so he had to be extra creative with the floor plan. 

Anyway, on my first full day, in Rome, I wasn't even sure where I wanted to go. My list was long, so after having my cappuccino and brioche, I just decided to head South, past Piazza Barberini, where I'd been the night before. In the rain, I walked past the huge Palazzo Barberini on my left (The Barberini were obviously big in this neighborhood!) knowing I must be getting close to San Carlo. 

I came to a corner and there it was ... undulating facade and all.

The "alle Quattro Fontane" part of the name, comes from the four fountains on each corner of intersection that San Carlo cozies up to. 

The first time I walked past these fountains, it was my first ever day in Rome, back in October of 2008. I had no idea about San Carlo or what I was even looking at. I just thought, wow! Rome is so awesome! (You can take the girl out of California ... )

Turns out the fountains are four river gods and goddesses. I actually looked that up for you. The females are Juno and Diana and the male with the tree is Arno River. The other male, without a tree, is the Tiber.

Arno is closest to the church which is right behind and above him.

Good old Tiber, relaxing on his corner.

Just a little cool detail on the outside of the church ...

Finally, I made it across the intersection, past an obstacle course of umbrellas, up a few, steep steps and opened the thick wooden door to the church.

Pulling off my hat and gloves, my eyes made their way up the white columns and detailed plaster surfaces ...

And then, there it was, the beautiful coffered ceiling, catching the lovely natural morning light. It was smaller than I had imagined but much, much more beautiful. 

Every soul has an inclination to admire beautify, 

to seek for beauty, to love beauty, and to develop beauty. 

Even God loves beauty.

~Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

There were a few people inside but everyone was so quiet. There was a reverence that went beyond it being a church, that's hard to explain. People get loud in a lot of the churches and in the Sistine chapel where you are in the presence of Michelangelo's masterpieces, the museum guards are having to constantly shout "Silenzio!" so I'm not sure what it was. Perhaps, it was the small, intimate, nature of the space and the beauty of the light.

I just kept thinking, I'm so lucky to be here!

Borromini was big into cherubs and fabulous little details, which I love. I also love his use of gold, which was done very sparingly against all the white in San Carlo.

I found my way to the cloister. I was the only one there. It was silent except for the sound of the rain and my loud leather boots, when I walked across the wet stone floor. OH! And except for Siri who, out of nowhere, asked "How can I help you?" which echoed and bounced off the octagonal architecture. I quickly pulled my iPhone out of my right coat pocket to shut her up. 

That wouldn't be the only time, in a church, that Siri busted in on the meditative silence. I finally figured out where to deactivate her in my settings for the duration on the trip! 

Hand painted tiles on the "well." Such a peaceful space.

Back inside, I headed toward the crypt. Not sure why, but it was my first day and I didn't want to miss anything.

There was a little room on the way to the crypt with relics of St. Elizabeth Canori Mora (1774-1825), who is buried in the Barberini chapel, in San Carlo. Loved her little leather diaries ...

Not so in love with this, however. Some sort of rope for flagellating herself, I guess. Big tool for the Saints of the time, and a little disturbing, frankly. 

I wasn't quite sure at this point about going down into the crypt but I decided to follow a cute, Northern European couple down the stairs. It was stark, nearly empty and more than a little strange. 

These things don't usually creep me out, but for some reason, this one did. All I can say is the energy was weird. There are apparently a couple of graves down there but I couldn't figure out whose they were, and though there is a photo of the crypt on the official website, it gives no information. It just say's "Crypt."

The man, (of the cute couple) broke the tension by climbing into one of the little nooks and standing like a sainted statue. The lady took a photo and when we laughed but somehow the sound seemed swallowed up by the walls, and all of the sudden I found myself scurrying up the stairs like a mouse, behind the cute Northern European couple. We never spoke and I have no idea where they were from.

After the creepy crypt, I tried to let go of the weird energy, and sat, enjoying another look at the beautiful church. I tried to breath in the beauty and take in the genius of the space. I read my little leaflet about the church I'd gotten with my 1 Euro donation and took a few more photographs. 

What a glorious little space!

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

1638-1631

To watch an interesting short video, with commentary, about the design and architecture, click on this Link and play the video at the top of the page. 

If you want to read a Bio of the Saint Elizabeth Canori Mora click here

San Carlino/San Carlo

Via del Quirinale, 23, 00187 Rome, Italy

close to Metro stop Barberini

weekdays 10-1 and 3-6

Saturdays 10-1

Sundays  Noon-1

Man is always seeking for beauty, 

and yet he is unaware of the treasure of beauty that is hidden in his own heart ...

And it is the art of finding that beauty, of developing, improving, 

and spreading that beauty through life, allowing it to manifest before the inner and outer view, 

which one calls the art of the mystic.

~Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Ciao Roma! ... The first day

My first stop, on my recent Italian adventure, was Rome, my favorite city. I planned, I made lists, (what to pack, what to do, apps to download) and tried to be prepared for anything. 

Of course, you can never quite be prepared for airplane food. 

I flew Lufthansa from LAX to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Rome. For my flight into Rome it was easy to spot which gate my plane would be leaving from. There were at least 15 nuns sitting with their carry on bags, awaiting the flight. 

On the first flight (12 hours? I can't remember) I couldn't really sleep. I got maybe an hour of sleep, which was about enough time to get a neck ache. The second flight I ate my little Lufthansa snack (above) of smoked salmon and potato salad (so German and so well organized!) Somehow, thank the Lord, there were two empty seats next to me, so I threw my coat over my head, comforted in the knowledge of flying with many a nun on board, and passed out for the hour and a half flight.

I love traveling, but flying? Not so much. Although, I do love seeing that first glimpse of a place I am about to visit. Italy had been having a lot of rain (understatement) so it was very, very green. I had been checking my weather channel app for two weeks prior to my trip, so I knew what weather I was in for.

Fortunately, the rain subsided for the time it took me to haul my luggage out of the metro and up the street to my little pensione "Golden Rooms." It's not really a hotel, and there's no real lobby. There is a space for a desk, with a computer and things like extra towels and t.p., carved out of a hallway, which happened to be next to my little room on the 5th floor. 

In Italy, it was considered the 3rd floor because they didn't count the 1st floor of shops or the next floor which is 0. Yes, there was a skinny little lift that went from the 2nd floor ... or actually floor 0, (make sense?) so that was great for the luggage, and later my tired feet! 

Anyway ... I had a cute little terrace, just deep enough to stand on, but it made the place feel much bigger. I will show the rest of the room later, but the location was fantastic and only a few blocks east of the Spanish Steps.

It took a while to get settled because my credit card wouldn't work. Yep, I'd called to tell them where I was going before I left but after 3 or 4 tries (you pay at the beginning of your stay at this little joint) I had to make a 20 minute call to Visa (at 99 cent a minute) to take care of it. Finally, I got "Try splitting the amount in two." It worked.   ??? By the end of the Visa hitch, the guy running the desk was asking me if I like red wine and would like to join him to drink some. No thanks, I already had other plans. I did, I'm not making that up.

After settling in, I took a cab to meet a friend of a friend, Michele, for a dinner, at a cute little place in Monti. (basically, south of where I was staying) She's an American who's been living in Rome for a year, doing 3 different jobs, one of them teaching English but more on that later.

On the way home I realized how close I was to the Metro stop in Monti and took it. Much cheaper than a cab obviously, and that would end up being my main transportation in Rome, other than my feet! The Metro only has two lines which means it's very easy to figure out, but that also means also that it doesn't go everywhere. Thus, the walking. Great, not only for getting around, but for working off copious amounts of pasta and other foods of the white flower variety!

The closest Metro stops to Golden Rooms, were Piazza Barberini and Piazza di Spagna. I used Barberini, and here is the piazza, below. As you can see with the scaffolding, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fontana di Tritone, (1642-45) has been having a bit of a facelift. 

Up the street to the hotel ...

I fell in love with these little black patent leather shoes the first night, then had to walk by them every day! The 139 Euro price tag was a bit out of reach, but I had a lot of fun window shopping.

This window was a fun display of all sorts of goodies! Can you imagine taking one of those busts home?!

Though the rain was pretty constant on my visit to Rome, it sure made for pretty cobblestone photos! I'm not sure why the rain and thunder seemed so loud at night, but one Roman told me she thought it was all the hollow spaces of ancient Rome, under the present city, echoing. Kind of creepy but very very cool.

Buon Giorno Roma!!! Time to start my first full day!

Because there was no restaurant or kitchen at my little place, they give you vouchers for an Italian breakfast up the street. That's my building (below) and my room was on the right side, on the level where you see the more detailed wrought iron terrace.

Heading up Via Francesco Crispi ... 

There was a cute little market with meats, cheeses, wine, juice etc. where I picked some things up to keep in my little fridge. Very handy.

The little Cafe I where I ate, for my 9 mornings in Rome.

My first Italian style breakfast of Cappuccino, juice and brioche. 

The men who worked there where pretty nice but like teenagers everywhere, the girl who worked there didn't crack a smile until my last morning in Rome!

There were regulars I saw in there almost every day, as I sat people watching. The man I bought my sliced meat from, a few doors down at the market, would recognize me and said hello ... I miss it. And I miss having someone make me cappuccino in the morning! (Who wouldn't though, right?) 

Ah well, such is traveling. Experiencing another world and another way of living. Of course, if I'd been a local I would have stood at the counter and downed my espresso with a chaser of sparkling water, not sat at a table writing my postcards and jotting down my experiences in my travel diary! 

My first day, I went to three churches that were in my art history book, saw another famous piazza and basilica, and went to a huge Vermeer and Dutch Masters exhibit at the Scuderie Quirinale. But, that will have to wait for my next post.  Until then ...

Happy New Year!!!!!

The standard of success in life isn't the things.

It isn't the money or the stuff.

It is absolutely the amount of joy that you feel.

~Abraham

Can't wait to come around and see what you all have been up to!

Blessings and light and much joy for the next 365!

Italy "Instagram" Preview!!!

Ciao Tutti! I'm am back from my Italy adventure! I hope you all had beautiful holidays! It was an amazing trip but it was great to come home and spend Christmas with my family. 

I took somewhere around 3,500 photos, and that was with occasional editing of the memory card on my little Canon Powershot during the trip! These are photos taken with my iPhone and edited in the beFunky app  on my phone and/or Instagram.

Rome

View from my window in Rome

After the rain, downstairs from where I was staying ...

A gorgeous day after a lot of rain, on the Palatine Hill ...

Piazza San'Eustachio

The Pantheon

Via Condotti

Borromini's breathtaking Sant'Ivo

My first magical morning in Assisi

Basilica of San Francesco with a life sized Nativity!

Upstairs sitting room at the Hotel Palotta where I stayed

Piazza Santa Chiara

Piazza Commune

Assisi

Olive grove walk, from Assisi to San Damiano

Genova on the roof of the Palazzo Rosso

Afternoon drive ... Portofino

Genova Aquarium

Side Trip ... Boccadasse 

Genova streets

At a party (no it's not a museum) in Genova that was like being dropped into a Fellini movie!

Well, that's the just a tiny bit of of my adventure! Just an appetizer, if you will. An ... Antipasti! ;) 

There is much much MUCH more to come and I hope you will join me!

I see my path, but I don't know where it leads.

Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.

~Rosalia de Castro