PRIMO GIORNO A ROMA

Il Cortile

So begins our stay at the American Academy in Rome. Our apartment is in the McKim,Mead and White building and overlooks this courtyard. We share the building with other visual artists as well as historians, architects, authors and scholars.

Wisteria

Spring in Rome is in full bloom with wisteria, irises, and fruit trees all at their peak.

The Bass Garden

We find the lovely grounds of the Academy a welcome quiet from the ever present Roman traffic and city noise. The umbrella pines and cypress trees punctuate the skyline.

The Vegetable Garden /The Rome Sustainable Food Project

"No more fishsticks on the menu here!"

We understand that Alice Waters (Chez Panisse restaurant) was brought here to help create this food program in the Academy's kitchen. The menu is seasonal and Mediterranean with the vegetables being grown right outside the kitchen door.

James at Fontana Paola on the Gianicolo Hill

After a short rest we take a walk down into Trastevere then across the Tiber and on to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon

We always make the Pantheon the first stop when visiting Rome!

The Pantheon is one of the most sensory spaces , since you are literally inside a sphere.Once a home to all the Romans gods, it is now the resting place of perhaps the greatest Renaissance artist, Raphael.

Cafe Sant 'Eustachio

Perhaps one of the best cups of coffee (other than at the Academy) to be found in Rome is here at Cafe Sant' Eustachio.

Cafe Latte per due

After a long travel day and miles of walking, sitting down for cafe latte was a great treat. There is still the walk back across the Tiber and up to the top of the Gianicolo Hill, and then some finally some sleep.