ESPQR: Roughly translated to mean property of Rome...it's EVERYWHERE!
St. Ivo...Baroque architecture. The facade is actually curved concavely from where the photo is taken and the dome isnt quite round, but has 6 different "points" like a jewish star, with half rounded and the other half points.
After a quick stop in Piazza Navonna (sp?) Ben and I loaded pics on Christi's comp, then did some wandering:
Chariot atop a large bldg.
The Pope's fortress...you know, in case of emergency or something.
St. Peter's...I'm not quite sure where Rome ends and the Vatican begins...
An old church-Ben would know a bit more about these sites than I...as I was being his shadow in order to avoid sitting in the apartment all day while everyone else was at the Vatican to see the Pope speak after mass.
One of the bridges connecting the city--the sculptures were awesome
La isglesia di Quattro Fontane...The church of the 4 fountains. I asked 4 policemen where it was, and they could only tell me where the street named Quattro Fontane was...each corner of the intersection has a different sculpture/ftn...hence the name.
Front column and stairs of the church.
We are such good kids.-Out in front of Quirinale, another Baroque-ish church
Next, we headed through the twisting streets to Richard Meier's
Ara Paci Augustas, which I really liked for its ability to separate itself from the street through white noise of the ftn, while offering a great place for enjoying the day, the city, a book...or the building and its many planes of structure, facade and screen.
It's raining and cold this morning, so we hit up a "Euro-store" and get some cheap ponchos, gloves, hats, etc. before braving the elements in search of the Guggenheim museum, the most published piece of architecture in history...true story. Ben and Tom look excited, no?
So does everyone else...
especially Bill...we haven't seen snow in...almost a day (if you count the hail in Rome)!
12 little ducklings all in a row...
wish they could take a bilbobus instead...haha
SWEET sculpture...the sun in this pic is deceiving!
The bridge from a playground I wandered through...are you surprised?
A bridge by Calatrava...he's kind of a big deal
Classic rainy-day image
OMG it's the Guggenheim...if you don't recognize it you are probably missing out on the world as it is in newspapers, magazines, commercials, etc for any number of reasons...except for its purpose, that is, as an art museum...
I like the effect of the stairs reflecting in the glass at the entry, below or at street level, depending on which street you approach it from
Felipe and Tom are attempting to break something...shhhh
Yup, that is the Guggenheim...how many views can you find that HAVEN'T already been documented?
The structural tower, which reveals the panelling system used for the museum--pretty nifty.
Felipe, Tom, and I spent A LOT of time at the museum...we were the last to leave around 5 or 5:30 PM. We watched a really interesting video on one of the sculpture artists featured in the museum as well as a video on Frank Gehry, architect of the Guggenheim at Bilbao, and his work. We wandered back toward the hotel and found this plaza that, the taxi driver told us last night, is one of the most beautiful city renovations in Bilbao.
Something about this bldg and facade were fascinating...how did it happen?
Check out the detailing
...and again!
Tom's hair
