Rome: Baroque, After Dark: Travel Details
This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in the "Rome: Baroque, After Dark" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Rome guidebook.
Giordano Bruno
Lauded as a martyr to free thought and reviled as an intellectual con-man and heretic, the philosopher/priest Bruno has a legacy only a Roman could love. Details of his life are sketchy, and his writings range from the sublime to the ridiculous.
The young Dominican priest was nonconformist and outspoken from the start. He had to flee Italy to avoid a charge of heresy, and spent most of his adult life wandering Europe's capitals. In Geneva, he joined the Calvinists, until he was driven out for his unorthodox views. In London, he met with Queen Elizabeth, who found him subversive. In Germany, the Lutherans excommunicated him.
In his writings, Bruno claimed to have discovered the "Clavis Magna" (Great Key) to training the human memory. He published satirical plays tweaking Church morals. He advanced the still-heretical (Copernican) notion that the earth revolved around the sun, and speculated about other inhabited planets in the universe. All his works show a vast-ranging mind that was aware of the scientific trends of the day.
In 1593, Bruno was arrested by the Inquisition and sent to Rome, where he languished in prison for six years. (Tortured? Lost in bureaucracy? No one knows.) The exact charge against him remains debated by historians.
Bruno was sentenced to death by fire. He replied: "Perhaps you who pronounce this sentence are more fearful than I who receive it." On February 17, 1600, the civil authorities led him to the stake on Campo de' Fiori. As they lit the fire, he was offered a crucifix to hold. He pushed it away.
Hotel Oceania
Hotel Oceania is a peaceful slice of air-conditioned heaven. This 15-room, manor house-type hotel is spacious and quiet, with spotless, tastefully decorated rooms, run by a pleasant father-and-son team. While Armando (the dad) serves world-famous coffee, Stefano (the son) works to give their hotel all the extra touches, including a plasma TV in the lounge for guests to watch classic movies set in Rome...and Italy episodes from my TV series (Sb-€118, Db-€148, Tb-€178, Qb-€198, prices good through 2006 with this book and cash, 25 percent less in Aug and winter, large roof terrace, family suite, Via Firenze 38, 3rd floor, tel. 06-482-4696, fax 06-488-5586, www.hoteloceania.it, info@hoteloceania.it; Anna, Radu, and Enrico round out the staff).
Borghese Gallery
This plush museum, filling a cardinal's mansion in the park, was recently restored and offers one of Europe's most sumptuous art experiences. You'll enjoy a collection of world-class Baroque sculpture, including Bernini's David and his excited statue of Apollo chasing Daphne, as well as paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, and Rubens. The museum's slick mandatory reservation system keeps the crowds at a manageable size (€8.50, includes €2 reservation fee, Tue–Sun 9:00–19:00, closed Mon. No photos are allowed. Reservations are mandatory and easy to get in English online, www.ticketeria.it, or by phone: call 06-328-101 if you get an Italian recording, press 2 for English; office hours Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00, Sat 9:00–13:00, closed Sat in Aug and Sun year-round).
Filletti di Baccala
Filetti de Baccala, a tradition for many Romans, is basically a fish bar with paper tablecloths and cheap prices. Its grease-stained, hurried waiters serve old-time favorites — fried cod fillets, a strange bitter puntarelle salad, and their antipasto (delightful anchovies with butter) — to nostalgic locals (no credit cards, Mon–Sat 17:30–23:00, closed Sun, a block east of Campo de' Fiori tumbling onto long tables in a tiny and atmospheric square, Largo dei Librari 88, tel. 06-686-4018). Study what others are eating and order by pointing. Nothing is expensive (see the menu on wall). Urchins can get a cod stick to go and sit on the barnacle church doorsteps just outside. Say ciao to Marcello who runs the place like a swim coach.