Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

Our Blogger: Lorenzo

It won’t take you long to discover the many treasures of the eternal city of Rome. From its many antique churches and ruins to its local delicacies, Rome will offer you a new surprise at every visit but have you ever thought of its hidden jewels?

When we mention jewels we are talking about precious stones and years and years of design and creation. These hidden treasures can be seen at the Bulgari expo, “Between eternity and history 1884-2009” to be held at the Palazzo delle esposizioni (194 Via Nazionale) from the 22^nd of May to the 13^th of September. The expo will highlight the founder of the legendary Bulgari name, Sotiro Bulgari and his connection to the city of Rome.

This year Bulgari celebrates its 125^th anniversary of its store opening in Rome. Bulgari is famous today for its colored stones, unique in the world. Its style mixes Greek influences with Italian flavor. The exposition will include approximately 400 pieces of jewelry, precious pieces and unique watches. Many of these pieces have never been seen by the public because they are the property of collectors while others are part of a vintage collection that is no longer available to the public. Photographs of famous people who have worn or own a piece of this outstanding jewelry and original designs and details of the creation of these jewels will all be yours to admire.

The Palazzo delle Esposizioni is located near Repubblica square, within walking distance from Yes Hotel and Hotel des Artistes, two of the most outstanding alodgement options in Rome!

Our Blogger: Marcelo

Unique and very valuable works can be admired on a new exhibition in Rome, Giotto e il Trecento (Giotto and the fourteenth century), a chance to have an interesting approach to the middle ages art. The huge exhibition at the Complesso del Vittoriano displays 150 masterpieces from museums around the world.

Giotto was the first Italian artist to overcome the tendencies of Byzantine painting of his time by exploring what eventually would lead to the great artistic revolution of the Renaissance. Profoundly innovative, the art of this great master was not indifferent to their peers, and in his time enjoyed great fame.

Among the great works on display there are masterpieces of great painters of the   fourteenth century as Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Tino di Camaino and others, as well as jewelry, wooden sculptures and illuminated manuscripts. This represents the classic and gothic influences that shaped a new taste in art and renovated the canons of expression and will be presented in different sections.

The Complesso del Vittoriano is really easy to reach from Hotel Des Artistes or Yes Hotel. Visit our web sites www.hoteldesartistes.com or www.yeshotelrome.com to get more information on location, rates and availability for accommodation!

Our Blogger: Arianna

Well known all over the world, Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the major examples of Italian genius: polyvalent  and enigmatic, his talents spanned from painting ( everybody knows the Gioconda and the  Last Supper), to beautiful sculptures and ingenious war inventions.

In particular I’m writing this post just to talk about the relation between Leonardo and the music.

In fact the artist really loved the music and he even composed some aria. Besides, he was a passionate player of the, literally “ arm lyre” (lira da braccio) and he even draw a model of this instrument.

Actually the  Organ Viola, the one that Leonardo draw has been built by the “Association de Recherche Culturelle L. De Vinci” from Sion (CH)

It’s fascinating to learn, regarding Leonardo’s love for music, that according to scholars Gian Mario Pala and Loredana Mazzarella, inside the Leonardo’s Last Supper there is a hidden a musical composition which has been synthesized digitally. Of course a new book on the subject is coming….

  Now in Rome will take place on June the 12th 2009, Leonardo da Vinci e la Musica, a conference about this specific aspect of the artist’s life. There will be on display, too, the organ viola that Leonardo designed. The conference is part of a bigger project intended to draw an itinerary about the history of music between XVII and XX century and will be held at the National Museum of Musical Instruments, on the square of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem), near the subway station San Giovanni.

The entrance it’s for free but it’s necessary to book in advance.

To enjoy the stimulating cultural life of Rome, there’s no better option than Hotel Des Artistes and Yes Hotel, a great base to explore the Eternal City and Italy!

What ?

Galleria Borghese is a one of the most beautiful mansions in Rome with a great painting and sculpture museum inside. This Gallery is situated in the second biggest Rome metropolitan park of Villa Borghese.
The Rome mansion of Galleria Borghese was built for Cardinale Scipione Borghese in 1613 to host the Roman society and delight friends with the splendid collection of valuable works of art from Rome excavations or commissioned famous artists of the time .

The most important masterpieces of the collection are: “Apollo and Daphne”, the work of Bernini, “lost to Venus”, the sensuous portrait of Pauline Borghese, wife of Camillo Borghese and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, from Canova. “Madonna of Palefrenieri” and “Bacchus sick” by Caravaggio, “the sacred el amor ‘amor profane” by Titian, the beautiful ” “Deposition Baglioni” by Raphael, and even works by Botticelli, Pinturicchio, Perugino, Domenichino.

This prestigious Rome Art Gallery is very busy, due to the top range of the exhibitions and you will have to book your tickets beforehand. The number that you can call is 06 32810, and once that you have your booking number you should go there half an hour before your scheduled appointment. Alternatively you can book a Galleria Borghese Rome tour for a hassle free visit.

Where ?

You can get there by metro Line A (SPAGNA or FLAMINIO stop, some exits access the Villa Borghese Rome park) o by bus from Rome Termini station, which is just by our My Hotel Rome number 910 and for 6 stops.

When ?

Opening hours :
Tuesday to Sunday & Holidays : 09.00 am until 7.00 pm
Closed Mondays

Current exhibition : Canova and La Venere Vincitrice from 18th October 2007 until 3rd february 2008.

I have been hearing that phrase quite a lot lately and I am really not surprised. The weather for the last few days has been absolutely fantastic but it has also been devilishly hot. The past few days have been around 31.5 degrees. Thats just a bit lower than the record for Rome a couple of years ago at 32 and a bit degrees.

If this is what its like now in spring i dont know how its going to be in summer. Anyway a few tips on how to survive the heat in Rome for the time you are here. The first and most important thing to remember is to drink plenty of water. Thats no problem in [tag]Rome[/tag] because there are loads of fountains in the streets and the piazzas.

The second things you should do is try to stay out of the sun when it is the strongest.

That would be between 12 and 3 in the afternoon more or less.

Thats really easy to do because there are loads of parks and green areas with trees and lots of shade. The most notable and most famous of these being the [tag]Villa Borghese[/tag] of course.

 

As the city is so hot during the day the nights are also very warm. This is perfect for a nice walk during the evening. Rome is extremely beautiful when it is lit up at night. The bars also stay open quite late so you can also get a cup of coffee or something cold and have a seat and relax. The places to go in the evening are definetly the ones with the most lights. [tag]Fontana di Trevi[/tag] is definetly a must. So are most of the big piazzas like Venezia and Navona. The [tag]Colosseo[/tag] is also fantastic at night as are the other parts of the [tag]forum area[/tag].

Another way to beat the heat would be to do a lot of indoor activities. This would be really easy to do as Rome is full of loads of historical [tag]monuments and museums[/tag]. The churches are also a good place to stop and have a look at the art work inside. If you have children with you, especially if they are young, you can take them to a museum, Explora, especially for kids located in Via Flaminia 60. They also have a cafe there so you can relax and have something to eat while they are off doing what kids do.

There is also a water park located near Rome called [tag]Aquapiper[/tag].

It is open from 9:00 till 19:00 from Monday to Saturday and from 9:00 till 19:30 on Sundays and holidays.

The best thing is that entrance is free for children under 10 years of age.

 

 

Sunday was a really great day. Well, it was, until one of my flatmates woke me up from my extremely deep and relaxing slumber. He reminded me that this was the last day to go to the [tag]museums for free[/tag]. Free is a magic word so I listened very carefully after that. Yes we were going to go to Villa Borghese today. Finally, I thought after having been here for 8 months I would finally see it. So we got the metro at Vittorio Emanuele. Then we got off at [tag]Barberini[/tag] and then got a bus from [tag]Via Veneto[/tag]. This however turned out to be a rather round about way of doing things. Bus 910 from Termini stops right outside the park, steps away from the museum.

 So we were about to see the museum with all the art inside until………………signs notifying us dashed my hopes. The museum was full. No more tickets were available. Oh well we decided to go to Villa Giulia instead. This museum which used to be the [tag]villa of pope Julius III[/tag] houses an immense collection of statues, vases and other various items made from terracotta and especially of [tag]Etruscan[/tag] origin. There are also many bronze articles on display and my favourite bit in this museum like all the others was looking at all the stuff made from gold.

 The villa also has gardens which are shaded and a few small fountains. The one at the entrance is home to a family of turtles. After the museum I had built up a bit of an appetite from all the walking around so I decided to go to Fassi. This is another fantastic gelateria and the ice cream is absolutely amazing. They also have other sweet stuff on sale besides the ice cream. Tiramisu and some other really yummy looking cakes are on sale too. The prices are pretty fair for what you are getting. My ice cream was a small and it only cost € 1.50 I got three flavours and I could have had a dollop of cream too but I decided that the ice cream was enough.

 We then set off to a pasticceria. This one is also located near [tag]Piazza Vittorio[/tag]. I highly recommend getting a Bavaresi and anything stuffed with cream and ricotta cheese. This great pasticeriais located on Via di Statuto. The prices are very good and the quality of the dolce is excellent.

 

 

 

This stop is on the B line and is the last stop before Laurentina. There are some great museums in this area and they are not far from the metro stop. You can easily walk there and the large white obelisk in the traffic circle is right opposite to the museum complex which is on the right hand side.

An especially interesting museum, museo della Civilta’ Romana, or the museum of Roman Civilisation has a copy of Trajan’s Column which is laid out in sections that can be viewed really close up. The other great exhibition is the model of the ancient city of Rome. The detail is absolutely amazing and it gives you a very good idea of how the city looked. I had a lot of fun figuring out where all the places would be today and where my favourite gelateria and bar was.

The musueum price is 6.50 euro. It contains mostly replicas and casts of sculptures and other artifacts found in Rome and other parts of Italy. I went to the museum on Sunday so it was only open from 9 till 1 in the afternoon. On weekdays its open till 6:45. The best part is definetly the scale model of Rome. I spent at least half an hour in that room looking at it. It was absolutely fascinating.

I would only recommend going to the museum to see the column and the model. There is nothing else to see that is of any real significance except for the other scale models of buildings and temples found in Rome and other places like Pompei.

The area that the museums are located in looks nothing like that of the city centre or the other parts near the centre. This was designed as a modern metropolis envisioned by Mussolini but which somehow doesn’t quite look completed. While I was walking through the area I felt like I was somewhere in East Berlin or Russia. All the streets are wide tarred and straight. The buildings have been built in a very planned and specific way with columns and arches everywhere. Everything seems so ordered and tidy that you would not think you are in Rome unless you looked at the street names. This place is so un-Italian. It has none of the chaos, small crooked streets and careless town planning that the city centre has and where our Nice Hotel Rome is located.

 

My Hotel Rome Blog is the guide for travellers that are planning a vacation trip to Rome.

If you love Rome or if you would like to visit the ethernal city this is the right place for you