So we went for a walk...

John and I went out for a little walk before dinner.  Nothing special, just a little stroll around the neighborhood.  We ended up going along the Aurelian walls and saw and heard the starlings swarming in the trees.  There must have been thousands of them.  They are an incredible site, but can be a bit problematic.  We wandered through the Porta Metronia and past the Angolan embassy.  Up the hill we saw an open gate an went inside to find the Villa Celimontana and it's gardens with the obligatory obilisk. 

It was starting to get dark when we left through the gate on the north side.  There was an old church  on a dimly lit piazza with candles burning outside and people drifting in.  Of course we went to check it out.  A free concert of Baroque music was starting in 15 minutes so of course we stayed.  The group was a little like the Philharmonia Baroque we had gone to see when we were dating many years ago, Baroque music played on replicas of period instruments.  It was rather magical.

 Festival di Musica Sacra nelle Basiliche del Celio 

L 'Orchestra Diletto Barocco a Bascilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo 

After the concert we started walking home and came across this lovely site.  I'd seen glimpses, but hadn't been up close yet.  It is really quite impressive.  We'll take the full tour one of these days.

Not bad for just a little walk.


Notes:

The Villa Celimontana is home to the Italian geographic society and a Jazz festival in the summer.

According to the founding legend, the church was originally build in 362 over the home of John and Paul, two Romans martyred for their Christian faith.  There are certainly Roman homes beneath the church, but details are fuzzy.  Like so many sites in Rome, this church has been destroyed and rebuilt many times through the years.  More information here, here, and here.