Thursday morning included an interesting conversation with Pasquale about a Dan-Brown-esque book he was reading, about a Jew during the time of the Second Beit Hamikdash. Interfaith dialogue! (Assuming Pasquale isn’t Jewish, and has a faith). Then, it was off to the MAXXI, Rome’s museum of contemporary art.
For those of you not in the know, contemporary art is modern art that is so modern that it is called “contemporary” instead. I think. By the way, I love contemporary art. I don’t really get it, but I am under the impression that it’s not supposed to be gotten in the first place. Whatever the rules are, to me contemporary art is just cool, crazy stuff to look at. Maybe that’s all there is to it. The MAXXI was definitely full of cool, crazy stuff, and sometimes signs on the wall even tried to explain it! They definitely didn’t read the rules.
In other words, it’s a great museum and I recommend it. The building is built with wild curves, walkways flung high into the air, and big dramatic windows and things. To try and recall individual pieces of art would be a fruitless and yawnful endeavor. All I can say is that the art was sufficiently big, colorful, wacky and exciting. My one favorite piece was a square panel of like a hundred metallic half domes. You look at it, and then when you get closer you realize that they are mirrors and you see a hundred little warped images of yourself.
Not far from the museum, there is a concert hall designed by Renzo Piano, which Rachel wanted to see. Concert halls are good destinations when visiting a new city. Obviously, going to a concert is the best way to experience a concert hall, but you can also just walk around and look at them during the day. At least that’s been my experience in LA, Tel Aviv, and here. In between the three main buildings there is a very cool outdoor stage with seating around in a semicircle, like an amphitheater.
Our last tourist spot was a visit to a pyramid built as a tribute to the more famous ones in Egypt. There’s a reason they are more famous; the Roman one is kind of small and unimpressive. After the pyramid, we had our last Roman meal (some awesome pizza), packed our bags, and took an early evening train back to the airport.
All in all, a wonderful vacation.
For those of you not in the know, contemporary art is modern art that is so modern that it is called “contemporary” instead. I think. By the way, I love contemporary art. I don’t really get it, but I am under the impression that it’s not supposed to be gotten in the first place. Whatever the rules are, to me contemporary art is just cool, crazy stuff to look at. Maybe that’s all there is to it. The MAXXI was definitely full of cool, crazy stuff, and sometimes signs on the wall even tried to explain it! They definitely didn’t read the rules.
In other words, it’s a great museum and I recommend it. The building is built with wild curves, walkways flung high into the air, and big dramatic windows and things. To try and recall individual pieces of art would be a fruitless and yawnful endeavor. All I can say is that the art was sufficiently big, colorful, wacky and exciting. My one favorite piece was a square panel of like a hundred metallic half domes. You look at it, and then when you get closer you realize that they are mirrors and you see a hundred little warped images of yourself.
Not far from the museum, there is a concert hall designed by Renzo Piano, which Rachel wanted to see. Concert halls are good destinations when visiting a new city. Obviously, going to a concert is the best way to experience a concert hall, but you can also just walk around and look at them during the day. At least that’s been my experience in LA, Tel Aviv, and here. In between the three main buildings there is a very cool outdoor stage with seating around in a semicircle, like an amphitheater.
Our last tourist spot was a visit to a pyramid built as a tribute to the more famous ones in Egypt. There’s a reason they are more famous; the Roman one is kind of small and unimpressive. After the pyramid, we had our last Roman meal (some awesome pizza), packed our bags, and took an early evening train back to the airport.
All in all, a wonderful vacation.
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