The catacombs of Santa Priscilla located in Rome, along the Salaria road, are among the oldest Christian cemeteries.
In the ornament of a tomb is the image considered the oldest representation of Virgin Mary with baby Jesus.

As you can see above the figure of Mary there is a star, on its left a prophet - Balaam or Isaia- indicates the star that prophesies the advent of Christ.

The painting dates back to the third century AD.

I already posted some articles about chariot races and the Circus Maximus, once the most popolar sport of the ancient Romans.
I modiefied some pictures to give you a sense of how the valley once used to be. of course I'm not a graphic designer...I hope it gives you a better idea.​

In the past article, I stressed the importance of the she wolf for the roman citizens.

I want to give you an example by posting these wonderful pictures done by Greta, a 5 years old child, in school.

The She Wolf feeds Romolus and Remus

Romolus saw more birds in the sky, therefore the Gods prefer him and he will be the founder of Rome. (Look at Auspicia for more info)

​Romulus set the borders of Rome and Remus invaded it. Romulus killed Remus

​The She Wolf is the most important and significant among the Roman animals.
The myth of Rome’s origin state that a she wolf breast-fed the two abandoned babies Romulus and Remus saving their lives. Romulus, grown adult, was the founder of Rome.
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The she wolf is therefore associated to Rome foundation, to our sense of identity and has been the symbol of Rome in the past 28 centuries.

It seems strange but events that happened millennia ago are current for a Roman citizen, the She Wolf is a symbol with which the Romans identify themselves now.
It is the emblem of the city together with the famous S.P.Q.R – the senate and the people of Rome.

The symbol of the She Wolf is everywhere: in the garbage cans, in the ribbon for road works, on the Capitol - the seat of the municipality. Of course, the soccer team Roma has the yellow and red roman colors and the she wolf as a symbol. The genuine Romans frequently wear a pendant with the she wolf.

​The chapel was consecrated on October 31, 1483.

The greatest artists of the time were in Rome to decorate the main church of the papacy. Great names as Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino worked in the room for two years painting the walls of the chapel with the stories of Moses and Jesus. Below these pictures are painted tapestries, and above pictures of popes.

What remains of this decoration are the sidewalls only.
​The altar wall paintings were cancelled to house Michelangelo’s last judgment. While the main entrance wall was damaged when it collapsed in the fifteen hundred, therefore new paintings were realized by less important artists.
The picture shows you how the Sistine chapel looked like before Michelangelo interventions.

I love the Frecce Tricolore, they make me feel proud I am Italian.

The ‘Frecce Tricolore’ National Aerobatic Team of the Italian Air Force

In these days they are training for the ceremony of June 2nd, Republic day.
I’ve been lucky of being by the Roman Forum just in the moment when the planes were drawing the tricolor in the sky. I was also able to take these pictures...

​Roman climate is very mild and pleasant in winter time, and quite hot in summertime. I always suggest winter visit to Rome: the sky is beautiful, the city is quitter not overloaded with tourists, the weather is not too chilly.
The snow in Rome is an event. It happens so rarely that I’ve seen snowing in my city only about 10 times.
Kids are excited, as they don’t go to school, the city is a bit paralyzed when it happens.
The snow never last more than 1 or 2 days. It soon melts, knowing this we hurry in taking the most of the pictures we can of our beloved roman sites with the snow.

The Roman sunsets are famous, beautiful, surprising.

​Rome is an incredible city: often at the end of a day spent exploring, the sight of the sky that ignites with extraordinary colors rewards us.

Rainbows are beautiful to see... it always takes me to a childish surprised mood when I see a rainbow in the sky.

​I always remind myself to look up, not to focus on the ground, on what I am doing, on being in a hurry.
As soon as I exit home in the morning, I look at the sky and the roman sky is beautiful and it repays and surprises me.
I want to share some pictures with you...

Tomatoes are not necessary for pasta sauces. We love pasta with vegetables and meat and there are many kinds. 
When artichokes are in season we have pasta sauces and  lasagna with them.
For this sauce: just put extra virgin olive oil, garlic and sausage in the pan.
Cook and  add a little or white wine ( if you have it, it can be done without too).
Add the artichokes cut into strips. Cook for 10 minutes, if it dries too much you can add a little of water.
When the pasta is ready, before draining, keep a cup of the boling water.
Add the pasta in the sauce and cook for 2 minutes, if it is too dry add a bit of the hot cooking water, and parmigiano cheese.
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I cut the onion finely. It has to cook properly, I like when it melts, without  burned pieces of onion in  the sauce.
I use a simple secret that save some fat from your sauce too: fry in the frying pan the onion, a bit of extra virgin olive oil and a  little of water.

When it dries, you add a more water- a couple of spoons. In this way the onion did not burn but instead cook completely and become very soft.
When it is ready, you add the other ingredients. It’s a matter of just 5 preliminary minutes for a very good sauce.

Onion soffritto is required for the pasta sauces with:

Tomato

Zucchini

Pancetta-bacon
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Meat

Nature and history...

The blossom of Juda's tree is magnificient. it is all over the city.
The blossom lasts about two weeks. Afterward,  with the leaves on, it becomes an ordinary tree.

At the end of March the archeological area is in blossom. It's a pleasure for the eyes and wondeful for picture taking. The wisteria is spectacular...I wait the entire year for the blossom and it lasts about 10 days of pure beauty.

We have thousands of green parrots in town. They are all over...in the trees in front of my home, in the ruins of ancient Rome and a huge colony is in ancient ostia excavations.

They are not native of Italy; I imagine that green parrots owner tired of taking care of pets released them and they found my city very comfortable.

​They have considerably grown in number in the past few years.
I have never seen a green parrot when I was a child and now I wonder if they are replacing some other species.

We fortunately don’t have too many pigeons in Rome.

I have nothing against them, nevertheless these birds are dangerous for art works, and therefore a limited presence is optimal in the eternal city. 

​Largo Argentina, located in the very center of Rome, is an archeological site. The square was dug in the nineteen century revealing the remains and podium of four republican temples dating from the fourth to the first century before Christ.

​It sound strange, but it is right there that a cats colony resides. Homeless and abandoned cats are taken care in that beautiful setting and admired by the passerby. If a roman want to adopt a cat that is the place where to go. My brother got two cats there.

The 'soffritto' -fried slightly - is the base and starting point of Italian pasta sauces.
 
There are mainly three kindsof soffritto:
 
With garlic
With onion
With onion, carrots and celery
 
Depending on the sauce we are making we start with either one or the other.
 
Examples:
Basic sauce tomato and basil: need oil and garlic, like the simple but delicious ‘aglio olio e peperoncino ‘ pasta and fish or sea food ones.

Matriciana pasta with pancetta? Oil and onion
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Sauce with meat? Always onion, carrots and celery
When I say sauce with meat, I refer to:
Sauce with sausage, pork spare ribs, pork meat, meat balls, ragù etc.
The  sauce you use with pasta, lasagna, polenta.