After years of abandonment the balcony will soon be reopened to the public. In order to realize this aim it was necessary to thoroughly clean and restore it, since the museum had been using it for years as a storage place for technical instruments.

"Italians.....!"

The balcony, raised famous thanks to the myriad of movies made by the Istituto Luce, will be accessible through the Sala del Mappamondo (Hall of the Map of the World) in the museum of Palazzo Venezia, at the moment hosting the exhibition titled “Due imperi – l’Aquila e il Dragone” (Two Empires – The Eagle and the Dragon).

The Sovrintendenza del Polo Museale, through the sottosegretario ai Beni Culturali Francesco Maria Giro, made the following statement: “Let the damnatio memoriae (damned memories) of the balcony be forgotten, but not the historical misdeeds of the era. The balcony is one thing, the man is another.”

The question remains of course whether the balcony would have been important enough to merit a re-opening to the public if “the man” had not been holding his little Fascist speeches there.

Though the balcony is without doubt a historically significant spot, one would like to know where the sympathies lie of a man who, in 2010, declared that house-arrest was sufficient punishment for a young Roman who had murdered a Romanian nurse after an argument.

As of today, January 31st, 2011, line A of the Metropolitana, Rome’s underground system, will stop running at 9PM every night, except for Saturdays, when the normal schedule (5,30AM – 1,30PM) will apply. This situation will continue until April 2012.

The announcement was made by the Roma Servizi per la Mobilità and the cause of the change is the construction of metro line C, Rome’s third.

ATAC (Rome’s public transportation company) also announces on its website that, while the San Giovanni line C stop is being built and the San Giovanni line A stop is being adapted to become a changing station, the underground train schedule between Battistini and Anagnina will be adapted.

After 9PM, from Sunday until Friday night, 48 buses will be divided over two different lines, the MA1 and the MA2. The MA1 line will travel back and forth between Battistini and Arco di Travertino, whereas the MA2 will do so between the Piazzale Flaminio and Anagnina. The two lines will overlap in the most central, and hence busiest, part of the city, between Piazzale Flaminio and Arco di Travertino.

The new stops will be distinguished by a sign with the letter M on a red background. This sign will also indicate the stops.

For more information about the substitute bus lines or about public transportation in Rome in general it is always possible to call the ATAC information line: +39 0657003.

Whether you booked one of our bed and breakfasts in Rome, Little Italy and Chaplin, or not, feel free to visit our websites, where you will be able to find alternative directions from the airports Ciampino and Fiumicino to the center of Rome.

The aim of the exhibition, according to the Academy’s director, Eric de Chassey, is to show how the punk movement over the years has continued to have a strong influence on visual arts and fashion.
Punk music started in the 1970s, especially in the United Kingdom and in the United States and soon became popular in alternative circles in the rest of Europe.

There are around 500 items to be seen, including posters, T-shirts, flyers and fanzines, in short all the usual counter-culture paraphernalia. Many of these are on loan from museums and private collections all over Europe.

Sex Pistols Sleeve Art

Though the exhibition focuses on visual art, it is opened by a video of the Sex Pistols’ first appearance on television. The Sex Pistols feature heavily in the exhibition anyway, since British artist Jamie Reid’s “God Save The Queen” design for a Sex Pistols single, and Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s “Destroy Shirt”, made famous by the band, can also be seen.

The French punk-art group Bazooka have an entire room to themselves and the exhibition is closed by a BBC television appearance of the English band Joy Division (who are generally regarded to be part of the post-punk movement).
The show will run until March 20, 2011 and will then move to the Mamco Museum of Modern Art in Geneva from June 8 to September 18.

Diego Della Valle is also the owner of Florence’s football (or soccer, for those who think you need shoulder pads to play football) team, Fiorentina, lately in the news more because of the far from casually classy, pub brawling and cocaine snorting antics, of its most famous player, Adrian Mutu, than for its match results.

Diego Della Valle has now decided to finally do something with his life and has offered to pay 25m Euros for the restoration of the Colosseum, Rome’s most famous landmark of all, and the offer has been accepted by the officials.

“A monument that represents Italy in the world must be restored, and a company that represents Made in Italy stepped forward to say, ‘If you need us, we are here’,” Mr. Della Valle declared, inviting other Italian entrepreneurs to follow his example.

The restoration process is supposed to start towards the end of the year 2011 and is expected to require two and a half years of work. The biggest problems the ancient monument has had to deal with over the years are pollution and the vibrations caused by the underground line B. During the restoration the Colosseum will remain open as usual.

Since Della Valle promised he would not use the structure as a vast advertising space, I will here provide directions from my Rome B&B Little Italy and Bed and Breakfast Chaplin Hostel to Tod’s shoe shop: Take the metro line A to the Spagna stop. Find the exit to the Piazza di Spagna and go straight ahead into the Via Condotti. Tod’s can be found just past the crossing with the Via del Corso.

The only question that remains to be asked is: “Isn’t this what Rome’s new tourist tax was meant to be used for?”

• Leonardo Da Vinci: The Genius and His Inventions (Palazzo della Cancelleria, until April 30, 2011)
• Punk Visual Art (French Academy in Villa Medici, until March 20, 2011)
• Vincent van Gogh (Vittoriano, until February 6, 2011; 12 Euros)
• I Grandi Veneti (Chiostra del Bramante, until January 30, 2011; 10 Euros)

During this week all museums, monuments and other tourist attractions in Rome that are run either by the Italian State or by the Municipality of the city itself will be free to the public. This means that archeological sites such as the Colosseum can be visited without having to pay the normal entrance fee.

Apart from the wealth of attractions already represented by the Italian Capital, a number of special events will be organized: Exhibitions, guided tours of attractions that are normally closed to the public, concerts and much more will make Rome into the most happening city in Europe during these days.

The Vatican, it is to be noted, does not participate, since it is a state in itself and does not follow Italian rules, so you will still have to fork out your usual 15 Euros for the Sistine Chapel. Some privately owned museums do not participate either.

As of January 1st 2011 a new tourist tax (“contributo al soggiorno”) has been introduced in Rome, as a result of which tourists will have to fork out an extra “contribution” to their stay, the amount of which will depend on the type of accommodation chosen. For guests of my Rome bed and breakfasts Little Italy and Chaplin this means an extra cost of 2 Euros per person per night.

The tax has been introduced in order to get the necessary money in order to improve Rome’s infrastructure and as a result the service offered to people visiting the Eternal City. This way the tourist him/herself will contribute to his/her won well-being.

The tourist tax will only be applied during the first 10 days of one’s stay and children under 10 years of age are exempt.

Rome’s tourist tax per accommodation type:

Sights and city tours

The tourist tax is not just for hotels and bed and breakfasts in Rome. There is also a surcharge of one Euro per person for museum visits and city tours, such as the Hop On Hop Off buses.

As of November 11th 2010, after a restoration that has taken up 26 years, the Temple of Venus and Roma in the Roman Forum can be visited again. The temple used to be the biggest one in the days of Ancient Rome.

It was built during the rule of the Emperor Hadrian and was dedicated in the year 135 AD. The ruins of Nero’s villa can be found underneath it.

Venus was the Goddess of love and Roma was the goddess of the city of Rome itself. Both are represented by giagantic statues inside the temple itself. The statue of Venus faces the Colosseum, whereas Roma is looking towards the Forum Romanum, then the center of public life in the city.

The Forum Romanum is open from 8.30 AM until one hour before sunset. The ticket costs 12 Euros and includes entrance to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It is included in the Roma Pass circuit.

Directions from the Rome B&B Chaplin Hostel and Bed and Breakfast Little Italy

From the Rome Bed and Breakfast Little Italy it is only a short walk to the Roman Forum and the Temple of Venus. Turn right onto Via Ferruccio and then left at the end of the street. Go straight ahead until you see the Colle Oppi Park on your right. Walk through the park until you come to the Colosseum. The entrance to the Roman Forum is to the right of the Colosseum.

From the B&B Chaplin Hostel Rome you take the metro from Termini to the Colosseo stop (line B). Cross the road and find the entrance to the Foro Romano to the right of the Colosseum.

Glass structure to show the work in progress.

The art works are exhibited in the Vatican Pinacoteca and will be restored by the Ceramics specialists and the Metals Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.

A special glass construction was made to house the rather large models. This elegant see-through structure was built in the area of the museum known as the “Cortile della Zitella” (Spinster’s Courtyard). Visitors to the Vatican Museums will thus be given the possibility to see this fascinating work in progress.

The Vatican Museums are open every day except Sunday, from 8.30AM until 6PM. Admission is 15 Euros. The last Sunday of the month they are open (free) from 8.30AM until 2PM.

From the Hostel Little Italy Bed and Breakfast Rome, take the metro line A at the Vittorio Emanuele stop and get off at Ottaviano.

From the Chaplin B&B Rome, walk to Termini and take metro line A to the Ottaviano stop.

At Ottaviano, take the first exit on your left and walk on till you come to Piazza Risorgimento. Turn right for the entrance to the museums.

The exhibition is hosted in the (Complesso del) Vittoriano, behind the Fori Imperiali in the center of Italy’s capital. The exhibition, titled “Vincent van Gogh: Timeless Countryside and Modern City”, will last until February 6th, 2011. During this period, over 100 of Van Gogh’s masterpieces will be displayed in the Vittoriano Complex. Two thirds of the paintings were done by the artist himself, while the others are pieces by painters like Cèzanne and Millet, Seurat and Gauguin, in short artists who greatly influenced the Dutch master during his short life.

Many of the paintings are on loan from other major European and North-American museums. There are also works from private collections, that can only rarely be seen by the general public.

As the title of the exhibition indicates, the theme is the contrast between the timelessness of the countryside and the speed and ever changing nature of life in the city.