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*** In the Beginning ***
In 1954 Fred Joyce, the publicity Director for Hilton Hotels Corporation, issued the following press release:
"The Societa Generale Immobiliare (Real Estate), in cooperation with Hilton Hotels International have formed the company to be known as Italo American Nuovo Alberghi (New Hotel) which will have an eventual capitalizaiton of some $3 million. The hotel will be known as the Albergo dei Cavalieri Hilton and will cost approximately $7 million. Emilio Pifferi, a famous Italian architect is presently consulting in Rome with John W. Houser, executive vice president of Hilton Hotels International regarding the design and planning for the new hotel. It is expected that Rome's municipal government will build a new expressway from the heart of the city to the hotel."
Houser was a former Marine intelligence officer who became a director at Hilton Hotels International. Houser had negotiated with the pro-Batista Cuban faction for the casino in the Havana Hilton which opened in 1958 and nationalized in 1960.
The hotel would be owned by the Rome real estate Sociata General Immobiliare (The General Company of Real Estate). The proposed name of the hotel was Albergo Dei Cavalieri Hilton (The hotel of knights Hilton). Societa General Immobiliare is known to have the Vatican among its stockholders. It has also built the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. The name Cavalieri pays tribute to the riders or knights who for centuries rode the path known as Via Francigene from Canterbury in England through France and on to Rome. Travellers used to rest on the hill of Monte Mario.
Conrad Hilton made a trip in 1955 to work with Italian concerns for the construction of the hotel. Hilton's plans were fought by the Left-wing parties in the Rome Municipal Council. The Communists (as Left-wingers were known then) contended the proposed Hilton Hotel was ugly and would ruin the sky line of Monte Mario. A proposal for a smaller, lower hotel was finally approved in 1959. Opposition to the hotel, led by Antonio Cederna, one of the founders of Italian Nostra, began immediately referring to the hotel site as a "wound" in the green of Monte Mario. The site of the hotel was expected to be a public green such as on the Janiculum Hill, the second tallest hill in Rome with Monte Mario the tallest. The Italian Nostra organisation was founded in 1955 with the specific aim of opposing the projected demolition of part of the city’s historic centre. The hotel is located in the residential area of Monte Mario, Rome’s highest hill. The Rome Cavalieri is 3 km from the Vatican and 5 km from the historic city centre and is nestled in a 15-acre private Mediterranean park, overlooking the Eternal City.
On September 13, 1960 Conrad Hilton watched as the cornerstone of a six-story hotel bearing his name was laid on Monte Mario. Designed by Ugo Luccichenti (1898 - 1976), Emilio Pifferi and Alberto Ressa the hotel was under construction from 1960 -1963.
*** Cavalieri Hilton Hotel opened in June 1963 ***
The hotel has 400 rooms and suites and sits high atop Monte Mario northwest of Rome. It has a panoramic view of almost the entire city. The italian architectural team of Ugo Luccichenti, Emillio Pisseri and Alberto Rossa designed the 8 story hotel. An opposing planner and architect, Italo Insolera, was quoted "the hotel was even worse in reality than one would expect." Others say the hotel belongs in Miami Beach. In the hotel lobby's atrium, the spiral fountain was designed by Franco Albini (1905/77) and Franca Helg (1920/89).
When opened in 1963 the building was an admirable example of modular architecture, resulting in a style which is both clean-lined and functional. The hotel resembled a Mediterranean vacation village, including olympic size swimming pool, tennis courts and a 7 acre park filled with pines, cyprus, olive pal and lemon trees. The hotel's original restaurants were the roof terrace restaurant night club La Pergolia with a cosmopolitan cuisine with specialties from around the world. At the garden level is a night club/restaurant known as L'Ellisse with French cuisine. La Belle Arti specialized in Italian food. The coffee shop (note the lower case) served Italian and American food with prices from $1.25 to $2.25. The coffee shop had an American style soda fountain and two pizza ovens. The hotel's massive ballroom, Salone dei Cavalieri, could seat 1,600. The hotels opening rates were $10.50 for a single to $74.00 for a two room suite. There was a 18% service charge and a 3% government tax. The ballroom was the largest space without column support at that time in Italy. Italians called it the most beautiful hotel in Rome "l'albergo più bello di Roma".
In 2001 the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, started a four-year, $45-million renovation designed to enhance the guest experience across all touchpoints of the resort. Each of the 370 guestrooms were modernized and refurbished, welcoming travelers with opulent new amenities and a higher level of convenience and connectivity. Also new is a collection of 25 individually designed and decorated suites. The property received extensive landscaping attention, the lobby received a face-lift, new fitness offerings were added and meeting space upgraded.
The Rome Cavalieri Hilton lobby received new reception and concierge desks by Italian architect Gaetano Castelli which feature surfaces made of Sodalite, a rare Brazilian semi-precious stone dramatically shaded in blue, gray and green. This stone is believed to facilitate communication between people, stimulate creativity and soothe and relax the soul. Antique multi-chrome marble panels, originally decorative features of an aristocratic southern Italian palazzo, adorn the center of each desk, encased at the sides by contemporary curved blue crystal. Also displayed in the lobby are some rare Old Master paintings, furniture, tapestries and artifacts dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
In 2002 the Rome Cavalieri Hilton had 372 rooms. A standard double was US $474, Continental breakfast is US $29. The use of the fitness center was US $28; a massage, US $80. Dinner at La Pergola for two with wine, about US $320.
In 2008 the hotel was rebranded from just a Hilton to Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts. Guestrooms were refurbished in 2011. The Imperial La Pergola is Rome’s only 3 star Michelin rooftop restaurant.
*** Hotel Art Collection ***
The Rome Cavalieri possibly has the world’s most prestigious art collection housed within a hotel worldwide. Among the over one thousand works of art kept in the hotel:
Paintings
"Ulysses discovering Achilles among the daughters of Nicomedes" by G.B. Tiepolo (1696/1770)
"Judgement of Paris" by Giuseppe Bazzani (1690/1769)
"Landscape with Hermit" by Alessandro Magnasco (1667/1749)
"Flora" by Carlo Cignani (1628/1719) a pupil of Francesco Albani
"Arrival of the Bucintoro in St. Mark's Square" by Josef Heintz the Younger (about 1600/78)
"Country landscape with bridge" by Giuseppe Zaïs (1709/84) artist from Belluno who died in poverty, exponent of the Arcadian school
"Dollar Sign" by Andy Warhol (1928/87)
Sculptures
Bronze statue "Boy with Dog" by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)
Marble sculpture "The Kiss" by Antonio Tantardini (1829/79)
*** General Managers ***
Franz Schutzman (1915-2001) was the opening general manager. He served from 1962-1964. Prior to the Rome Cavalieri Hilton he was the Manager Raffles Hotel, Singapore, 1950-1959 and general manager Nile Hotel, Cairo, 1960-1961. From Rome Schutzman went on to general manager Hyatt Regency Toronto, Ontario, 1971-1974. Vice president, general manager United Nations Plaza Hotel, New York City, 1974-1976 and general manager The Manila Hotel, 1976-1987.
It is said Franz Schutzman concocted the popular cocktail, the Singapore Sling, while at the Raffles Hotel. Paul Schreiber was the opening Food and Beverage Manager, previously he was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
From 1964 to 1967 Gabor Olah De Garab (1924-2014) was the general manager. He also managed the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC for 18 years from 1967 to 1985. Gabor Olah de Garab was born in Paszto, Hungary on August 8, 1924. After studying hotel management at the world-renowned Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne, Switzerland, he held managerial positions at the Gallia Excelsior in Milan, the Hotel Splendido in Portofino and the Cavalieri Rome Hilton. In 1967, at the request of Giuseppe Cecchi, one of Washington, DC's foremost real estate developers and then project manager for the Watergate complex development, Olah assumed leadership of the Watergate Hotel that year and served as its General Manager for 18 years.
Serge Ethuin was the Cavalieri general manager from 2008 thru 2014. Serge graduated in 1982 from the Ecole Hôtelière in Strasbourg, and began his career in 1983 working for the Hilton Group as a receptionist at Hilton Paris, Strasbourg Hilton and the Orly Hilton. In 1997, he was appointed general manager of the Hilton Madagascar and followed by Hilton Rome Airport and Hilton Arc de Triomphe. In 2008 he moved to head the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, which became the first European hotel to integrate the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria Collection. Serge Ethuin inspired a new dynamic through the three Michelin Star restaurant La Pergola, the Grand Spa Club, the hotel's unique Art collection. In 2011, he was awarded “Best General Manager” by Waldorf Astoria Worldwide. After 30 years within the Hilton Group, Serge Ethuin moved on to managed the Royal Monceau Raffles Paris and most recently as General Manager of the Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo.
In 2014 Alessandro Maurizio Cabella was appointed general manager of the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts. He previously served as general manager at Hilton Molino Stucky Venice, the Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa in Portugal and Hotel Mirabeau - Société des Bains de Mer Monte Carlo in Monaco.
It seems the best chef in Rome is German. Heinz Beck has presided over Pergola, the panoramic restaurant at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, since 1994. The dining room tables are arrayed around the picture windows overlooking the city. Rare tapestries, paintings, sculptures, and blown glass give the restaurant an atmosphere of excellence. Rated 3 stars in the Michelin guide, La Pergola is routinely voted the best in Rome. The wine cellar is vast: an array of rooms containing 65,000 bottles of wine, with 3,500 different labels offered on the list. The 7 course tasting menu here was €210, with a full a la carte choice as an alternative. Heinz Beck now has restaurants in Portugal, Dubai, London (Apsleys) and Tokyo.
Compiled by Dick Johnson, May 2017
Esquilino Market, Rome, 2019
Only the street shots - thestreetzine.blogspot.com/
Rome wasn't built in a day and you'll need much more than a day to take in this timeless city. The city is a real-life collage of piazzas, open-air markets, and astonishing historic sites.
Rome is the capital of Italy and the largest and most populous city in the country. It covers an area of 1,285 square kilometres and has nearly 3 million residents.
Most Visited Tourist Attractions In Rome: The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Roman Forum, Spanish steps, Piazza del Campidoglio, Castel Sant’Angelo, Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, Colosseum, piazza Venezia, piazza Navona, piazza Barberini, piazza della Rotonda, piazza della Minerva ,piazza del Popolo etc.
Mosaic at St Peter's
11/22/2004 - Monday: in Rome Roma, the Vatican, train to Florence Firenze
tags: italy
Monday Reality
Left hotel a bit late...not too bad. Tried to get on the subway but there was a line up the stairs. We were going to take a bus, but then we got a cab. 10 euros to take a cab two metro stops...I sort of think that wasn't strictly kosher...but maybe it was. it was still fun. We got to go under a tunnel that we saw yesterday during our ordeal march of being lost.
the idea was to catch the capucin crypts on the way to the vatican. But they were closed...still. so we slipped down back into the subway. We had used our single use tickets when we were turned back by the line at the Termini station, but we decided that the moral constraints were met, so we slipped through and re-used the tickets to get to the vatican. AFter all, we had gone through the gate, but we hadn't gotten on a train...
so the train left at 4:48ish, maybe 4:47...basically right on time ...
Off we rushed to the Vatican museum. We arrived at 10:00...and the english tour was at 10:30, so just enough time to get oriented and rest a bit before the ordeal by marbel floor!
We had a nice tour guide. First she showed us a sort of parchement view of the sistine chapel-two rulls of text and pictures with details of the different scenes. She would wind it down to get the next view.
This was fascinating...I am phenomenally underinformed of art and cultural matters...it is almost a cliche to say that, but egads it it true.
on the other hand, there are things we know today that were unknown 200 years ago. Amazingly...apparantly the whole forum area was under dirt until 18-something. So much dirt that only the tops of the columns were exposed. and even now much remains.
The archeologists cringe over the techniques used to clear what is now exposed. There have been several recent archeological 'campaigns' among the ruins of palatine hill that have excavated pre-roman huts. one of the write ups discussed the findings of 27 flakes of flint, indicating tool maing. So infering thngs based on bits of things found...which is the whole point of archeology.
And it made me realize that they are not done excavating Rome Roma...an odd thing to realize, since only a moment's consideration would reveal how obvious that is! There are Indian mounds that the archeologists are intentionally leaving alone for now, with the expressed plan of letting future archeologists examine them when they have better techniques.
my ears are popping...and the gps lost its lock...I then look out and realize we are going through a tunnel. ah...sense is made.
maybe...perhaps it wasn't a tunnel...I can't tell. several more episodes of pressure changes are occuring.
There are sliding head rests on the cabin walls in back of the seats. they are padded and have vertical supports so that you can lean on them to sleep without falling into the window, or onto your neighbor. they slide up and down to allow you to adjust to your preferences.
We didn't see the capucini crypt, because it was closed, and it was getting dark as we got on the train, but we are doing pretty well.
The vatican tour took two hours...and it seemed that we were moving much of the time. they have these slick radio receivors so you can hear the tour guide even if you are in the next room back.
I had a strong response to a tapestry depicting the slaughter of the chilidren by herod. One baby is being held, barely, by its mother and a soldier has a dagger to the child's heart. The baby is about to die. Other mother's are using their bodies to shield their infants. it is truly horrible.
damn! the pressure changes are really frequent, and amazingly annoying.
I downloaded a bunch of stuff from 'hex'-a friend of Jo and Schuyler's. I'm reading
how to build a reality that doesn't fall apart two days later...file:///Users/admin/wa/web/downlode.org/etext/how_to_build.html
I'm on the train...fighting sleep. I need to pee, but to do that I worry I'll have to wake the gentleman seated in front of the door to our compartment.
passing through orte...at 5:27:00---possibly even got a track point. I had a signal for a moment.
well..more than a moment, but not too long. there is crying in the hall....
The GPS showed us going 115 mph, for a bit. not just one observation. interesting. fast.
The hall of maps was cool because I realized it was, or could have been, not about art and instead was about the simple matter of managing an empire.
I enjoyed the museum, duh, and the Sistine chapel...and then we climbed the dome! I loved that! I truly loved it. We got to the top and I could see radio vatican and the quiet parts of the vatican and various 'stuff.' I don't know why, but seeing vatican radio made me happy.
We descended...heather waited while i ran about St. Peter's one more time. I went back into the catecombs...and reflected again at st. peter's grave, and the crypts of the popes. different passageway's were open from last time...you went in and out on different sides. Saturday we went through more passageways, past bits of monuments, even broken bits, supposedly the memorials for past popes there had been recovered via archeological digs and the like...little rooms, with gates, and some stones mounted on the walls.
Today I looked through a grate and down at a compartment that seemed to be set up as a small chapel. maybe a particularly holy pope was buried there.
When they embalm a pope, or remove anything from one, they send the bits to a particular church in room so the bits don't become relics.
I was struck by how clean and non-catacomb like the area was that we were allowed to tour. There were passageways that looked like they might get more 'creepy' small and twisty, but it was all clean...I guess marble does that for you.
Heather was whipped. We walked the .4 miles to cafe ruggio (is that it? The antipasto bar place by gellati millenium. it is in the Rick steve's book. We tried for it Saturday, but it was still closed, and we tried today, but closed Monday. Both faux paws (sic) could have been avoided if we had looked at the book and actually _read_ that listign first.
I have so many books and things that I don't really need...
Well Heather felt really crappy...but we ate at the little place by millenium gellati. It was great. The woman dished me up two plates. First a bowl of pasta, and then a plate with veal, mushrooms, zucchine, and peas with ham. It was in little bowls and I got to pick...heather had a panini. I was jsut positive that I was suffering eyes bigger than my head syndRome Roma, but
(and here the laptop powered down, I was writing on the train, and now it is the next day and some, 1:20 am on the 24th) I ate everything, and had a gellato after. And we went to the big 'M.' We found the M, but there was no metro...it was up another block. We metroed to the train station. Identified a train time, then grabbed our stuff at the hotel.
We spent time at the internet cafe DSC_4285.JPG, DSC_4286.JPG, DSC_4287.JPG ... They didn't support ssh! well I finally did send an email to folks via the webmail at work.
Then the train! The train was great. And we whisked into Florence Firenze. We wandered streets for a bit, then I got lock on the GPS, and knew we were .15 miles, and we wandered. I didn't remember the street name (via nazzionale, #10), but when we stumbled onto it Heather identified it. And we were a half block away.
Check in went smoothly. We fooled around, and then took to the streets. We ate at trattoria Sostanza-Troia (see p285 of Rick Steves). There were tour de france pictures on the walls, and signed photos dating back. We enjoyed it! A bottle of table wine. Tortellini with a house sauce, and then pot roast with beans. Heather had a bean salad and a salad.
Then we wandered back and bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate. Heather studied our books, and I sort of watched the Tony Gatuf movie Swing. I think it was in Italian with French subtitles. After all of that Art, and trying to read the pictures, I watched it in a different way. Paying attention to the cultural signifiers and all of that jazz. Having thoughts like 'why did he frame that shot that way? What does that use of open space say?" etc...
Ancient Rome Historic Center, Rome, Italy. Complete indexed photo collection at WorldHistoryPics.com.
Italy. 1.1.2019. Rome. Rome New Year.
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Copyright © 2019 Andrew Wiard
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Rome tram 7091 (Stanga/1949-50) at the Piazza del Risorgimento terminus, close to the Vatican. 25/04/2004 [TRM 117].
So here we are, on the road again, and I hadn't sorted out the Sony A6000 to Snapseed interfaces.
I shoot RAW and my image transfers from this trip look meh. After 4 weeks it finally occurred to me to look at the file size. Lo and behold, thumbnail jpgs were transferred. Ugh.
This is why my cellphone images look sharp on Flickr and the A6000 images do not.
I tested shooting RAW + JPG and the good, full Rez JPG does transfer. Lesson learned.
Next thing is image processing.
I read about how Norman Seeff used to print high contrast works with a twist. He used a black stocking between the enlarger lens and paper to give a interesting softness to some of his images.
He wasn't by any means the only one to do this.
When I worked at Samy Cameras photo lab on Sunset Blvd in Hollyweird we used to do this at client request. It was really no big deal.
What was a bigger deal was our use of Agfa Portriga Rapid 111 Glossy paper. It gave a gorgeous deep walnut brown tone. We used this for may of the gallery shows we printed for various then famous photographers.
Taking the black stocking idea and borrowing tones from Portriga Rapid, it turns out, expresses pretty well how I feel about Rome.
So, here is a series of images done in an old, outdated, likely not very hip manner.
Catalog #: 10_0020085
Title: Rome
Date: 1941-1945
Additional Information: World War Two
Tags: Rome, World War Two, 1941-1945
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
So here we are, on the road again, and I hadn't sorted out the Sony A6000 to Snapseed interfaces.
I shoot RAW and my image transfers from this trip look meh. After 4 weeks it finally occurred to me to look at the file size. Lo and behold, thumbnail jpgs were transferred. Ugh.
This is why my cellphone images look sharp on Flickr and the A6000 images do not.
I tested shooting RAW + JPG and the good, full Rez JPG does transfer. Lesson learned.
Next thing is image processing.
I read about how Norman Seeff used to print high contrast works with a twist. He used a black stocking between the enlarger lens and paper to give a interesting softness to some of his images.
He wasn't by any means the only one to do this.
When I worked at Samy Cameras photo lab on Sunset Blvd in Hollyweird we used to do this at client request. It was really no big deal.
What was a bigger deal was our use of Agfa Portriga Rapid 111 Glossy paper. It gave a gorgeous deep walnut brown tone. We used this for may of the gallery shows we printed for various then famous photographers.
Taking the black stocking idea and borrowing tones from Portriga Rapid, it turns out, expresses pretty well how I feel about Rome.
So, here is a series of images done in an old, outdated, likely not very hip manner.
The Jewish Museum of Rome in the basement of the Great Synagogue of Rome offers both information on the Jewish presence in Rome since the second century BCE and a large collection of works of art produced by the Jewish community. The museum was established in 1960. It was initially set up in a room behind the Torah ark of the Great Synagogue. To permit expansion, the museum was moved to the basement of the Great Synagogue, officially opening in November 2005. In the early 2000s, the museum was renamed “The Jewish Museum of Rome” in order to emphasize the close relationship between the Jewish community and the city Support for the new museum and its collection was provided by the European Union, the Italian and Lazio governments, and the city of Rome, as well as by private donations.
The museum’s art collection has largely been donated by members of the community. It reflects the long history of Jews in Rome and, in particular, the Ghetto period (1555 - 1870) when all Jews from Rome and surrounding areas were forced to live in a small area. The collection includes approximately 900 liturgical and ceremonial textiles, illuminated parchments, siome 100 marble pieces and about 400 pieces of silverwork. Also displayed are some of the many documents held in the Community’s archives.