Hotelrome.net Blog : A guide to news and events in Rome

Our Blogger: Marcello

A couple of weeks ago, a client came to the reception desk asking for directions to Via Varese. This street is just two blocks from us.

Suddenly, I began to remember good memories from my childhood. My heroes and friends from that time came back to me in a flash of lively thought…
Like in the happiest party one could stage, all of them arrived at once. Just in time…          

So I welcomed Tweety, Sylvester, Duffy Duck, Speedy Gonzalez (who obviously arrived before the others) and the INEVITABLE Bugs bunny and his kind of friend, mean Mister Yosemite Sam.

The client I mentioned before was about to go to the Warner Brothers Office in Rome, located in Via Varese 16/B.

The Warner Bros company was founded in 1923 by brothers Harry (President), Albert, Sam and Jack.

In 1926, the studio produced the first film (Don Juan) by Alan Crosland. In 1927 came The Jazz Singer, by Crosland still with Al Jolson, which contains a sound sequence. This new technology enabled Warner to obtain a special Oscar award for their important contribution to the development of cinema. The following year, the first film ever was entirely spoken.
In the thirties they offered a successful series of gangster films like Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and High Sierra

with Humphrey Bogart. In addition they produced musical films in this period. In 1933, two of the most important musicals of the decade,42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933…
Starting from the thirties, Warner Bros. began, however, to produce the successful series of Looney Tunes cartoons, headed by some of the famous characters referred to earlier…

During World War II the film that became legend was made, Casablanca, 1942 by Michael Curtiz, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
In the fifties, A star is born, 1954 and the mythic James Dean’s Rebel without a cause, 1955.
The seventies must be remembered for: All the President’s men, 1976 by Alan J. Pakula and all the films of Stanley Kubrick, from Orange mechanics (A clockwork orange, 1971) onwards. International films today certainly have Warner Brothers to thank for the development of film.
Think of The Matrix, Harry Potter…The work of this legendary company has not only a remarkable importance money wise but also sentimentally, in the way it connects us with its characters. It is certainly not easy to sum up this mix of work, success and wonderful emotions.

Today, Warner, which now is part of the publishing group headed by the famous Time Magazine, has specialized in television production (WB Television).
And so… For my known or yet unknown friends who are reading this and are thinking about coming to this beautiful city I just wanted to tell you about this piece of life that is very near, not around the corner, but only two blocks away…from our hotel. So why not come to stay with us at Yes Hotel, near Termini Station, for the perfect getaway treat.

Please note: The Warner Bros office in Rome is not available for tourist visits.

One of the many interesting facts about Rome is that is the only city in the world with a country within it. That state is the Vatican, house of one of the most important spiritual icons in the world: the pope.

The pope at the moment is Benedict XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Germany. Joseph’s vocation for priesthood was evident from the beginning. When he was five years old he announced his parents he wanted to become a cardinal, and after the dreadful experience of the Second World War he entered the seminar.

The future pope was soon recognized as a brilliant theologist and went on to became archbishop of Munich and Freising, a charge he kept for five years until he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by pope John Paul II. From this position he defended an orthodox view of the Catholicism and became one of the nearest and most appreciated collaborators of the pope, who allegedly turned down his resignation three times.

When the time came to elect a new pope the name of Ratzinger was often given as one of the favourites which was seen by many as a signal that he wouldn’t be elected since only rarely that kind of “papal predictions” come true.

This time they did, anyway, and Joseph Ratzinger is now the pope, under the name of Benedict XVI, chosen by himself as an homage to pope Benedict XV and Saint Benedict of Nursia.

During his pontificate Benedict XVI has tried to stress the continuity in the traditions of the catholic church, assuming an orthodox approach to religion and even using some papal garments that haven’t been used for decades.

When at Rome there are two chances two see the pope. One is through the Wednesday audiences held in San Peter’s Square or in Castel Gandolfo, depending of the season. To attend an audience it’s necessary to have tickets, which are available for free upon request to the Prefecture of the Papal Household. The other way to see the pope is the Sunday Angelus led by the pope on Saint Peter’s Square every Sunday at noon. No tickets are required to attend.

Some tour companies are able to take you to the papal audience saving you the trouble to write to get the tickets. If you are staying at Hotel Des Artistes in Rome our staff will be more than happy to help you to make such arrangements!