It never gets boring

Last night exhaustion won out over writing - so today it's time to catch up.

We decided to continue on our self made tour with the idea of tackling Ancient Rome. We figured if the Huns could do it, so could we. Alas, we are weaker than the Huns. The long lines and the punishing sun convinced us not to actually cough up the 25 Euros to walk amongst the ruins of Ancient Rome.


Instead we enjoyed the view from the outskirts. We actually were able to enjoy quite a view without the worry of sun stroke. My only regret is that I would have liked to go inside of the Colosseum again. The last time I was there, I was 10 years old and have very fond memories of it being full of cats. I can't resist a cat.

Getting to the site in itself was an adventure in figuring out the Roman subway - actually it is quite easy to navigate, except the station where we had to switch lines because it is undergoing some sort of major construction. It was an excellent test for how we'll get to the train station on Wednesday afternoon to head out to Cinque Terre. We passed with flying colours, even asking for directions in Italian. It's very helpful to grow up in a city with a subway. If you live in a city without one, consider shipping your children off to Toronto to get around on their own - it's character building. And once again, I'm revealing why I don't have children.


Our progress was hampered a bit by rain - but we did manage to see the Piazza del Popolo, walked along the outside of the huge Borghese park - which offered great vistas of the city, stumbled upon an exquisitely decorated church, found Bernini's fountain of Triton and his sculpture of The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa before we were shooed out by a grumpy priest who was not so subtle about the fact that it was closing time.

Remember I told you about Dave downloading the maps onto his phone? Well, Rome2Go saved our bacon. We would have been permanently lost without the app. Doomed to sleep on the streets of Rome. Ok, I'm being a bit dramatic, but it is the best $1.29 we have ever spent. In fact the one time we didn't use it and trusted my sense of direction, we went the wrong way - shocking. I reminded Dave to never trust my directions again.

The highlight of Monday was the food. We splurged with our meals. For lunch we took the advice of our guidebook and ate at a little spot called Ristoranti Abruzzi. I ordered the mixed salad (insalata mista) and Dave ordered lasagne. Half way through, we swapped. The salad was good, the lasagna was mouth watering. For our secondi, I had roasted lamb and potatoes while Dave had the roasted veal. We shared those dishes along with a very large Italian beer and sparkling water. It did not disappoint, though 50 Euros for lunch was a tad pricey. Apparently, we'd rather eat our tour money.

For dinner, we gave up on walking all the way back to the Piazza Navona and found a small family restaurant called Trattoria della Stampa on a quiet side street. We shared prosciutto and mozzarella for the starter. For our primi, I had the gnocchi, which melted in my mouth, and Dave had the cannelloni, which made him very happy. We shared a plate of chicken cacciatore and eggplants. My favourite part of the meal was the 1/2 litre of wine for 5 Euros. Love it.

We were overjoyed at the end of the meal when we realized we were close to the Barberini subway station and home was a 2 Euro ride away.

Getting a good night's sleep was important because it was an early day today. We decided to take on the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. We were advised over and over again to go as early as possible. So we happily shelled out for a guided tour that got us in before the Chapel opened to the public. Well worth it in every way.

We were able to walk right past the lines - I refrained from sticking out my tongue. Our guide was knowledgeable and funny (British, need I say more?) and most importantly the Chapel was as empty as it will ever be. The crowds 2 hours later were suffocating. We could take our time and Anton explained every single panel to us, sharing fascinating details. He also took us round the Vatican Museum and gave us a run down on all the significant pieces.

My impression of the museum can be summed up as "overwhelming". The Vatican has managed to gather the most stunning array of art dating back from ancient time through to modern day pieces that are still donated each year.

The impressive collection began with the purchase of a statue of Apollo - an impressive reproduction of a lost Greek antiquity. Unfortunately, while the Vatican was collecting art, Christianity was also destroying it. The Emperor Theodosius ordered the closing and destruction of pagan temples. As a result, thousands of works of art were destroyed. Follow that with Pope Pius IX taking extreme exception to certain male... um... members... and you have statues destroyed in the name of removing the offending parts - all in the hopes of keeping us safe from their influences. Yes, well, that didn't work.

The hall of the tapestries revealed more beauty and an interesting tidbit about the bible. Turns out there is likely no truth to the biblical story of Herod's order to kill all baby boys under the age of 2. Scholars now believe that one of the scribes who worked on transcribing or translating the gospel of Matthew likely added that in! Now that is some nerve.

But on to the Sistine Chapel itself. I actually gasped when I walked in. The overall effect of the entire chapel, from the mosaic floor to the walls to, of course, the magnificent ceiling is an explosion of colour and beauty to the eyes.

I've been to Italy twice before that I can remember - once in 1978 and again in 1986. Both times I could not see the Sistine Chapel because it was closed for cleaning. The ceiling took more than 4 years to paint. It took nearly five times as long to clean it! You can say I've been waiting a lifetime to experience this.

To know that Michelangelo spent those years in an agonizing position, standing, with his head tilted up to the ceiling (not lying down as we have been led to believe) to create that incredible piece of art is awe inspiring. I don't have the determination to write a short story once a week and this man got scoliosis for his art and dedication.

The main part of the ceiling consists of 9 panels depicting stories from Genesis. These are surrounded by paintings of the prophets as well as females depicting major oracles. On the one wall near the alter is an enormous painting featuring Jesus judging the dead. It includes fascinating political statements of who gets in to heaven and who is forever damned. Let's just say if you are a Protestant, it isn't looking so good for you. Sorry.

I found that going in to the St. Peter's Basilica to be a very different experience. The Basilica is filled with works of art but there are two pieces that stand out for me. One is the La Pieta. Michelangelo's vision of Mary holding the body of her crucified son is moving and haunting as it is beautiful. The other piece that stands out for me is the statue of St. Peter. The foot rubbed beyond recognition by the faithful manages to send a chill down my spine.




The rest of the day was taken at a much slower pace. We were able to meet up with my cousin Lia and spent a lovely evening catching up. Our time together included a return trip to the Trevi Fountain and this time we each threw in a coin. I feel better knowing that we'll be back.

We leave tomorrow for Monterosso in Cinque Terre. If there is Wi-Fi, I shall post.

A domani (I hope).

Rome day 2: We walked and walked and walked some more

I'll admit it, I apparently have zero sense of direction. That may have added about 4 kms to our walking today, but it was glorious.

After dedicating a full 12 hours to sleep last night, we made the decision to forgo our original plan of doing a hop on/hop off tour of the city and instead take advantage of the walking tours included in our Frommers guide book. It was definitely the right choice.

We decided on the Renaissance Rome walk with the full intention of then doing the Heart of Rome as a follow up. The majority of the walk took us along a quiet nearly deserted street, Via Giulia, that runs parallel to the Tiber River. What a gem.
Nearly every palazzo on the street was built 300 - 400 years ago and were homes of great artist and powerful families. Many were commissioned by the wealthy Popes of the day - I guess there were no vows of poverty back then. One particularly fascinating find was the church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte. The monks who lived here would gather the the unclaimed bodies of the homeless and prepare them for burial. Someone had to do it. I especially liked the skulls carved in the facade. No point in being subtle when you've got a job to do.

We eventually made our way to the Campo de'Fiore. My only regret is that we hit it on a Sunday - when there is no fresh food market. We did take advantage of one of the many restaurants and enjoyed the company of our lovely Scottish waitress (that was unexpected) at The Drunken Ship. The beer was so nice and cold and she even directed me to where I could grab a sandwich across the way and bring it back. I so admire people like her. She just decided to up and move to Rome for six months because she came for a visit and loved it. If you have children, encourage them to be adventurous.

We were completely taken by narrow winding streets of 16th and 17th century buildings. We'd be walking along streets with insane traffic and veer off slightly only to find the most quaint and quiet little havens with a fountain in the centre or a church with paintings by Carravaggio tucked away. Dave continues to be amazed and enthralled by how small the cars are.

Of course so much walking meant having to keep up our strength. So after we admired the architectual wonders of the Pantheon, we had our first taste of gellato. Caramel Cream, Strachiatelli, Baci and Capuccino - that's right, 4 flavours in one glorious waffle cone. Such magnificent yumminess. We enjoyed it while people watching on the step of the fountain in the centre of the Piazza in front of the Pantheon. It was interesting watching the difference in Italian parenting - when one boy got particularly whiney because his brother touched him, one "OH" from his father was enough to shut him up instantly. I'm going to try using that voice at work when I get back.

This is, unfortunately, where my sense of direction got us completely going in circles. A helpful police officer and one guy on a moped gave us pretty vague directions but we finally found the Trevi Fountain. It was incredibly crowded - I can't imagine what it would be like there in August. It's also not how I remember it as a kid. I wonder if I'm remembering another fountain altogether. It was still rather magnificent.

We knew it was time to call an end to our tour when we got to the Spanish Steps and we both said "Seriously? We're supposed to climb this f*&^ing thing?" We picked our way through the sea of humanity that were occupying the steps and decided to start our search for dinner. Thankfully at this point Dave's sense of direction kicked in and he got us going in the right direction. He later mused that he really appreciated how confident I was each time we set out. He's a patient, patient man. That being said, as I type this, he is downloading "Rome to Go" maps for his iPhone. "No offense," he said. None taken.

Tomorrow we're going to hit ancient Rome.