When in Rome ...

Our trip to Rome is over and for the first time since we left Ebbsfleet 10 days ago we are travelling north, towards Verona via Florence and Bologna. The italian high-speed trains are very comfortable and efficient, and so far it’s been a pleasure to travel on them. The Tuscan countryside between Rome and Florence looks beautiful in the sun with the misty hills in the background providing the backdrop to the green and terracotta landscape of poplar trees, hilltop towns, farm buildings and vineyards. This is the part of the journey to enjoy most, as not only is it the loveliest scenery but the train goes underground for almost all of the stage from Florence to Bologna. What comes next we don’t know as we then take a more north-easterly route from the one that took us down from Milan last week.

We have been incredibly lucky weather-wise and the forecast for Verona looks promising, so fingers crossed for that. You get what you get, but the sightseeing is so much more fun in the sun, and if it’s cold and/or wet then you end up dashing into bars and cafes more often to snatch some warm and dry and spending more money than budgeted for. 

So, what have we been doing in our two and a half days in Rome, the Eternal City? Well, we’ve certainly walked and walked, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that we’ve also been eating too much pizza, bread and creamy desserts and enjoying too much italian wine and lattes, then we ought to be slimmed down versions of our former selves - um, not quite!  When in Rome and all that! We have at least walked past most of the major “must sees” even if we haven't been able to spend proper time at them all. During our first afternoon after dropping off the bags we set off for the Colosseum, which was a 20/25 minute brisk walk from our hotel, and which was of course, just a remarkable reminder of the might and vision, as well as the barbarity, of the Roman Empire. However, the queues were massive and we would have wasted such a lot of our precious time so made the decision to go to the Forum and the Palatine Hill just across the road, which was amazing and offered so much history, information and fabulous views across to the Colosseum; from the top of the Palatine Hill, we could look out across the city and see the vast array of domes, including the Vatican buildings across the river, grand buildings topped with sculptures of gods, prophets, saints and sinners and triumphal arches.

Probably best to describe the sights by showing them, so see below, but I would just mention that despite being a cliche, as so many of the best-known sights are, the Trevi Fountain at night was a heart-stopper - the newly cleaned shiny white marble gods and mythological figures standing out against blue back lighting. Of course the piazza was packed with tourists; my guide book says that 3000 Euros a day are thrown into the fountain every day and I’ve been reliably informed by my cousin who has been living in Rome for over 30 years that the money is collected and used for good causes in the city.

Trevi Fountain

Piazza Navona

Ponte Sant' Angelo

The Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel were also mind-blowing; what can you say about Michaelangelo’s ceiling that hasn’t already been said? I’ve seen it on TV and in photographs, but to stand under it and see it all in 3-d is something else. The museum is remarkable and the wealth in that place is simply mind-boggling but I did get a bit jaded with it all after a couple of hours. My highlight was the Atlas room, which had been recommended by a friend who visited Rome a few weeks ago. The huge medieval maps were exquisite and the ceiling in there not to be dismissed, if not quite up to the standard of the Sistine! 

The hordes of tourists made it quite uncomfortable, at least for the first half of the tour, mainly down to the fact that many of them would stop dead in front of you without any warning, to snap yet another painting or sculpture without seeming to actually look at anything. My thinking was that there is so much there, and photos with someone’s head in the way aren’t the best mementos; better to focus on experiencing what’s there and just take a few photos of your own highlights. You can always buy postcards or access images online which will be clear and unimpeded by the body parts of other tourists. Which brings me to selfie-sticks because used in confined spaces they are the scourge of sightseers everywhere and I am referring to the way they were used without any consideration for others. The other aspect is that almost every third person we passed in Rome was trying to sell us one - I just wish I had the smallest euro coin (5 cents?) for every time I’ve said “Non grazie” as a stick was waved in my face, as I’d be rolling in Euros by now. I know they are trying to make a living but there were so many for sale I’m sure everyone in Rome who wants one has got one by now, and the poor souls didn’t seem to be making many sales. 

Apart from sightseeing we had a lovely, and more relaxing, day on Sunday visiting my cousin, already mentioned above, who lives between Frascati, and Grotteferrata in the hills south east of Rome. We caught a local train, only 30 minutes from Roma Termini. He took us to Lake Albana in the hills near to where he lives, a volcanic area,  At the top of one of the highest hills around the lake is the Castel Gandalfo, which is the summer residence of the Pope and is currently occupied by the retired Pope Benedict. He also took us to see part of the original Appian Way which runs all the way down, straight as an arrow, from Rome to the heel of Italy and with its rutted cobblestones (no wonder after all those chariots, horses and feet progressing to Rome) is now a walking and cycle path. We were also taken for a fabulous lunch in a local restaurant and who could say no to the vast array of antipasti, grilled meats and a totally decadent dessert of puff pastry, a rich cream and strawberries - a better person than me anyway! It was also brilliant to see my cousin’s two very handsome sons, now both in their twenties, and who we last saw when they were around 12 and 7, we worked out.

So apart from all that, we successfully used the metro, the trams and the buses, all very easy; ate (all of!) one of the biggest pizzas I’ve ever seen; 

celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary; were interviewed and filmed in St Peter’s Square by Reuters on our thoughts on the Pope’s latest paper (published that morning apparently) on the Family (as I haven’t been able to find any trace of it online it looks like our chance of becoming stars of stage and screen are rather remote, but I rather enjoyed giving my views on women’s rights with regard to contraception). We met one of the sinners I mentioned earlier, the monk Giordano Bruno, who was burned for heresy in the Campo de’ Fiori.  The plaque under his statue is inscribed with lots of latin words, including “rosso” and “arse” so we translated it as the monk with the red arse, which it probably was during the early stages of his punishment. We also made a lot of childish Monty Python jokes to one another about bringing on the Spanish Inquisition, skating vicars and what have the Romans ever done for us? (Loads of things, of course!) We also saw a man walking along the platform at the station actually goose-stepping, so he was clearly from the Ministry for Funny Walks. (You'll only understand this if you are over 50!)

We found Rome to be a city of massive contrast with so much wealth on one hand, and so much poverty, homelessness and begging on the other, which at times I found uncomfortable. While out and about on public transport and in crowds, I was ultra-cautious about keeping my bag fastened up and close to me. However the romans we met in the hotel, in restaurants and bars, and in shops were helpful and friendly, and despite the very heavy high security and presence of armed police near government buildings, the atmosphere was bright and festive.

Summary of Rome: grand and self-confident

We stayed at the Hotel Donatello in Via di Porte Maggiore, which wasn’t in the nicest of areas but was a friendly, comfortable and clean hotel, and was 2 minutes walk from bus stops and trams which took us everywhere we wanted to go.