Some rock and roll thunder (Rome)

And so to dinner. Wow! This tiny little street front cafe where we had breakfast goes way back into the building past the room where all their cured meets are hanging and also joins up with the wine bar next door. When we walked (literally) around the corner, we were confronted with people everywhere. The seats and stools were all taken, there were people on the footpath and on the road in between cars, eating , drinking, talking and of course, smoking. They looked pained when we asked for a table and a quick conversation in Italian ensued ... could we be out by 9pm because the table was booked then? Yes? This way please. Into the back of the restaurant where there were very few vacant tables. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food and the company. This was really Italy as opposed to what we had for dinner on the first evening.

Night view from the terrace

The starters and entrees were all based around the variety of cured hams and their selection of cheeses. The mains were unsurprising as well, pastas, steak and salmon. As for the wine, how would I know? The selection is all Italian, as you would expect, and it is vast, so I let the waiter choose and he made an excellent choice. If I have had better pasta I don't remember when. It was light and tasty with a sauce made from lime and butter. Jayne's pesto fettuccine with zucchini flowers was equally good. What a find.

Back to the present. Today's blog title is from AC/DC a 2014 song. No dear reader I don't like AC/DC; I never have. Boring, repetitive music, but hey, it's recent and I'm trying to put my daughter in her place with her sneering comments about my outdated music references.

It was an early start today because we had to be at the Borghese Gallery at 8:45 (yes that's right - 8:45A.M. clearly that was an edit from Jayne) and it was a 45 minute walk. On the way out we covered much of what we did yesterday and arrived in time to meet our guide, Marco. The gallery has an interesting attendance regime: visitors are allowed in at 2 hour intervals, which means the gallery is completely emptied every 2 hours. We could have spent the entire day there and it will be back on the agenda when we return to Rome - there was so much more to see.

The gallery is a testament to the graft and corruption that plagued the Catholic Church in periods of its history and our focus, well Marco's focus, was to look at the works of Caravaggio and Bernini in detail that you would not normally be able to access. The two hours went very quickly and Marco was very knowledgeable, as you would expect, and provided a new level of insight and understanding into some works that were already familiar to us.

Bernini's sculptures were just breath-taking. The detail was astounding. They looked so real that it was easy to walk by, acknowledging what you were seeing, but when you paused and looked at the detail, how he managed to make a piece of marble resemble a real hand pressed into the flesh of a thigh. Absolute genius.

In the second hour of the tour, the PA crackled into life. No announcement followed but the sound of what we thought was someone breathing. We paused. Patrons looked around, looked at each other, looked at their guides. Shrugged shoulders. We continued. The sound did not go away. More speculation. Had someone fallen asleep with the microphone on? That sounded realistic. The breathing became quicker and shallower, almost climactic. Then an apnoeatic (apnoea needs an adjective) snore and silence. A smattering of applause from around the gallery. Everyone returned their attention to the art works and it began again. The breathing went through the same build up and climax, silence and repeat. Three times. During the third episode it was beginning to distract Marco as well as us. However, our two hours was about up and we needed to vacate the gallery so we headed to the exit. The breathing continued, louder than before. Standing outside waiting for Marco to commence our tour of the gardens, we continued to listen to breathing until it finished with a roar.

What was that about, I hear you musing, my dedicated reader. It was art! Respira or "breathe" as we say in English. I'm still getting my head around it, so if you want to understand it from the artist's view point there is an interview with him here: http://ad.vfnetwork.it/artcorner/2017/06/24/il-ventennale-della-galleria-borghese.  I have read it and I still don't understand.

Following the gallery, we had a walk back through the Borghese Gardens, accompanied by Marco. Gardens is not a word we would use to describe them; it is more a park. Open spaces, lots of trees, paths meandering here and there. It's a great space for a peaceful walk or for joggers and people walking their dogs. One street creatively named Vialle Magnolie was so named because it is flanked by magnolia trees. It would be stunning when they are in full bloom.

As we walked into the park, the sky was dark and crackling with lightning. Of course it rained on us. Marco suggested we shelter under a tree. You wouldn't do that in Australia in a thunderstorm. I believe that is one of the first things I learned. Thunderstorm = get out into the open. Not so much over here, but the lightning was horizontal, not vertical. Hello to any scientists, please explain.

By the time we had traversed the park the rain had stopped and we were back above the Piazza del Popolo where we had a few Kodak moments yesterday. The difference today was that we understood the significance of the obelisk and the piazza itself. Cheers Marco. Our final question? Which is the quickest way to the Pantheon? Excellent directions.

Like this was ever going to happen

And so to the Pantheon. Yesterday, we skirted around the crowded and eroded exterior of this most important Basilica but today we determined that we had to see the interior with the magnificent self-supporting concrete dome - the largest in the world, with its centre opening, the oculus, which today had showers of rain coming through it to drain away into 22 almost invisible holes in the marble floor.  The interior opulence of this 2000 year old building is wonderful with sanctuaries all around its circumference.  Hordes of people pass quickly through its imposing bronze doors because entry is free unless you want to pay for an audioguide. In fact it was slower to get out than to get in due to the mindless gathering of the many tour groups right at the exit. The other point to note was the repeated background announcements imploring respectful silence which we could barely hear above the din created by the aforementioned hordes.  Despite all of this, the dome is an impressive piece of architecture which commands eyes upwards until your neck hurts.  We can see why Rome wasn't built in a day - architectural perfection.

Holes in the floor to drain the water

The oculus

From here, once we managed to wade through the quagmire of tour groups, we headed back to the bar we stopped at yesterday for a couple of beers and some delightful bruschetta while we waited for the rain to pass.

St Angelo's Castle

The journey back to the apartment was to be via St Angelo's Castle, another building that demonstrates Rome's 'lasagne' style. The castle has had many iterations and there are signs showing how the building has grown and changed over many hundreds of years. We had intended to go inside but the queue was quite long so we thought it best to add the St Angelo's Castle to the growing 'next time' list.






Still wending our back home we walked up towards St Peter's Basilica if for no other reason than to marvel at the length of the queue to get inside. It went forever, or in recognition of where we are, it went for eternity. No seriously, it wound its way through the arches, back into the barricades around the outside of the wall and down the street. It was like the opening week of "Born Free" in Sydney (Google it). Fortunately when we do the tour of St Peter's on Friday, we get to skip the line. Across a couple of streets from the Vatican and I was in search of the religious shop that I visited in 2011 when I was with a World Youth Day group. Happily, my memory is not as bad as I thought and we found the shop - still in business. By that point we were very close to home and adjourned to refresh and have an early happy hour before trying the pizzeria around the corner for dinner.

Rome wasn't built in a day

Tomorrow we are visiting the Colosseum, the Forum, the crypts, San Clemente and a few other points of interest. There will also be a restaurant review.

fino a domani

Spanish Steps of Rome

Although the pictures don't show it I should have called today's post :Rome wasn't built in a day" because everywhere we turned there was a building in scaffolding or barricades preventing entry. Mind you, watching a couple of workers repair the cobble stones somewhere on our walk today it take them a millennium to build Rome.

Today's title is from that power ballad band Toto, best know for Africa. It appears that they also visited Rome, although with significantly less impact.

Aside from being so brain addled with tiredness last evening and not remembering how to attach pictures to the blog, we received a very unhappy phone call just before I fell into bed. Our hosts from Dark Rome Tours called to tell us our guide was unable to meet us the next day for our private tour of the Vatican and Museums. Not happy news. Our itinerary is pretty full and we have only one day available for a replacement tour and ... no dice. She was very apologetic and offered a group tour which I sleepily declined. Something I will probably regret, but it is "peak season" she informed me. And so now dear reader I am putting these first thoughts down after 10 hours of sleep. Jayne of course is still asleep and I begin my search for a replacement tour and re-organise what was to be an organised day.

While I was consulting Dr Google an email popped up for EuroRail which reminded me that ItaliaRail had sent me a lot of possible add ons to our trip. So it was back to my email lists and a search of the trash to find a private 4 hour tour of the Vatican and Museums - now booked for Friday, curiously through a company based in Massachusetts. I don't get it either, the phone call cancelling this morning's tour actually came from Ireland.

That means today is a walking tour of Rome conducted by Jayne's faultless navigation skills. We left at 10am and returned about 3:30pm having covered over 13km. But first things first, the day must begin with coffee.

Literally just around the corner from the apartment is a cafe/restaurant. We stopped there for coffee this morning. Jayne was convinced she had mastered the Italian words for a long black despite me telling her they don't do that sort of coffee. It would have to be an Americano. Anyway, she ordered and two double espressos appeared not long after, with separate glasses of water. We could have combined them as we had to in America, but the water was cold. The coffee was superb. That has now become our destination for breakfast and we will be having dinner there tonight.

St Peter's is visible everywhere

It was a pleasant way to begin our day, sitting in the shade watching the trucks and cars attempting to negotiate the bend in the little street which was made narrower by cars parked on the corner and others double parked in the street. Horns blared constantly until the owner appeared and moved the offending vehicle. Generally they were staff from the cafe so I assume that's just where they park.

Around the next corner was a produce market. Clearly today was going to be a meandering orientation of the eternal city. Everywhere we looked we espied something that diverted our attention from the original task.

Neptune and cod piece

The first scheduled stop was the Piazza del Popolo. What is with the Romans and water? They build the city on the River Tiber, they love a good aquaduct and everywhere you look there is a fountain, either for decorative purposes or practical ones so you can fill your water bottle on hot day. The statues above the fountains are quite impressive and this one of Neptune is no different. There is something not quite right about the statue. Without getting into a Greek vs Roman situation, I cannot imagine a Greek statue of a god wearing a cod piece. That's right gentle reader, they carved Neptune with a cod piece to protect his dignity. Yes, I understand water and it's impact and shrinkage, but really ... he must have a remarkably little dick.

Looking back down the Piazza del Popolo

We climbed the hill behind the piazza and followed Viale Gabriele d'Annunzio to the Spanish Steps. It was a relatively easy walk and provided some great vistas of the city. At one point we stopped to purchase hats and water lest we follow in the ill-fated footsteps of Burke and Wills. There were some lovely cafes and restaurants along the ridge line that will be investigated tomorrow once we have completed our guided tour of the Borghese Gallery and Gardens.

Looking uphill, away from the crowds

The Spanish Steps provided another great vista of Rome. Despite it being peak season it wasn't overly crowded, although I imagine the heat kept some people away. It was a pretty constant 33° and places in the shade were in hot demand (see what I did there?). At the bottom of the steps and away a little bit was another obelisk, this time with Mary atop enjoying the view. With map in hand, Jayne navigated the cobble-stoned streets to our next destination, the Trevi Fountain, via every designer name shop. Well it seemed that way, we had stumbled upon the designer section of town. Very narrow, busy streets with expensive outfits and empty stores.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain, the guide book warned, is very crowded during the middle of the day and is best visited in the morning or late afternoon. Correct. It was packed. Tour groups with lanyards, tour groups with caps, tour groups with flags, randoms like us - we all descended on the fountain. A couple of quick photos, which I will manipulate later, and it was time to move again. Sadly, my penchant for photos devoid of humanity will not be possible this trip.

Pantheon with crowd

Jayne deftly guided us through backstreets towards the Pantheon. Although I grabbed some photos of the outside we did not venture in because I wasn't sure what was included in some of the tours we are doing over the next couple of days. As it turns out it is not a part of anything I had booked so, like the Terminator, we will be back. Away from the hustle and bustle of the Pantheon. We found a little cafe that served draught beer and settled in for a re-hydration session, amusing ourselves by watching the passing traffic. It must said that the cobble stones of Rome do not lend themselves to high heels or platform shoes. That however, does not deter the locals.

Cod piece. Enough said.

Piazza Navona was next on our itinerary, another open space with a massive fountain in the middle, surrounded by restaurants. Again, the cod piece seemed to be in fashion. It seems Catholic fear of naked skin and sexuality was born before the religion itself. Our next destination was Trastevere but along the way, I found a bottle shop that was selling Limoncello in a variety of different shaped bottles. As tempted as I was by the penis and testicles shaped bottle, I opted for the standard version. It is now resting quietly in the freezer waiting to be summoned to the table on the terrace sometime after dinner this evening. I'm not sure how I reconcile the 'dick and balls' bottle with the cod piece and the overly oppressive coverings required for visiting a church. Incongruous. Whatever that means.

Piazza Navona main fountain.

Trastevere, I know you will be surprised to read, has a Basilica and this one is dedicated to Santa Maria. It is a minor Basilica dating from the 4th century AD and it has the most exquisite mosaics from the 12th century on the ceilings. The entry requirements here are the same as other churches we have visited in Rome, no bare shoulders or knees. Knees? Really? Wow, I wore shorts in - how disrespectful to God. It's worse than the Qantas Lounge and the no thongs (footwear, out of the gutter people) rule.

From Trastevere we turned for home via the gardens of baby Jesus; well, we skirted the edge and looked for shade to walk in. A quick stop at the supermarket for wine and olives and a rest at home as I blog and Jayne researches the coming days.

Recommendations of places to visit are warmly received. We followed two suggestions today and both proved to be gems we would not have experienced otherwise. The next suggestion is from Darlene, she proposes we visit the Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano. Given it's proximity to the Colosseum, we will check it out the day after tomorrow after our tour of the old arena.


An international perspective - political statement
As we walked the streets of Rome this morning we began discussing the cities we have visited and how we would describe them. This came about because Jayne was concerned that she wouldn't like Rome. My response was, "It's not Paris, but you'll love it." She does.

Comparing cities is an interesting task because Australia, read Sydney and Melbourne, consider themselves to be big, international cities. They're not. At least in our view. They are like the perennial little brother or sister tagging along wanting to hang out with the big kids. Australian media with its obsession on real estate and comparing everything we do with other countries is not helping.

Paris is chic and charming. Every corner reveals a vista that could have been painted by an artist.
Rome is more laid back and less organised. You can still turn a corner and see a magnificent old building but it is likely to be in a poor state of repair.
London is grey, stitched up and passive aggressive (yup, and that's after three attempts to like it).
New York is loud and in your face 24/7, but underneath is welcoming and friendly.
Tokyo is crowded, manic and plastic.
As much as I love Sydney, it is young and brash and yet to find itself. It wants to be New York but with a level sophistication it has yet to develop.
Melbourne is old money, calm, respected and genteel. Hey Melbourne, live a little.

To wrap up the day will be dinner, but you don't need to read about that now. If you've made it thus far my dedicated reader you deserve a break and possibly another drink. The restaurant review will be a part of the next post.

fino a domani

Rome wasn't built in a day

Too easy. And my beloved daughter, who criticised my blog titles for being out of date, this one's from Morcheeba, 2000. Rome wasn't built in a day and it takes longer than a day to get there from Australia 😞.

And with that dear reader WE ARE BACK. Our travels this time will take you to Italy. Specifically, Rome, Assisi, Florence, Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre) and finally, Venice. There will be side trips to places not mentioned, particularly beyond Rome but we are organising those later, hopefully with advice from our hosts and other travellers we meet.  Given the summer has commenced we decided to move north away from the heat of the south. It will be warm enough where we are going and, in the first time for a while, we only needed to pack for one season. What a difference that makes, just one medium sized bag between us.

The southern parts of Italy will have to wait for another trip - maybe next year, if we don't visit Dan in Canada.

For once our bags are packed early so I am getting a head start on the first of the blogs. As the dedicated amongst you will recall I swore I would never be unfaithful to Qantas again after an ill-fated return flight to Paris with China Southern. Some nights I still wake in fright. But, but ... well, there was this great deal with Etihad in Business Class, so ... we'll see. So far all is good. Chauffeur service to the airport and transfers in Rome are all part of the service. It is actually a code share with Al Italia and we are going to Italy. I wonder if they serve pizza on the plane ... mmmm, pizza.

The chauffeur was a tad early which catered nicely to my punctual paranoia. A big, new, black, sleek Audi A8L. It was certainly a less stressful way of getting to the airport. The code share did not eventuate, at least not in the first leg. It was Etihad all the way, check-in, express customs line, Business Class lounge - where they come around and inform you personally that your plane is boarding. How do they do that? How do they memorise each guest and the plane they are catching?

Service on board the A380 was pretty good, although once the main meal is served if you want anything else you have to request it - they don't tout for business. To be fair, this could be a result of the turbulence we experienced for large sections of the journey. While it wasn't terrifying, it was persistent and consistent and I was glad I could stretch out in my flat bed. The champagne was delightful, the selection of meals was quite varied and there was a tidy little wine list to match.

We were in row 18 which meant the toilets were directly behind us. While I thought the sound of flushing toilets might be a new sleep deprivation technique for Guantanamo Bay, it proved not to be such a concern; most of the associated sound was absorbed by the usual noise of the engines.

Interesting architecture at Abi Dhabi airport

Almost 15 hours later we arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It was just after 5am and was already 31° and sand as far as you could see in the morning half-light. The observation tower at the airport is quite an interesting piece of architecture. I'm not sure what the architects intended, but it looks like the blade of a short curved sword.

That is about the extent of what we will see here - the rest of our time is inside the airport. I have become quite blase about international travel as a result of work. This terminal is no different to all of the others, a never ending series of designer label stores and places to eat easily digested, over priced food. Thank heavens for the Business Lounge where the crowds are smaller and the food and wine is reasonably priced, as in free. Yes, yes, dear reader I know you pay for it in the price of your ticket, but it's like the NSW government linking all of their toll fees to your credit card - it's not as noticeable and much more palatable.

As an aside, while we were whiling away the minutes until our next flight, this fellow Aussie traveller comes up to me and asks have I ever" been told that I look like Malcom Turnbull"? Um, yeah, well a couple of times. I'm not proud of it, but it has happened. He laughed. "I've never voted Liberal in my life" I'll bet you don't hear that often in the Business Lounge.

The next leg was also all Etihad. I have no idea why a code share was even mentioned to us. The 777 300B isn't as young or as well decked out as an A380 but for just under 7 hours it will do. Sadly the movie selection was the same and the service was, once again, attentive as you came on board but after that you needed to call. I guess I've been spoilt by Qantas.

The view from the lower terrace at the apartment

There was another Etihad chauffeur waiting for us in Rome and he managed to negotiate the traffic safely and deposit us at our accommodation in good order. The apartment was recommended by friends (cheers Santo) and it didn't disappoint. Two great balconies, or terraces as one refers to them Rome, perfect for a Roman summer and we overlook St Peter's. It was a pity that the apartment hadn't been cleaned as scheduled but that was soon rectified.

Looking onto the lower terrace

Discussion then ensued about the remainder of the day. It was hot 33°, well, compared to Sydney, and humid. We investigated places for dinner, other places to visit and thought we might just wander the streets of the city of love. Instead, we walked across the street to the local supermarket and stocked up on the necessities. You've got to love supermarket shopping in Rome; it was a deli by Australian standards with supermarket items. A short time later armed with cheese, crackers, wine and other nibblies we settled on the balcony to enjoy the afternoon and check our plans for the week.



Energy restored, we set out for the meeting place for tomorrow's tour of the Vatican and Museum. That will be an easy 15 minute stroll and we can arrive early and have breakfast at the cafe next door. Next was dinner at a recommended restaurant that turned out not to exist anymore. Ah well. So we settled on a restaurant around the corner and based our decision on the number of customers.

Well, dear reader, here is a life lesson. The decision should have incorporated other factors, not the least of which is the demographic of the customers and from perspective, the number of cigarettes they consume. Anyway, we've had worse meals. The service was great and they provided a lot of extra treats along the way and they didn't charge us for Jayne's dinner. That was probably fair since she didn't eat it. And now we are at home watching the colours change in the sky as the sun sets.

Tomorrow is a new adventure beginning with a Vatican tour.

Until then ...