A pre-post script: This is a long post and is representative of all we covered today, so if you are reading this in the afternoon, pour yourself a glass of wine. If you are reading this in the morning, get yourself a glass of champagne. And enough of the modern song references - thanks to the Little River Band for today's title.
Stupid comment of the day (well yesterday, OK I forgot):
Stupid comment of the day (well yesterday, OK I forgot):
Overheard as we walked down the via towards St Peter's Basilica, a man speaking to his companions, "I think I've worked it out. All those people dressed in black (as in priests) are the Pope's people". Yup. You can't make this up. Choose your own nationality to assign to the above ignorance. It would appear people really do travel overseas without doing even the most basic research.
Anyway ... another early start today, even earlier than yesterday in fact. This was not helped by a seagull that was obviously unhappy about something at 4:30am. It has just gone 7am as I write this and the bells of St Peter's have commenced ringing. Today is the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, the Roman patron saints. We're not quite sure what this will bring but we are heading out to the Colosseum, lunch and then a tour of the crypts and catacombs which includes San Clemente or the 'lasagne' church as it is often known.
We were out the door by 7:15am and the streets were unusually quiet; Rome doesn't wake until a more civilised hour. There was still a little cloud about and a gentle breeze which helped keep the temperature down. There is not a great deal of variation in the temperature, the minimum is around 24° and the maximum 33° and a tad humid. Today because we were visiting a couple of churches in the afternoon we had to have knees and shoulders covered, which for me meant jeans rather than the more sensible and comfortable shorts. Jayne was clever enough to bring 3/4 length pants and just grabbed a scarf to cover her shoulders.
The Colosseum
The walk to Colosseum took about 45 minutes which included some dawdling as I snapped some pictures. The sun had burned the cloud off by the time we had arrived at our meeting point to be greeted once again by an army from the sub-continent selling water for 2€ a bottle - 100% profit but not an easy way to make a living. We joined our group of 23, plugged in our ear pieces and awaited instructions from our English speaking Roman guide, Nicola.
We don't usually opt for a guided tour unless it is for a specific purpose. Generally we do our own research and get an audio guide and make our own way. I'm still not sure why I decided to book so many tours in Rome. Perhaps in part it was to skip the queue and get access to areas the general populace could not. Suffice to say the result has been hit and miss. Marco was great yesterday, Nicola was a wall of sound and I had had enough before we had reached the halfway point of a three hour tour. It wasn't just the incessant repetition of the facts, it was the constant reference to Roman civilisation being the first to do this, or Rome was the centre of the world, or the longest established culture. Without wishing to create a forum for discussion, (see what I did there?) the Australian Aborigines have been on their continent at least 40,000 years and then there's China. Not to mention the fact that the Romans were preceded by the Greeks, Etruscans and Mesopotamians.
Our group was the first through for the day and we entered through the gate a gladiator would have used. "A great privilege" we were informed. I paid for it, so it was no privilege. The Colosseum is remarkable, although as I still maintain it is smaller than I expected. What was accomplished was spectacular but it is a pity it is in ruins and that at least a small section can't be transformed to its former glory.
There were a few myths exploded today. Christians weren't sacrificed there; that occurred at the Emperor's circus which, ironically is where St Peter's is today. Nor were gladiators sent into battle wild animals unarmed and consigned to certain death. Much like the bull fighters of today, they were armed to defeat the animals they fought. A lot of time and money was invested in their training and it was not to be wasted, especially since they often had to provide the entertainment for weeks at a time.
The Colosseum worked like a modern stadium. Seating was allocated by a ticketing system and gates were numbered for entrance closest to your allocated seat. This of course was done by class. The emperor and his homies had the best spot. Directly opposite him were the vestal virgins. They had great seats, but virginity is too high a price to pay in my opinion. The next level up were the middle classes and right at the top, the poor and women, the plebs.
The maze of passages beneath the Colosseum floor is intricate and facilitated the swift arrival, or removal, of exotic trees or animals. Apparently Russell Crow's Gladiator is closer to the truth than the earlier Hollywood versions. Given I couldn't manage to stay the distance with Rusty and his Academy Award, I am not in a position to comment. Yawn.
From the great sporting arena, we made our way to the Forum. Again this area is mostly in ruins but there was certainly enough remaining to see the grandeur of what was. Remnant columns and arches and naves of basilicas all point to the lavish opulence of the time. Well "over time" might be a more appropriate expression because much of what we looked at belonged to different periods of the Roman Empire because it lasted over 1200 years.
From the top of Palatine Hill, one of Rome's seven hills, there is an expansive view across the Forum and its ruins to the Colosseum and another hill beyond where walls disappeared into the hillside. This is not one of the seven hills of Rome, but is where the Emperor Nero once lived. Congreve missed the mark slightly when he said "nor hell a fury like a woman scorned" - the Romans surpassed that because they erased the hated Nero from memory, by official decree and then filled his house with dirt, covered it and turned it into a park. They then drained his artificial lake and turned it into the Colosseum. Out of sight, out of mind - by Roman law... and then there is the question of why Nero burned Rome? Well, much like the Liberal NSW government acquiring properties for motorways. Both were expanding their empires. Nero set fire to your property the Libs just pay you a fraction of what it is worth. Probably not a lot of difference really.
It was 12:30pm and we had been dismissed by our guide. Finally! We had to negotiate the cobblestones and tour groups back to the entrance of the Forum to make our way to the other side of town to re-hydrate, have lunch and connect with our next tour. Thankfully another army of water carriers was waiting at the exit and we purchased an over-priced bottle to sustain us on the journey. Interestingly, Rome has over 2,000 water fountains which provide clear, cool, clean drinking water, for free. If you carry a water bottle you are never far from a free re-fill.
Map in hand, Jayne guided us from Palatine Hill to Capital Hill and beyond as we wended our way to the Piazza Barberini, our next tour meeting point. Surprisingly there were only a few places to eat here and we chose Pepy's Bar (open from 7 am to 2 am daily) for no other reason than we happened to be standing outside it. We had two hours to fill before we had to meet our next guide, so lunch commenced with a re-hydrating glass of draught Moretti. Curiously, I drink more beer when I am overseas than I would consume in a year at home.
The beer was followed by a Caprese salad, then lasagne and then a salami pizza accompanied by a bottle of Chianti and finished with a double espresso. With the exception of the first night, the food has been brilliant. Pizza is, of course, is the favourite food of the world and I have yet to visit a country where it isn't on a menu - and that includes China.
The wait staff at the bar clearly enjoy their work - lots of laughter and banter between themselves and their customers. The one who staffed the till, declared his love for each patron as they paid their bill! Cries of "I love you so much!" were heard regularly.
We whiled away the time eating, drinking and people watching and guessing the nationality of the passing parade by their clothing or behaviour. It was an interesting afternoon.
The catacombs and crypts
Our second tour of the day was a private tour. Nice. No competition to be nearest to the guide. No being shouldered aside as someone else felt the need to be in front of you or standing where you were. A nice relaxing tour where we got to speak to the guide in person and hear what she had to say without an ear piece.
Karina, our guide, was Bavarian born, American raised and had been living in Italy for 27 years. She forthrightly directed the driver around the environs of Rome. We saw the Roman circus where the fabled Ben Hur raced, the walls of the city, various obelisks, the milestone outside the wall and eventually we wound up at the catacombs. Either the catacombs have changed since I visited in 2011, or it has become big business, or the one we visited then was more of an under-developed site. Whatever, the site we visited today was slick and professional.
The site was controlled by the Silesians and there was a church over the entry to catacombs. Walking down into the chambers was like walking into a cave in a French winery. It was the perfect temperature for storing wine and bodies as well. Who would have thought?
Like everything in Rome, the history here is layered. The catacombs were made famous by the Christians, but they were used for pagan burials prior to Christianity. The site we visited had four levels which is apparently the limit because below that you hit the water table. There were some interesting frescos and a lot of history hidden from the sunlight.
There were some spaces that contained altars, however our guide pointed out that Christians hiding underground and celebrating mass was a myth. The altars are much more recent and are there for Catholic groups who visit the catacombs and wish to connect the past with their current faith community reality.
Next stop was San Clemente or the lasagne church as it is known in some circles. This place is a must see. The church on street level dates back to the 12th century, but beneath are another two layers that go way back to the first century, hence the lasagne tag. Absolutely fascinating and all discovered because of a parish priest with bat-like hearing who decided to investigate the sound of running water. And, they believe there is yet another layer beneath that is yet to be explored. There are some great stories attached to the Basilica and the discovery of what is underneath. The co-existence of early Christianity alongside the worship of Mithras is intrinsic to this jigsaw and some amazing parallels can be drawn between the narratives of the two (check out the circumstances of the birth of Mithras).
From an underground church to a burial ground of sorts, the Capuchin crypts. Another long story is attached to this but the short version is that the Capuchin were moving from one part of Rome to another. The command was given by the head of the order to bring everything. Clearly the person he left in charge was on the spectrum and he brought everything - and I mean everything. He emptied the graves of all of those that had gone before. The bones, that could never be reassembled, now adorn 5 crypts (walls and ceilings), attached to their church in the centre of Rome. Sorry, no photos allowed. It was fascinating and weird and ghoulish all at the same time - our first and probably our last visit to an ossuary (that was from Jayne, cool word eh?).
That was the end of the tour with Karina. She was very knowledgeable and easy to speak with. We chatted for another 15 minutes on the verandah before we headed home. It was a big day, we covered in excess of 16km. Thankfully we had a beautiful meal at lunch and meandered our way to the apartment to shower and relax with a glass of wine and try to get this blog completed. That didn't happen.
Part of the reason was the fireworks associated with the feast day. They commenced around 9:30 and went for 30 minutes. New Year's Eve in Sydney it was not. Every time we thought it was over another firework lit up the sky. The Foti's clearly have the market stitched up in Sydney and could take Italy by storm if last night was any indication of the competition they would face.
fino a domani
We were out the door by 7:15am and the streets were unusually quiet; Rome doesn't wake until a more civilised hour. There was still a little cloud about and a gentle breeze which helped keep the temperature down. There is not a great deal of variation in the temperature, the minimum is around 24° and the maximum 33° and a tad humid. Today because we were visiting a couple of churches in the afternoon we had to have knees and shoulders covered, which for me meant jeans rather than the more sensible and comfortable shorts. Jayne was clever enough to bring 3/4 length pants and just grabbed a scarf to cover her shoulders.
The Colosseum
The walk to Colosseum took about 45 minutes which included some dawdling as I snapped some pictures. The sun had burned the cloud off by the time we had arrived at our meeting point to be greeted once again by an army from the sub-continent selling water for 2€ a bottle - 100% profit but not an easy way to make a living. We joined our group of 23, plugged in our ear pieces and awaited instructions from our English speaking Roman guide, Nicola.
We don't usually opt for a guided tour unless it is for a specific purpose. Generally we do our own research and get an audio guide and make our own way. I'm still not sure why I decided to book so many tours in Rome. Perhaps in part it was to skip the queue and get access to areas the general populace could not. Suffice to say the result has been hit and miss. Marco was great yesterday, Nicola was a wall of sound and I had had enough before we had reached the halfway point of a three hour tour. It wasn't just the incessant repetition of the facts, it was the constant reference to Roman civilisation being the first to do this, or Rome was the centre of the world, or the longest established culture. Without wishing to create a forum for discussion, (see what I did there?) the Australian Aborigines have been on their continent at least 40,000 years and then there's China. Not to mention the fact that the Romans were preceded by the Greeks, Etruscans and Mesopotamians.
 |
| The "privileged" door. Meh. |
Our group was the first through for the day and we entered through the gate a gladiator would have used. "A great privilege" we were informed. I paid for it, so it was no privilege. The Colosseum is remarkable, although as I still maintain it is smaller than I expected. What was accomplished was spectacular but it is a pity it is in ruins and that at least a small section can't be transformed to its former glory.
There were a few myths exploded today. Christians weren't sacrificed there; that occurred at the Emperor's circus which, ironically is where St Peter's is today. Nor were gladiators sent into battle wild animals unarmed and consigned to certain death. Much like the bull fighters of today, they were armed to defeat the animals they fought. A lot of time and money was invested in their training and it was not to be wasted, especially since they often had to provide the entertainment for weeks at a time.
 |
| A great perspective shot. |
The Colosseum worked like a modern stadium. Seating was allocated by a ticketing system and gates were numbered for entrance closest to your allocated seat. This of course was done by class. The emperor and his homies had the best spot. Directly opposite him were the vestal virgins. They had great seats, but virginity is too high a price to pay in my opinion. The next level up were the middle classes and right at the top, the poor and women, the plebs.
The maze of passages beneath the Colosseum floor is intricate and facilitated the swift arrival, or removal, of exotic trees or animals. Apparently Russell Crow's Gladiator is closer to the truth than the earlier Hollywood versions. Given I couldn't manage to stay the distance with Rusty and his Academy Award, I am not in a position to comment. Yawn.
From the great sporting arena, we made our way to the Forum. Again this area is mostly in ruins but there was certainly enough remaining to see the grandeur of what was. Remnant columns and arches and naves of basilicas all point to the lavish opulence of the time. Well "over time" might be a more appropriate expression because much of what we looked at belonged to different periods of the Roman Empire because it lasted over 1200 years.
 |
| A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum ... |
 |
| Again from Palatine Hill |
Map in hand, Jayne guided us from Palatine Hill to Capital Hill and beyond as we wended our way to the Piazza Barberini, our next tour meeting point. Surprisingly there were only a few places to eat here and we chose Pepy's Bar (open from 7 am to 2 am daily) for no other reason than we happened to be standing outside it. We had two hours to fill before we had to meet our next guide, so lunch commenced with a re-hydrating glass of draught Moretti. Curiously, I drink more beer when I am overseas than I would consume in a year at home.
The beer was followed by a Caprese salad, then lasagne and then a salami pizza accompanied by a bottle of Chianti and finished with a double espresso. With the exception of the first night, the food has been brilliant. Pizza is, of course, is the favourite food of the world and I have yet to visit a country where it isn't on a menu - and that includes China.
The wait staff at the bar clearly enjoy their work - lots of laughter and banter between themselves and their customers. The one who staffed the till, declared his love for each patron as they paid their bill! Cries of "I love you so much!" were heard regularly.
We whiled away the time eating, drinking and people watching and guessing the nationality of the passing parade by their clothing or behaviour. It was an interesting afternoon.
The catacombs and crypts
Our second tour of the day was a private tour. Nice. No competition to be nearest to the guide. No being shouldered aside as someone else felt the need to be in front of you or standing where you were. A nice relaxing tour where we got to speak to the guide in person and hear what she had to say without an ear piece.
Karina, our guide, was Bavarian born, American raised and had been living in Italy for 27 years. She forthrightly directed the driver around the environs of Rome. We saw the Roman circus where the fabled Ben Hur raced, the walls of the city, various obelisks, the milestone outside the wall and eventually we wound up at the catacombs. Either the catacombs have changed since I visited in 2011, or it has become big business, or the one we visited then was more of an under-developed site. Whatever, the site we visited today was slick and professional.
The site was controlled by the Silesians and there was a church over the entry to catacombs. Walking down into the chambers was like walking into a cave in a French winery. It was the perfect temperature for storing wine and bodies as well. Who would have thought?
 |
| Shh. Illegal photo in the catacombs. |
There were some spaces that contained altars, however our guide pointed out that Christians hiding underground and celebrating mass was a myth. The altars are much more recent and are there for Catholic groups who visit the catacombs and wish to connect the past with their current faith community reality.
Next stop was San Clemente or the lasagne church as it is known in some circles. This place is a must see. The church on street level dates back to the 12th century, but beneath are another two layers that go way back to the first century, hence the lasagne tag. Absolutely fascinating and all discovered because of a parish priest with bat-like hearing who decided to investigate the sound of running water. And, they believe there is yet another layer beneath that is yet to be explored. There are some great stories attached to the Basilica and the discovery of what is underneath. The co-existence of early Christianity alongside the worship of Mithras is intrinsic to this jigsaw and some amazing parallels can be drawn between the narratives of the two (check out the circumstances of the birth of Mithras).
From an underground church to a burial ground of sorts, the Capuchin crypts. Another long story is attached to this but the short version is that the Capuchin were moving from one part of Rome to another. The command was given by the head of the order to bring everything. Clearly the person he left in charge was on the spectrum and he brought everything - and I mean everything. He emptied the graves of all of those that had gone before. The bones, that could never be reassembled, now adorn 5 crypts (walls and ceilings), attached to their church in the centre of Rome. Sorry, no photos allowed. It was fascinating and weird and ghoulish all at the same time - our first and probably our last visit to an ossuary (that was from Jayne, cool word eh?).
That was the end of the tour with Karina. She was very knowledgeable and easy to speak with. We chatted for another 15 minutes on the verandah before we headed home. It was a big day, we covered in excess of 16km. Thankfully we had a beautiful meal at lunch and meandered our way to the apartment to shower and relax with a glass of wine and try to get this blog completed. That didn't happen.
Part of the reason was the fireworks associated with the feast day. They commenced around 9:30 and went for 30 minutes. New Year's Eve in Sydney it was not. Every time we thought it was over another firework lit up the sky. The Foti's clearly have the market stitched up in Sydney and could take Italy by storm if last night was any indication of the competition they would face.
fino a domani
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