Innocent (Rome - Florence)

What wonders a good night's sleep can accomplish, dear reader. Generally, I judge the time by the light, but in a different country, it's not so easy. What I thought was around 6am, judging by the light creeping under the curtains, was actually 8am and it would be another hour before Jayne stirred. When I pulled back the blockout curtains the light was devastatingly, eye-shielding bright.

The view from balcony by day.

Our two nights in Rome were meant as a recovery period from the flights. Transit time from Sydney to Rome was about 40 hours. As a result we had planned only one excursion, a visit to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, a palace about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. It is still a family 'home' as such but they have opened the gardens and some of the rooms to the public. It has a interesting history dating back to the days of Pope Innocent X, one of the Pamphilj family members whose power and position cemented the family's place in the Roman aristocracy well beyond his death in 1655.

And that brings us to today's title dear reader, Innocent by Taylor Swift from her 2010 album Speak Now.

Armed with her trusty paper map, Jayne steered us there through the hoards of people. Apparently shoulder season doesn't exist anymore and I am beginning to question if there are any Americans left in the US. I mean, I get why they would want to be anywhere else, but still.

A random church doorway.

The idea was to find somewhere to have a coffee and a pastry on the way to the Palace. Great theory. Possibly the roads we travelled were well worn tourists paths but there were precious few cafés that weren't in the full blast of the Roman sun. Before we realised, we were standing outside the gates of the palace, an hour early. Plan adjusted, we would eat afterwards, something light and have dinner near the hotel in a trattoria.

The courtyard.

We wandered through a courtyard garden, past an elegant (read expensive) eatery and along a corridor to ascend a flight of stairs. Here we found a turnstile which marked the entrance to the palazzo proper. We checked if our entry, an hour early, was permissible - it was. So in we went, armed with our audioguides to tour the palazzo. 

A door latch on the velvet wall paper.

Since the palace is still a family home, only particular sections are open to the public. A walk through the rooms reveals of the opulence and wealth of the ruling classes from the 1600s through till today. The ballroom with the parquetry floor and orchestra stand, the chandeliers, the velvet wallpaper, the frescos on the ceilings, leave you in doubt about the wealth of this family.

The ballroom looking towards the art wings.

The four wings of the private art collection are the crowning glory. They have works of Titian, Caravaggio, Garofalo, and Lavinia Fontana the first self-funded female artist in Europe. Her biggest claim to fame was painting the first female nude.

Each wing had a ceiling fresco and there was a hall of mirrors wing, like a mini Versailles. Pretty cool to have in a family home.

The hall of mirrors.

There were numerous paintings and busts of Pope Innocent X. The most remarkable was by Velázquez and is famous not for the subject matter, but for the realism of the portrait. It went against the usual stylised portraiture of the period. And it is a cracker, capturing the sneering arrogance and impatience of man of power, privilege and position. If looks could kill. Apparently the Pope did not like his portrait, remarking, "it's too real".

Pope (not so) Innocent X

There were so many artworks and fortunately only a few had corresponding information on the audio guide, otherwise we would still be there. The halls were decorated with marble busts and sculptures as well. In the centre was a typical Roman courtyard resplendent with orange trees and cooled by a fountain. A lovely respite from the outside world today, let alone the politics of the Renaissance period.

Beyond the art wings was a museum style hall with more art work, marble sarcophagi and other object d'art collected by family members. It is was well worth the visit for the art works alone, but to put it into perspective in terms of position, privilege and power.

The chapel.

I'm sure the proximity of the palace to the Trevi Fountain was of some use 500 years ago. Not so much today. The crowds! The narrow pavement. It was not fun dodging people and mindless sheep following a rag on a stick. 

We had spent over two hours in the palace. It was beer o'clock and time for a light snack before we went back to the hotel. There were plenty of places and most of them were busy or were serving bain marie food. No, no, no. This is Italy. I wanted proper food. Fortunately we stumbled across a small café with tables in a side street in the shade. In the end we sat inside and had a pizza and a beer. I ordered 'grande' for the bira because we'd been walking all morning and on our feet in the palace, expecting a 500cl glass of Moretti. Instead we scored 1 litre. My bad. Or good. it's a perspective thing.

Refreshing.

The capricciosa pizza was very tasty, but lacking olives and artichoke. I know these things are regional, but the olives are a must. Also, I'm a purist. There is only one true style of pizza, Napoli. If you have an hour to kill, I'll bore you with the stylistic differences.

Someone is getting married.

On the way back to the hotel we checked out Roma Termini for a café for breakfast in the morning while we await the train to Florence. As the afternoon disappeared, we contemplated a trattoria for dinner, but ultimately found it unnecessary. We adjourned to the bar for a glass of wine. It was happy hour (of course it goes for two hours) and it was quiet. The staff decided we should eat the bruschetta and pizza slices that would normally be shared with the other patrons. Dinner sorted!

Another day ends.

Early to bed to pack and be fully rested for a transit day.

Roma - Firenze

Once again I slept late. I'll blame the time change. We were packed and out of the hotel by 10:30am for a train at 12:10pm. The walk to Termini is about 5 minutes and when we arrived, we were shocked. There were people everywhere. It was a seething mass of humanity, some of it more seething than others. We witnessed a number of frayed tempers in the heat and chaos (no, it wasn't Brad).

The pre-chosen café was a zoo. There were people and bags jumbled everywhere - no vacant tables and people occupying tables that hadn't been cleaned for a while. The queue to order food for take-away was out the door. Hmmm. Not such a good choice, like thinking Pauline Hanson is the answer.

Downstairs we went because there were other options there. None, however, offered anywhere to sit and eat. In an effort to gouge every cent out of the real estate, available space was given to stores like Sephora and Mango. There were no seats or benches anywhere. The result was hundreds of people, milling around with luggage, hoping to find some respite.

The take away shop we selected had bench space and six stools and we scored. So we sat there and had a light brunch before we ascended to the departure level and waited for our train. PSA: do not turn up to the station more than 20 minutes before your train is due to arrive.

In an interesting manoeuvre, our train was arriving early and departing 5 minutes earlier than our ticketed time. Cheeky. We made it on board, stowed our suitcase above our seats and Jayne was almost wiped out by an ignorant American woman who couldn't wait and pushed past her while she trying to put her backpack in the rack. I mumbled words of insult loud enough for her husband to hear as he followed her down the aisle. Something I'm sure he regrets now.

The Frecciarossa move at speed. The fastest I noted was 248kmh and we were in Firenze at the scheduled time of 1:46pm. Santa Maria Novella was also crowded but not like Rome. We wheeled our bags down the platform, I lost another tyre, and then we were out into the Firenze sunshine.

The hotel is a mere 4 minute walk from the station on via Nazionale. With a grand name like that, you'd think the footpath would be wide, but no. Barely enough room for two people. Tour groups with their long straggling lines made it difficult to get into (and later out of) the hotel.

At check-in, they apologised for not upgrading me but assured me they had provided some extras. Whatever. The room is plenty large enough with a lounge area and desk. We unpacked as much as we intended; living out of packing cells, as I have often remarked, is a game changer. After a brief rest, it was time to brave again the Florentine sun and reacquaint ourselves with the local area. We are not far from where we stayed last time we visited, almost 10 years ago.

Where we stayed last visit is circled.

Jayne had researched places to eat so we went for a wander around to see where the Medici Palazzo was located so we could go straight there after breakfast tomorrow. The restaurants are all very close by, one that is famed for its paninis. I'm not sure I'll be attempting their signature Florentine panini. The 'hero' of the roll is meat. Allegedly. The second stomach of the cow.

It was still warm and we hadn't had a hydrating beer so we did the Florentine thing and opted for a limoncello spritz in the shade.

Limoncello spritz anyone?

After that, it was back to the hotel and then off to dinner, 300 metres away at Osteria Dei Medici, where we dined al fresco on bruschetta, topped with creamy burrata, followed by pici cacio e pepe. It's a hard life but someone has to live it ...

Alla prossima.