Travel Location: Venice,Italy

Travel About: architecture,food-&-wine,art-&-museum,shopping,romantic

By the time we arrived in Venice, we were starting to feel more like wilted flowers in mid summer than the spring chickens we are. Jet lag plus a packed schedule of almost every waking hour was starting to catch up. Venice was still magical when we came out of the station though. A gondola idled up the Grand Canal opposite us, vaporetti coming and going – ahhhh it is good to be here.

The vaporetto ride was a wake up call in itself. The driver was positively savage with his use of the gear box and each stop on the journey was occasioned not only with near whip lash when he slammed the boat into reverse on the approach to the stop, but side to side whip lash as we career into the boat stop buffers. Not ideal for those feeling tender from jet lag, over eating, long train journeys and lack of sleep and we had to endure about 6 of these before our stop finally appeared.

What I haven’t mentioned is that it is stinking hot here. About 30 degrees C. After meandering aimlessly through a beautiful park, I ran out of any self respect and asked someone in Italian for our street. The vague instructions given were a general direction that did prove fruitful in the end. Finding the apartment was great though. It is just perfect for us (see the picture).

Then, no rest for us though, it was off to Murano, to meet with one of our suppliers. We dressed up in non “touristy” clothes and tried to look as professional as possible and headed for Murano. We didn’t realise that it is a reasonably big place and there are about 4 vaporetto stops. We had no idea which one to get so took the first one and were herded down to watch some glass blowing. The furnace is just what you need on a day like this!!! Finally we tracked down our supplier and find that she is not there and is not intending to be there. Oh well, it was good to find the supplier and see that they do in fact manufacture jewellery. There are many fakes, even in Venice, with look alikes made in China selling for very low prices.

Staggered back onto the vaporetto, went to dinner in zombie like state (Kathy doesn’t even remember this!) and then collapsed into bed.

Venice Day 5 20 May 2009

The tradition commences; firstly a caffé espresso made at home to kick start the day; then a meander down to a local café for a caffé latte and a “cornetto” (pastry filled with creamy chocolate). Ahh…. Now we are ready for the day.

Today is a day for visiting mask suppliers and we head across to Giudecca, one of the islands to find our supplier. We are entranced to see so many masks that are not on the web site and place a large order! Our host takes us out to lunch at her favourite local pasta restaurant and we eat right on the edge of the canal in lovely 30 degree temperatures and have the local cuisine of cuttle fish, calamari (sea food dishes galore). Great experience and lovely to meet the people we deal with over the internet.

The next supplier is on the main island and we find a completely different experience. This is artistic chaos, with masks stacked in shelves leaning at dangerous angles, piles here and there, but lovely people, who were so warm to us. The heat was starting to get to us and I look at the idle air conditioning units longingly. We return home finding that some vaporetto drivers are in fact sane and navigate with a degree of precision and skill that delivers a smooth experience to docking the boat.

The thing we notice about Venice on this trip is that it is full of Italians! This may sound a surprising conclusion, but if you just visit St Marks Square and the main tourist spots, you will come away with the impression that Venice is over-run with tourists of every possible variety. However, we are staying away from the main tourist area and find an abundance of locals who live here. It is so nice.

The highlight of the day is that we decide at the last minute to “eat in” and arrive to find the supermarket just closing, but there is one next door still open. We rush around to find essential supplies, including wine, cheese etc and are at the check out to pay and realise that we don’t have any money on us right now. AHHH!! Kathy explains our dilemma to the proprietor, who suggests we pay tomorrow!!! He looks at our faces with jaws dropping and confirms his offer. Wow!! We are amazed at his trusting of us and walk up the street with our bags of groceries vowing to repay his trust first thing tomorrow. That would never happen in NZ!!

Venice Day 6 21 May 2009

The morning ritual starts today with a difference. EVERYONE in Venice offers a greeting. All through the day you hear “Ciao!” ringing out, often sounding like a cat “meow” from some of the women! It is a lovely aspect of local life and embodies friendship and an atmosphere of comradeship, which is very appealing. Anyway, I like to join in this ritual as well and as we exit our apartment, our neighbours are also leaving and I offer a jovial “Buon giorno” and get a response under breath of “guten morgen”. My instant feeling of offence at this lack of cultural awareness brings to mind that there must be an Italian version of “I think I’m turning Japanese – I really think so”! (hope someone remembers this song!). This was reinforced to me by the fact that the next morning I awoke to the refrain “La prossima fermata e’… Zattere” followed by “The nexta stoppa is … Zattere”. Too many trips on the vaporetti!!

Our relentless schedule continues today with a visit to another supplier we are highly suspicious of. His goods usually arrive at our place reeking of smoke, so we are expecting a heavy smoker. We seem to be always on the vaporetti and this time we get on one with our destination to meet Roberto, but while we are sitting there, we realise that there are like 20 stops and a lot of time; in fact, so much time that we are likely to miss our appointment with Roberto, who has agreed to meet us in Venice, before we travel with him by bus to his mask laboratory. Thank goodness for an Italian cell phone number that we purchased effortlessly the day before (just need to produce your passport). We ring Roberto and detect slight irritation. He only speaks Italian and is waiting for us at the bus station in over 30 degree heat.

We greet Roberto apologetically after over an hour on the vaporetto (you just don’t realise how big Venice is). He is lovely, which is great, as the night before Kathy was wondering if he was an axe murderer as he specified exact times for our meeting via text. Maybe we were going to be kidnapped?? But no, Roberto was just lovely and our being late meant we missed a direct bus and had to make a connection. He and Kathy had much lively conversation in Italian while I understood snippets. The temperature continued to rise as well and now is consistently over 30 degrees every day. We finally arrive at Roberto’s offices and find a surprising neat and tidy operation and his lovely wife. We spent a great time with them and really sensed a friendship more than just a business relationship. This strikes a resonating chord of what Dream of Italy is all about and we left feeling very warmed and satisfied. This was so different to the smoky den we expected to find. He was SO kind to us and escorted us back to a bus. Then back to Venice to get on a train to head back in a similar direction to our next supplier. This was a very different experience with these people very professional business people, with much more of a package available to people like us who wish to visit them. Va bene, as they say here.

We arrive back at the apartment pretty exhausted after a pretty hectic day and decide to eat out locally at one of the restaurants in the street just down from our apartment. We have yet to find a really “good” restaurant and we have high hopes for this one. There are lots of locals there. The highlight of the evening turns out to be the proprietor who sings. He sets up his little PA and begins to sing in rich baritone voice local songs, to which the locals all join in. At certain points, they all stand up and shout in unison. It was far more memorable than the food and the highlight of the evening. We were very tired, so had to wrench ourselves away from his voice echoing around the ancient street to return to bed “stanchi”.

Venice Day 7 22 May 2009

This morning we find a great place for breakfast and have now decoded the local code for a great “caffe latte” (double smudged milk please).

Today is officially a “day off” after some pretty hectic business days. I decide to mooch at home and leave Kathy to do her “market” experience. She takes off to the Venice Markets and has a wonderful time finding products and invaluable contacts.

Venice Day 8 22 May 2009

Today it is back to Murano to check out some more suppliers. We are continually surprised by the most promising leads turning to nothing and some small back room operations are just what we are looking for. Every where we go there is evidence of how the Chinese are taking over and Chinese replicas of Murano products are everywhere, even in Venice and you need to be very careful. There are some amazing works of art in glass here, but at prices we can’t entertain. However, we end up buying some stock to take home and get some excellent contacts for the future. Mission accomplished.

That evening we decide to go out for a meal and we find a real Italian back-street “Trattoria”. No tourists here. We book a table. Upon our return to take up our booking, the place is buzzing with locals. A milieu of dogs, smoke and loud conversations fill the air. All tables are taken! Booking a table is a novelty that they don’t really know how to handle here! We soak up the observation of raw Italian culture in backstreet Venice and I am so glad I did not bring my camera.

While our table is being freed up, we order a Campari Spritzer, to really fit in here. We saw some old guys order one for breakfast the other day!! I must say this paint stripper taste has grown on me and I have come to quite like it. For dinner we order local fare, which is basic Italian pasta and nothing terribly special, but it is nice. For the wine we note “Tocai” on the wine list and having just seen the film on the plane “Dean Spanley” we sample this and start barking (no, just kidding)…

However, I do decide to start a photographic series called “Dogs of Venice” or “Cani di Venezia”. I have some good material already. Depending on what happens I may expand this to “Cani d’Italia”.

As evening falls, what I thought was someone taking flash photos turns out to be lightning. It grows more and more and the thunder comes. We ask for the bill sensing impending rain. There is no response much and after large drops start to fall we press inside to the chaos happening in the kitchen and bar. Lots of people, a dog also nearly getting trodden on and a frazzled barmaid who finally puts a bill on the counter under a saucer. I take a chance, grab it and yes, it is ours. We could so have walked off into the night, but this is a family restaurant and trust seems to be the value here. Nice.

We walk home amongst large, but dispersed rain drops and are glad to get to our apartment before the heavens open. We find out the next morning, they never did. Great last night in Venice.

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Travel Location: Venice,Italy

Travel About: architecture,natural-wonder,art-&-museum,adventure

It wasn’t a direct train so lots of people came on and off the train during our ride to Venice. There are also two stops in Venice but we only booked it to the first stop. Luckily the train attendant didn’t feel like kicking us out when he was checking tickets.

Though even the name Venice sounded beautiful, I had heard that Venice canals were actually a bit ugly and smelly. So I had reservations but after we got on the ferries to go to our hotel, I was blown away about with the Venetian architected houses right on the canals. The canals didn’t smell. It was a bit cloudy but there weren’t any trash that I could see on it. With the wind blowing in my hair and riding a boat on the canal, it was just one of those “ah” feelings.

Gotta get to the water to get anywhere in Venice

We got on land in the heart of Venice. There were lots and lots and lots of tourists. Everything is just about tourism there – I can only see restaurants, bakeries, tourists shops, and a handful of necessity shops like super/mini markets and pharmacies.

The streets are really so narrow. They were definitely only 2 lane walking streets. Given that Rome is made up of 117 islands, there were many very cute crossing bridges along with the streets. It wasn’t too hard to find our hotel and it was a cute one. The hotel had a “shabby sheek Venetian” style to it. So a bit dated but definitely cute and clean.

We had lunch and figured out what coddle fish was. It’s squid and the way the Venetians cooked it was delish! They used this dark, almost black sauce on it. Ken kept having these big black lines around his mouth. I had their mixed seafood special and it was a great way to experience the seafood specialties of Venice.

We decided here that we were not museum people, meaning if we didn’t want to look at one more marble art work or oil painting inside the museum or a chapel in the short term. Venice for us was about just walking the streets, finding interesting architecture,, taking photos, and just getting the vibe of the city. Oh and of course, lookin for good fridge magnets from a location. That might be the theme of most of our vacations from now on.

We did want to see the grand Piazza San Marcos and the outside of the Basilica di San Marco that we’ve heard so much about. It was really beautiful and one of the “wow” moments for us.

I was torn at this point, in that I was really starting to miss home but also really

Wow Moments:

San Marcos Square and Basilica

The pope!

Walking into Vatican Square

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Travel Location: Rome,Italy

Rome, Day 24, 8 June 2009

An early breakfast at the Maiori hotel and a farewell to Richard Gere and we are off to the bus stop. This is more like the weather we are expecting. The sun is really hot at 8:30am as we wait at the bus stop. The bus arrives late and we stand initially, but a really nice lady in the front seat shows me such kindness, allowing me to put my bag at her feet for a while. She shows me the ECG patches she has and is obviously going for medical treatment. There is heated discussion from some of the other women with the driver again and we pick up that there are more passengers to be picked up at the next stop and this will be a problem. In addition to engaging in intense conversation with the passengers, the driver is also fossicking with his cell phone, taking calls and making calls, all the while swinging the bus around hairpin bends on a sheer cliff face road. Apart from receiving a call the women had demanded he call the bus company to put on more buses!! Va bene.

We find two of the last three seats and enjoy the ride along the coast back to Salerno for a while. The sun sparkling on the blue, blue, glassy water is a lovely sight. Local fishermen are going about their daily tasks in small boats. I have a fleeting longing to have their lives, but no, we are really ready to go home now and looking forward to Rome for a day. We have a lot of renewed energy for our business, but unfortunately not a corresponding amount of funding!

There are no first class seats left on the Eurostar when we get to Salerno Station to book it, so we slum it in second class. However, this turns out to be a near new Eurostar train and second class is better than some of the first class seats we have had. Our final train trip is without drama, but we are now fully aware of the root meaning of the word “luggage”. I manage to get off the train in Rome with all the bags bar Kathy’s day pack in one manoeuvre. Wow!

It is great to have some idea of the layout of Rome immediately around the station and we find the hotel relatively easily. We squeeze into a small and ancient lift, which groans under the combined weight of our luggage and us to deliver us to the fourth floor, where “Hotel Katty” is. The room is tiny, but all we need for a one night stay. Talk about energy conservation, I didn’t know you could get 1 Watt bulbs, but they found the lowest possible in this hotel. In addition, the one main light for the entire room was maybe a 5 Watt but was on a timer and went off after a while!! The bathroom had a sign up about “No woshing or eating in the room”!! We think that Kathy’s mum has impacted every hotel in Italy, after her setting fire to the curtains in a Milan hotel with a portable gas cooker!! The proprietor and family basically live in the same space as the hotel rooms and apart from being very basic, it was fine and they were lovely people.

We decide to go out and just womble around Rome rather than do the tourist thing. Before long we are hopelessly lost and have to ask directions a number of times before finding our way back to the hotel tired and hot. However, we manage to cross a busy intersection by going underground via a book and CD shop and end up making some purchases there of real Italian music to take home. I get some Gian Maria Testa that we had never seen before and also a copy of the Zucchero CD for the victims of the earthquake.

Our traditional Campari that night was the highlight really. We went to a really local bar and enjoyed the local atmosphere very much.

Interestingly, just down the road from us was the British Embassy. When we arrived, I had wondered why there was this army vehicle with two soldiers with Uzzi automatic weapons slung casually over their shoulders. When we walked up the road later, we saw more of them on more or less 24 hour guard duty.

We don’t have the energy for any tourist sight seeing in Rome this time and choose to wander the streets around our hotel. Rome is an amazing city and we both have a sense that we would like to spend more time here next time.

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Travel Location: Rome,Italy

The first day in Rome, we let ourselves sleep in a bit. We got up at 9 something and moseyed over the footbridge to the grocery store to get some food. We got Muesli, which is a granola type cereal, bananas, digestive cookies, apples, yogurt, ham, nutella, and other stuff. It was cheap and nutritious and I was really excited not to be eating another cream filled croissant. We ate and planned our day a bit, deciding to check out the Vatican, since my book said it could be done in a morning, we figured we’d have time. You can’t wear shorts to the Vatican, so we put on our skirts and grabbed our scarves (no bare shoulders) and took a quick bus from our Camp. We started with the Vatican Museum. It was really huge and overwhelming. We started with the Egyptian section, although it was very hard to find the start. They have a real uncovered mummy and lots of interesting artifacts. Then we went through Greek and Roman statues, seeing the Laocoon Group and the Apollo Belvedere and the Belvedere torso, which had a great impact on Renaissance sculptors like Michelangelo. These pieces were 2,000 years old. The museum continues for literally miles through hallways of tapestries and maps and art and we were exhausted by the time we got to the frescoed rooms of Raphael. We saw the School of Athens, where he depicts artists of the time as the philosophers of old. Then it was time for the trek to the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum is hot and crowded and grandiose. The scale is pretty ridiculous and I couldn’t help but think about how much money the Catholic church would have if they toned it down just a hair. The Sistine Chapel is the culmination of the Vatican Museum. It is the collection tank for all the pilgrims that journeyed the four mile museum just to see it. It is hot and packed with people and very loud, even though guards periodically SHHHH everyone. The walls are frescoed by other painters. The main attraction is the ceiling, obviously, and the Last Judgement fresco on the wall behind the alter (also by Michelangelo). I listened to my audioguide for both of those and learned as much as I could handle. The ceiling of the Chapel took four years to complete and shows the creation story and the story of original sin as well as the fall of Noah. It is all about man in the image of God, but saddled with sin. The Last Judgement, which is pretty self explanatory, was in some ways more impressive to me, perhaps because of all the hype surrounding the ceiling. In any case, it was an absolute zoo in there and felt more like an over done function all than the most important holy space in the Catholic church (its where the cardinals meet and pick a new pope). The flow of the attractions at the Vatican brings you right to St. Peter’s at this point. We had opted for audio guides, and so had to return to the start, through what seemed like miles more of art and stuff. By the time we were back and done it was almost five and we were wiped out and St. Peter’s dome was closing within the hour. We decided to head back to the camp, since we didn’t really have a feel of the city to wander in, and cool off at the pool.

The pool was very refreshing, and we needed to eat. I have been feeling like I needed protein, but there really isn’t much in the way of groceries here. We were too lazy to leave camp and get better food or cheaper (its how they get you) so we went to the restaurant here again and splurged for the buffet, which looked good. It was, and we could go back for more meatballs and whatever was good. Lots of veggies too. I ate a ton. It was pretty late by the time we were done and we just camped out in the bathroom journaling and charging our appliances. The one downside to this place is there are no plugs. Jane went to bed early and I stayed up talked to Alex on a shitty payphone.

The next day, we got up at 8 or so and went to the Colosseum. We were approached for a tour and decided to try it. We put a lot of sunscreen on several times that day, because it is unbelievably strong here. It was SO hot. We learned a lot about Nero and how hated he was and the big fire that tore through Rome that allowed him to take most of the land for himself. The place where the Colosseum stands was once his personal Lake. Its called the Colosseum because there was a 35m (the Colosseum is 50 m) gold statue of Nero in front of that place called the Colossus. They erased is face and made it into other gods and stuff and replaced his head multiple times after they decided the memory of Nero was to be erased entirely for Rome. The Colosseum was an effort to bring the people back to the city center after Nero’s rule was over. Obviously it was used as a stadium for Gladiators and Animal battles, which is pretty messed up. It made me want to watch Gladiator with Russell Crowe again, even though Jane boycotts it. It was hard for me to really get how truly old this place is and the crazy engineering that they did to figure out how to make something so big and tall and even resistant to earthquakes. The next tour was in an hour and was of the Forum and Palatine hill. This was almost more interesting than the Colosseum, and we had an American guide named Mary. The Palatine hill was where Rome was founded. It is the home of Romulus and Remus, if they existed, and houses the ruins of the Palace (a word derived from Palatine) that the rulers of Rome built after Nero went so overboard with his that took up all of downtown Rome. We saw lots of ruins and heard stories of how Rome was in the early early days. We also saw the Circus Maximus, where the chariot races were, and all sorts of temples and the “Et tu, Brute” place. The tour was really long and very hot and covered a lot of area. Some boys tried to befriend us in the Colosseum and then joined our tour for the hill, but we couldn’t really be friends with them and listen to the tour at the same time. Oh well. After we found a ladies room, we wandered up to the street (the ground level of Rome has risen a tremendous amount and temples that used to be raised up are now dug out) and oriented ourselves to find food.

We decided to head over to the Pantheon, where my book said there were some cheap eats. We walked by this CRAZY monumnet to the Vicor Emmanuel and the unification of Italy, and various other Ruins and stuff. We got to the Pantheon and were approached by a nice American woman who said there was a free twenty minute tour of the Pantheon starting in a few minutes. We decided it was worth it (we love free) and Jane ate a power bar so she could make it. The tour was to promote the other tours the company does, and was given by Steve, a red headed American who apparently dated our tour guide Mary five years ago before she moved back to the states (she obviously came back). It was a great tour and we learned about the dome (still the biggest in the world) and the hole in it (shower drain in the bottom from the old days still works) and saw Raphaels tomb (When Raphael was alive, mother nature was afraid he would out do her, now that he is dead, mother nature fears she will die also) inscription. We learned about Margherita pizza, named for the queen who chose it in a contest to find the most national dish (red white and green if you’ve never noticed) and about how the marble and bronze was removed for rennaissance stuff like Raphael’s arch in St. Peter’s. The obelisk on the fountain in front of the Pantheon is crazy old, was 5000 years old when they brought it over from Egypt, so old, in fact, that Moses might have looked at it too. There is a plaque in the square about how they cleaned up the place of indistinguished eateries, and that it is deemed fit for the Pantheon (in latin, of course) right over the McDonalds. HA.

We found this place Miscellanous that was in my book and got Tuna and artichoke sandwhiches for an early dinner, with free strawberry homemade wine because of my Rick Steve’s book. We hung out there and decided to stay in town, and did the “Night walk across Rome” from my book. We started at the Campo de’ Fiori and wound up at the Spanish steps. We hit the Piazza Navona, which is full of street venders and artists, musicians and people. It has the Four Rivers fountain by Bernini, which was amazing, but somewhat tarnished by a seagull disembowling a pigeon. We went to a recommended restaurant to get take away Tarfuto, a “death by chocolate” ice cream sundae of sorts. Then back to the Pantheon to sit at the fountain and listen to the band sarnade people having a romantic dinner or dancing in the Piazza. We went through other squares, finding more obelisks, and big fancy looking buildings. We followed the book’s directions and wound up at the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain is absolutely HUGE. Its beautiful and roaring and not directly approached by any streets. Again, extremely romantic (great…) There was a couple who were getting married or just taking pictures in the outfits, and everyone cheered when they kissed. We took pictures and moved onto the Spanish steps, another very busy night scene (most of the places on the walk were) and climbed them. We went into the church on the top and saw a little known Michelangelo statue of Christ and a cross. We wandered around there a little bit before deciding it was time to head back to the hostel and rest our poor feet. It was a really long day by the end of it all, by this time it was 10:30 or something. We took the subway to our bus stop and waited forever. Just when I was sure the bus wasn’t coming and we would have to walk, it came, and we did end up getting back to the camp till 1130 or later. We were FILTHY from walking all day in flip flops and through ruins and dirty city, so we had to shower before falling into bed.

We couldnt bare the thought of getting up early and going hard again, so after much deliberation, we decided to sleep in and go to the pool today and do St Peter’s and maybe something else if we had time in the afternoon. The city is too big and hot to try to master, and we want to take advantage of the pool while we have it. We also needed the time to blog/journal and make some up coming plans. We leave Rome tomorrow, and while we havent seen it all, we have done the best we could. I am sitting at an internet cafe near the bus stop (it has better rates than the one at the campground) and going to eat my lunch while we book a hostel in Sorrento, so we can see Pompeii. We think. We are really having a hard time deciding things, but the plan as of now is to go up the coast to the riviera (italian and french) and then to Paris. We will be there for a few days and then hit Berlin on the way to Prague and Vienna and then maybe Croatia and Greece. We have had both HIGHLY recommended to us, and they are cheapish. But the plan is always changing.

Rome is fun, but hot and big and hard to navigate. Because our campground requires the use of public transport to get home, we cant really enjoy the night life, because buses and trains stop running at midnight. But thats ok, we made some Aussie friends at the pool today and they by .99 cent wine bottles and party at the camp, so theres that option. We are pretty low key and want to sleep alot, so we arent missing much. Plus, I dont think we are up for going out and meeting Roman men. Scary. Anyway, we need to get going to the Basillica, but hopefully more later.

We love and miss you all!

Jane and Graham

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Travel Location: Rome,Italy

8.6.09 Monday: Minturno, Cassino and Roma

Well, I think its time that Bob and I owned up to a terrible addiction we have developed. Our habit needs to be fed on a weekly basis and unfortunately it is quite expensive and difficult to obtain in Europe. By Monday or Tuesday of each week we are starting to get the jitters and are obsessed in finding our next fix – and will go to great lengths to find it. The Sunday Times! – there it is, I’ve said it! The British newspaper, the Sunday Times – it keeps both Bob and I entertained in reading material and cryptic crossword for a full week. Amongst all the usual suspects, it has a huge liftout called “Culture” which has great articles in it covering a variety of matters. Bob and I read the whole paper, word for word, cover to cover. We have learned that a European edition is printed in Marseilles, France but is not available until Monday and only in a few outlets in large cities – and it costs €5 (ie $10 a paper!! – which we are happy to pay!).

With this in mind, we try to find the paper in our little village, Vico Equense, without success. One vendor suggests the Autogrill (ie service station) on the motorway – ok, we are heading off anyway so we will check them out. We tried no less than 5 Autogrills but again no success. OK, it looks like we are going to have to go to Roma to find it – it’s only 100 kms away and anyway while we are there we can pop into the Vatican Museum for a look at the Sistine Chapel (did you hear it has recently been relocated from Florence!).

So off we go back to Roma – we know the way because we have been there before. On the way we stop into a couple of little villages, Minturno and Cassino in search of the maps of the WWII battle fields in those areas for Stan, Mum’s neighbour. Minturno is a lovely little village on the sea with mountains at the rear. We can see why it would have been a good vantage point for WWII commandoes – but unfortunately not a map to be seen. We travel further north towards Roma and stop of again at Cassino. We called into Cassino a week or so ago but it was a National holiday and nothing was open. We have a little more luck in Cassino this time and obtain a map and some information from the Tourist Bureau and some other maps from a book store – so hopefully Stan will be happy with what we have found for him.

We are almost in Roma when the overhead road signs indicate a serious accident ahead and to divert if possible. We cant decide whether to divert or not (the diversion seems more congested than towards the accident!) – so Bob decides to follow the truckies – they will have 2-way radios so they will know the go. We follow the truckies and end up at a stand still for about half an hour or so. All of the truckies and other motorists get out of their cars and congregate together discussing the matter. Now that Bob is an experienced trucky, he decides to join the guys to find out what is going on. With chest puffed, off he goes. He is gone a while and I can see him ahead nodding and agreeing with the guys. When he finally comes back, chest still puffed, he says “there is an accident ahead, about 4 kms!” Well, that was worth the effort! When we finally move on, we pass the accident and it is an oil tanker that has rolled over. There are police and fluroescent vested men everywhere with all sorts of equipment trying to upright the vehicle, including a crane!

Well we finally arrive in Roma fairly latish. We decide to stay in a different campsite than last time, one recommended by the other Aussie couple from Gladstone. Gee, what a luxurious campsite it is – the sanitary facilities for the women have a little fountain and piped music – very flash! – and it has internet available from our van plus public transport at our doorstep!

9.6.09 – Tuesday

The next morning we head off into Roma in search of The Sunday Times and the Sistine Chapel. Because we have been to Roma before, we know the public transport system inside out and the layout of Roma – so its all systems go. First of all, we try a number of newsagents around the main train station. The first 3 say “noa Englisha papers aherea” – ah, but we know better. We look for another newsagent and spot one about 50 metres away. As we walk towards the newsagent Bob says “I can see it, I can see it” – low and behold Bob has spotted a Sunday Times from 50 metres away – we are so pleased we paid all that money to get have Bob’s eyes lasered!

With our first mission accomplished (and our habit fed for another week), we head straight for the Vatican Museum. We walk straight passed the most expensive cafe in Europe (the one that cost us €42 for 2 sandwiches and 2 juices) with our heads held high! Inside the Museum we are very impressed with the size of the Museum (it is huge) and the interesting sculptures and pieces of artwork. We have an audio guide which makes the visit much more relevant and inclusive. I tell Bob not to get too excited about seeing the Sistine Chapel because, from what I remember, it is just a painted ceiling, but it is more the content of the ceiling, as I understand it, that is important. But alas, I cant suppress Bob, excitement – he keeps asking, “when do we get to the Sistine Chapel” and when he finally sees it, he says “is this it, is this really it?”. I’m afraid it is, I say. But we listen to the audio guide and understand the theological relevance behind painting and appreciate a little more greatness of the feat. With our second mission accomplished its back to the campsite.

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Travel Location: Rome,Italy

10^th October

Trained down to Rome. It’s strange using Italian train toilets – its essentially a toilet that opens down onto the tracks and the wind blows where it shouldn’t. I’d hate to be a track worker.

We had booked a little apartment and met the owner at the front door. It was like looking at a miniature person. Italians are generally pretty small but this guy was shorter than Carmen – tiny. Being a polite Italian he offered to carry Carmen’s suitcase (which was taller and weighed more than him) up the 60 stairs to the apartment. We thought the little fella was going to have a heart attack at the top and it took him about 30 minutes to recover.

Nice place with a great view over to the Forum and Palatine Hill, pity nothing in the apartment worked properly.

A word of warning for travellers to Rome: generally the cashpoints don’t give money to foreigners (for foreigners read anyone who isn’t from Roma). We managed to track down the only two banks that do after calling our UK bank – and walking several kms to find a bank machine that would give us money.

11^th October

We started off our tour of Rome with a visit to the Forum and Palatine Hill. Pity it was 30 plus degrees and we were standing in the ticket cue for an hour and a half (did manage to see an impressive display of a Chinese mother picking her sleeping son’s nose for about 15 minutes which helped pass the time).

Another word of advice – when visiting the Forum and Palatine Hill get a human guide rather than relying on the audio guide (about the same price). When looking at a pile of rubble that stands knee high (which pretty much sums up 80 percent of the Forum) it’s pretty hard to get your bearings. The audio guide ran something like “if you turn to your left you will now see the (….). Walk over to it now.” on turning to the left you’re confronted by six different buildings all knee high that resemble the description. You now spend the following 30 minutes trying to decipher which building you’re supposed to be looking at while listening to an information piece that may or may not apply to any or all of them. Wandering around looking at the confused faces and listening to other people mistaking the toilet block to the right for Temple of Apollo built 2000 years later we got the feeling that we weren’t the only ones.

Despite this the area is incredible and does include the Imperial For a (old forum) ruins which really gave a perspective on the size of the site.

The Palatine Hill is massive and has been inhabited since 1000 BC. During the Roman Empire this was ‘the neighbourhood’ to buy in and is where Augustus built his home and it includes the old ruins of emperor Septimius Severus’ palace that takes up most of the top of the hill.

12^th October

Aussie tour guides everywhere. We thought we were in Rome about to visit the Colleseum, but we might as well have been lining up for the Walk About. Declining their offers for guides (and telling them to park themselves at the Forum instead) we headed into the iconic building. We first noticed the drop in temperature (5 degrees per minute) then we noticed the rain (5cm per second). There’s not too many places under cover in the Colleseum (especially when the wind is blowing) so it was kind of tight and close (Italians don’t have personal space so it didn’t really matter).

When the sun came out and the temperature rose back to 20+ we headed inside/outside to get a good look. The size of the place is awesome and while it’s nowhere near the intact-ness of Nimes it’s a massively impressive monument.

We headed over to view the Circus Maximus which sort of dwarfs any other stadium in the world. 250,000 people used to crowd into a place that made the Colleseum look like a large bathtub. Unfortunately there’s not much left so you have to use your imagination.

We headed up the windy road towards the Capitoline Hill which houses many of the government buildings, designed by Michelangelo (apparently an architect, not just a painter).

After a nice little lunch we headed off towards the Spanish Steps, on the way laughing at a little fella wrapped up in a huge jacket, scarf and gloves in 25 degree heat. About 35 seconds later we weren’t laughing as the temperature plummeted to 10 degrees and it starting pouring. No more laughing. Frantically looking for shelter and a scarf. We weren’t to know it but those 5 minutes were the last of summer – just like that.

We then headed up to Piazza Navona which is a huge square that has existed as a place to gather since the 1^st century. The square is framed by massive baroque buildings and is generally packed with people – either eating at the ring of cafés, checking out the art for sale, listening to the impressive buskers, or wandering through the many fountains. In the middle of the square is the Fountain of Four Rivers (the Nile is represented by the guy with his eyes covered as rumour has it that nobody actually knows the true source of the river), the other three are the Ganges, Danube and the…… (hint: its not the Amazon). It’s a pretty stunning piece of work. The other three are impressive in their own right (the guy wrestling a dolphin was a bit over the top though), but nowhere near as interesting as the four rivers.

We headed through the Campo de Fiori market to the Pantheon which sort of sneaks up on you, as much as a building the size of the beehive can. Even though it’s been standing for almost 2000 years (used as a church for the whole time), it’s still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome (despite the fact that there is a big hole in the middle that nobody seems to notice – except when it rains). There are hoards of people there but it remains bizarrely peaceful despite that. The tombs of two Italian kings and a few other notable people are secluded away in the little side niches among some amazing artwork.

We wandered through numerous squares, alleys and big streets on the way to the Trevi Fountain. On the way we passed an elephant with an obelisk on his back (see photo). We noticed how much the Italians seem to love Egyptian artefacts, there are Egyptian obelisks all over the city, and knowing how long it took them to make them, I’m not sure how happy they’d be. The Trevi Fountain is a marvel of Italian architecture. Not just the fountain itself but the way they are able to pack soooo many people into such a small space without violating human rights laws. The fountain is really impressive and stands on the site of an aqueduct built in the first century that brought water sourced from a pure spring 20km away to this spot for the locals. Apparently the aqueduct was destroyed in the 6^th century and the locals had to go back to using water from the Tiber river which was unfortunately also the local sewer. The tradition says if you throw one coin into the fountain you’re guaranteed of returning to Rome, two coins will lead to a new romance, and three coins for a divorce. Very handy. The tradition is actually a money making venture – as you throw the coins over your shoulder into the fountain the locals quickly scoop them up in a big fishing net to subsidise their coffee. Apparently they make 3000 euros each day (lots of divorces in Rome).

The Spanish Steps were as nice as any steps can be. Admired them from the bottom, half way up and the top. Lovely Church at the top with some fantastic views over the city towards the Vatican.

While admiring the view we noted a Policeman standing to one side. This Policeman was very typical of the Italian Police – probably the most unique in the world. Whereas most Police forces that we have come across seem to have some rules regarding consistent dress and an attempt at grooming, the Italian force requires at least 5 days of stubble (in this case with some fantastic nose fur protruding from the nostrils), a uniform that looks like it came from a kids dressup box including trousers that were 5cm too short, a helmet that wouldn’t have been out of place on top of some of the Roman monuments we’d seen from the 5^th century, a cigar (lit or unlit but definitely chewed and soggy), a gun (in this case it looked like a cap gun), and most importantly a complete disinterest in anything that’s going on around them.

This last point was quite important as many scams were unfolding in this popular tourist destination. We watched as one fella approached a guy and his girlfriend with a bunch of roses. He produced two roses and gave them to the girlfriend saying “this is my gift to you – don’t worry, I take no money, it is just a gift. Where are you from?” The “where are you from?” is always a good one – it now gives the scammer an opening. Silly guy answered at the same time that his girlfriend tried to give the roses back but the fella was already engrossed in conversation and protested saying they are a gift. This went on for a while with the couple trying to give the flowers back to the protesting fella who by now had started to ask for money by patting his pockets. Unsatisfied with a few coins he started turning unfriendly and began haranguing the guy who reluctantly parted with 10 euros. The fella then moved on to the next victim.

Wandered around the area a little more then headed back through quiet streets gazing at shop windows as we went.

13^th October

Missing the Cistine Chapel.

It had to happen. The first time to Rome, the last day of our visit, the last thing we want to see…. and it’s closed for the day. It was only 4pm so we expected it to be open for a little longer!

Previously that day we had a fantastic visit to the rest of the Vatican City which is actually the smallest country in the world (800 people and the size of a large back yard). Interesting fact – the Vatican City plans to be the first carbon neutral state. They are creating a Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary to offset carbon emissions.

Walking over the bridge we were confronted by Castel St Angelo which was converted from Emperor Hadrian’s tomb (just slightly ostentatious) to a castle in the 15^th century which was linked to St Peters by an underground passage. Then onto St Peters square which is absolutely massive. The cue to get into St Peters was ridiculously long (over 1.75km) and it was hot. It was, however well worth the 2 ½ hr wait.

We climbed the stairs to the top of the Cupola (750 steps and some very claustrophobic moments) and were 136 meters above the floor on a very narrow and structurally questionable (Michelangelo was a painter wasn’t he?) walkway. Richard didn’t look down. The mosaic depictions around the inside are very impressive and must have taken a long time to put together. We headed for more stairs that would take us outside the dome to an excellent vantage point (unless you don’t like heights – Richard wasn’t happy).

The inside of the Basilica is unlike any Church we’d seen before. The outside is impressive but the inside is massive. It’s the largest church in the world and can hold 60,000 people at 220m long and 150m wide. Everything in here is huge. The cherubs that hold the holy water basins are each 7feet tall – big scary cherubs. The tour of the inside itself took a couple of hours and you can see some of the most stunning artwork and sculptures, especially the Pieta by Michelangelo. The baldachinno created by Bernini to sit above the altar and beneath the dome is a huge pavilion like structure. It’s the largest piece of bronze in the world and is spectacular as a piece of intricately created art that houses the altar. It is cited directly above the burial place of St Peter which itself is unseen but you can see the steps leading down to the tomb. The seat of St Peter sits at the end of the Basilica and has been enshrined in a large bronze throne again created by Bernini which has a huge window above it to let light in and has an amazing, ethereal effect.

After spending many hours walking around we reluctantly decided to leave and head to the Cistine Chapel detouring for a late lunch. After navigating our way to the entrance we were shocked to find that it had already closed (there were many other tourists sharing our displeasure). At least we have an excuse to return to Rome.

We began the long walk back home, passing through Piazza del Popolo and past yet another obelisk that stands in the middle of this square.

After walking for a total of 9 hours (and 21 kms according to our pedometer) we decided to have a break and sit on the wall surrounding an array of ruins bang in the middle of town. Upon Googleling the spot we’d found we discovered that it was part of the forum and what we were looking at was actually the spot where Cesar was assassinated. To us it seemed kind of strange but fitting for our experience in Italy – here we were sitting on the wall surrounding an area below that has huge historical significance that has no signs or information, and has been transformed into a chaotic roundabout by two of the busiest streets in the city.

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