Let's see... Naples seems so long ago! Monday I had a really nice lazy day, usually I'm up and out early so this time I stayed in bed, missed breakfast, ate pastry, watched TV (So You Think You Can Dance and Sex and the City), read a book (Conn Iguldon, Emperor series, not too bad), ate lunch with the hostel owners' family and caught a train to Rome!
My hostel is nice, free internet (always a bonus), easy to find and I met two English guys in my dorm who were going for a night walk to take in the lit up sights so I tagged along. It was nice, although also strange because I didn't have any kind of map in my head so I just got led in circles, pretty circles, until we got back magically to the dorm! I saw the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps so my sightseeing got an early start!
The next morning I started early and headed to the Roman Forum, in a round about kind of way since despite the map in my hand I struggled. I made it anyway and was unpleasantly surprised to find that it was no longer free before being pleasantly surprised to find out that for €12 I could go to the Forum and Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, so that's what I did. I wandered the Forum/Palatine area for three hours, I could definitely have done more but I was suddenly starving so I had to head out and find some food! Then on to the Colosseum - wow! It does take some imagination, since people in the middle ages decided to steal the marble so they could build the other monuments I would visit along my way. Still, it is huge and impressive. I could just picture Russell Crowe marching down the tunnel to his victory. There was an exhibition on art which has been taken from and then returned to Italy which was interesting. Napoleon liked to keep stuff, like souvenirs I guess "Oh yes, I just picked that 2000 year old statue up while I was in Rome. It brings out the feather in my hat, don't you think?" One interesting thing was that Italy also returned stuff to Egypt, Lybia and Ethiopia in the spirit of giving back.
So that was another hour or so, then I traversed all the same sights I had seen the night before, but in the day time - Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Wedding Cake (officially known as the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II but called the wedding cake by locals due to it's extraordinary resemblance to an over decorated white cake.) And then the Pantheon - wow. I can't imagine that it is as old as it is! Apparently they can't really figure out how it was built considering the technology they had available at the time. I mostly stood staring at the ceiling, and had a quick visit to Raphael's tomb. Really amazing.
After that I got gelatto. Here starts an eloquent wax on the most amazing gelatto skip it if you really don't care about my ice cream obsession! Now ususally I'm not a fan of chocolate ice cream. Don't have a clue why, love chocolate, love ice cream but chocolate ice cream kind of glugs in my throat and sticks and I just don't enjoy it as much as other flavours. But if a sign says Dark Chocolate then who says no? Oh. My. God. Has anyone other than Mum and Peg tried Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate icing? Peggy and I use to sneak spoonfuls when we thought Mum didn't know (which of course she did.) This was just like that but cold. It was like eating magic. I might go back for more today!
After that I just walked around for a few hours looking on the map to see if I was near anything worth a visit and then walking in vaguely that direction. I saw a lot of piazzas, a few palazzos and I found one museum which I didn't end up going in but which had these intriguing stair up the side, with no signs or rope to keep me out, so I found a nice garden with a fountain and statue and an exit right beside the Quattro Fontane (four fountains.) Rome is amazing, the only downside being that there is way way way too much to see and remember! The main things will stand out but I just know that I'll go back through my pictures and say "Well it's definitely a fountain, but which one?" It's easy to see all the sights because they really are quite close together but to remember them all I think will be the greater challenge.
So that was Tuesday and Tuesdays my hostel has a free pizza and beer night (a major reason I chose this one!) So the English guys, Shane and Sam, and I went early so we could eat more than our fair share of what was very good pizza and not horrible beer. After dinner we went to Trastevere, an area on the other side of the river, for a drink and found a really lovely bar where they let us bargain over the price of the wine and gave us free nibbles! So we shared a bottle of wine and played trumps. A really nice night. Because I travel alone I don't often get to do things like that, especially since the metro stops running at 11.30pm so we walked back to the hostel, about half an hour so not a long walk but not something I could do alone! So going out for a glass of wine was a highlight of the day - along with everything else I did.
Wednesday I woke up early despite the late-ish night out and I headed to the Vatican to get my Pope on... Although actually I didn't see the Pope. I might have been able to, Wednesday at 10 he does his audience with the public but you're supposed to book in advance (short queue) or else wait until they know how many spare seats there are (really long queue). I didn't realise at the time but I probably could have caught a glimpse by walking to the end of the piazza where there's a wide open bit. Couldn't have gotten in or close since the Swiss guards who protect him are everywhere, but I'd at least have seen the blur of a big hat. Instead I went to the Museum, that was exciting. Really cool, quite the museum! They've set up a clever one-way system of seeing stuff where you can either skip straight to the big stuff (Sistine Chapel) or meander through the different rooms of exhibitions. I meandered of course, how else would I have seen Laocoon and His Sons? It's such an impressive statue, and you can definitely see the inspiration to Bernini and others. I'll be honest, I sort of ignored the map room and the tapestry room - sometimes you find there's just too much to see and have to prioritise! I saw the Stanze of Raphael and had my picture taken in front of the School of Athens (well, part of it, crowds wouldn't allow for me with all the cool guys, but I got Plato and Aristotle so that'll do.) His paintings are truly amazing, I eavesdropped on a tour group and found out that the first (less impressive) room had been done by his students, then walked around to be amazed by the Deliverance of Saint Peter which is really beautiful. And St Peter has the face of the Pope! Not the new Pope of course, the Pope of the time.
So then through the Borgia Apartments which is all modern religious art where I got mad at all the people who ignored Rodin's The Thinker, just because you came to see Raphael and Michelangelo doesn't mean you can't show some respect... Then I proceeded to glance carelessly at almost everything else in the rooms because I couldn't take it all in.
The Sistine Chapel was very impressive, but also smaller than I expected and the Creation is way more complex than implied by that God touching Adam clip that you always see. I spent a long time wandering around the room (slowly pushing through crowds of people, for a smallish room they sure do push it full) and wondering why God wasn't offended by Adam's complete nudity, but my shoulders would have been too much for him. Wait, that sounds way too flippant - the paintings, skill and scale are awe-inspiring and impressive. I think part of the problem is that I personally find that kind of set up overwhelming, there is just too much too look at. I do better when I can just look one on one with a painting in a frame because I know the boundaries of the painting and can really develop an opinion. I think to really appreciate the Sistine Chapel I would have needed a few hours, a guide book and no crowds. Instead I had about half an hour before I couldn't take in any more and before the endless push of people drove me out, so while it was an experience I wouldn't trade, I will continue my Sistine experience with a good library book when I get home!
After that there isn't much museum, I stopped in to the Carriage Pavilion to see the ridiculously ornate methods of transport which the various heads of the church have had over the centuries before leaving the museum for the basilica. St Peter's Basilica is beautiful, another overwhelming building, and full of amazing architecture and sculpture. I have to say I was blown away my Michelangelo's Pieta. It is right by one of the entrances but I went in the other door so it was one of the last things I saw and after so many impressive sculptures of saints and popes and angels it could have been a let down, except it is genius, true genius. I stood in front of it for a long time just looking at Mary's face and at the limbs and drapery. There is such a delicacy to it that is lacking from anything else I had seen in the Basilica. It's not about strength or holiness, or even piety, it's about sorrow and it inspired more emotion that the rest of the basilica put together.
Enough flowery stuff for you? After that I climbed the dome (about 500 steps all together) to look out over all of Rome - so amazing! Like being on top of the world, which I would have been if I could have climbed in 1600 years ago (you know, before it was built.) I took photos all around and then spent ages trying to figure out if the Pope lived in that pink castley looking one or the white central mansion or the greyish one with the fountain. I still don't know, but it was fun wondering if the Pope owns jeans and whether he's a boxers or briefs man.
Climbed down all those stairs and headed around the waterfront past the Castel Sant' Angelo and the Palazzo di Giustizia, across the river to the Ara Pacis, which I viewed through the window of the museum because I couldn't be bothered paying to go into another museum, I still got a pretty good look at it, very clean glass! Then up to the Piazza del Popolo which was really beautiful. I was exhausted so I sat on the steps of the fountain and read my book for a while, nice to chill out in such a setting! And then I made my way back to the hostel. I started to write this then actually but I was so completely wiped that I ended up saving it with brief notes about my day after one paragraph and going to make dinner. A couple card games and some book and it was an early night for me.
So today I slept in a bit and read a bit. I've picked up Dante's Divine Comedy as my souvenir of Italy so it's fun to read an Italian book in Italy. Now I'm emailing you before heading out to see the Protestant Cemetery (where Goethe, Keats and Shelley are spending their decomposition) and maybe the market. And maybe lunch near Campo del Fiori because it's meant to be pretty and cheap food from carts. Mmm pizza. Also I want to eat gelatto on the Spanish Steps so that I can be like Audrey Hepburn in just one more imperceptible way! Wish me luck!
So that was another hour or so, then I traversed all the same sights I had seen the night before, but in the day time - Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Wedding Cake (officially known as the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II but called the wedding cake by locals due to it's extraordinary resemblance to an over decorated white cake.) And then the Pantheon - wow. I can't imagine that it is as old as it is! Apparently they can't really figure out how it was built considering the technology they had available at the time. I mostly stood staring at the ceiling, and had a quick visit to Raphael's tomb. Really amazing.
After that I got gelatto. Here starts an eloquent wax on the most amazing gelatto skip it if you really don't care about my ice cream obsession! Now ususally I'm not a fan of chocolate ice cream. Don't have a clue why, love chocolate, love ice cream but chocolate ice cream kind of glugs in my throat and sticks and I just don't enjoy it as much as other flavours. But if a sign says Dark Chocolate then who says no? Oh. My. God. Has anyone other than Mum and Peg tried Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate icing? Peggy and I use to sneak spoonfuls when we thought Mum didn't know (which of course she did.) This was just like that but cold. It was like eating magic. I might go back for more today!
After that I just walked around for a few hours looking on the map to see if I was near anything worth a visit and then walking in vaguely that direction. I saw a lot of piazzas, a few palazzos and I found one museum which I didn't end up going in but which had these intriguing stair up the side, with no signs or rope to keep me out, so I found a nice garden with a fountain and statue and an exit right beside the Quattro Fontane (four fountains.) Rome is amazing, the only downside being that there is way way way too much to see and remember! The main things will stand out but I just know that I'll go back through my pictures and say "Well it's definitely a fountain, but which one?" It's easy to see all the sights because they really are quite close together but to remember them all I think will be the greater challenge.
So that was Tuesday and Tuesdays my hostel has a free pizza and beer night (a major reason I chose this one!) So the English guys, Shane and Sam, and I went early so we could eat more than our fair share of what was very good pizza and not horrible beer. After dinner we went to Trastevere, an area on the other side of the river, for a drink and found a really lovely bar where they let us bargain over the price of the wine and gave us free nibbles! So we shared a bottle of wine and played trumps. A really nice night. Because I travel alone I don't often get to do things like that, especially since the metro stops running at 11.30pm so we walked back to the hostel, about half an hour so not a long walk but not something I could do alone! So going out for a glass of wine was a highlight of the day - along with everything else I did.
Wednesday I woke up early despite the late-ish night out and I headed to the Vatican to get my Pope on... Although actually I didn't see the Pope. I might have been able to, Wednesday at 10 he does his audience with the public but you're supposed to book in advance (short queue) or else wait until they know how many spare seats there are (really long queue). I didn't realise at the time but I probably could have caught a glimpse by walking to the end of the piazza where there's a wide open bit. Couldn't have gotten in or close since the Swiss guards who protect him are everywhere, but I'd at least have seen the blur of a big hat. Instead I went to the Museum, that was exciting. Really cool, quite the museum! They've set up a clever one-way system of seeing stuff where you can either skip straight to the big stuff (Sistine Chapel) or meander through the different rooms of exhibitions. I meandered of course, how else would I have seen Laocoon and His Sons? It's such an impressive statue, and you can definitely see the inspiration to Bernini and others. I'll be honest, I sort of ignored the map room and the tapestry room - sometimes you find there's just too much to see and have to prioritise! I saw the Stanze of Raphael and had my picture taken in front of the School of Athens (well, part of it, crowds wouldn't allow for me with all the cool guys, but I got Plato and Aristotle so that'll do.) His paintings are truly amazing, I eavesdropped on a tour group and found out that the first (less impressive) room had been done by his students, then walked around to be amazed by the Deliverance of Saint Peter which is really beautiful. And St Peter has the face of the Pope! Not the new Pope of course, the Pope of the time.
So then through the Borgia Apartments which is all modern religious art where I got mad at all the people who ignored Rodin's The Thinker, just because you came to see Raphael and Michelangelo doesn't mean you can't show some respect... Then I proceeded to glance carelessly at almost everything else in the rooms because I couldn't take it all in.
The Sistine Chapel was very impressive, but also smaller than I expected and the Creation is way more complex than implied by that God touching Adam clip that you always see. I spent a long time wandering around the room (slowly pushing through crowds of people, for a smallish room they sure do push it full) and wondering why God wasn't offended by Adam's complete nudity, but my shoulders would have been too much for him. Wait, that sounds way too flippant - the paintings, skill and scale are awe-inspiring and impressive. I think part of the problem is that I personally find that kind of set up overwhelming, there is just too much too look at. I do better when I can just look one on one with a painting in a frame because I know the boundaries of the painting and can really develop an opinion. I think to really appreciate the Sistine Chapel I would have needed a few hours, a guide book and no crowds. Instead I had about half an hour before I couldn't take in any more and before the endless push of people drove me out, so while it was an experience I wouldn't trade, I will continue my Sistine experience with a good library book when I get home!
After that there isn't much museum, I stopped in to the Carriage Pavilion to see the ridiculously ornate methods of transport which the various heads of the church have had over the centuries before leaving the museum for the basilica. St Peter's Basilica is beautiful, another overwhelming building, and full of amazing architecture and sculpture. I have to say I was blown away my Michelangelo's Pieta. It is right by one of the entrances but I went in the other door so it was one of the last things I saw and after so many impressive sculptures of saints and popes and angels it could have been a let down, except it is genius, true genius. I stood in front of it for a long time just looking at Mary's face and at the limbs and drapery. There is such a delicacy to it that is lacking from anything else I had seen in the Basilica. It's not about strength or holiness, or even piety, it's about sorrow and it inspired more emotion that the rest of the basilica put together.
Enough flowery stuff for you? After that I climbed the dome (about 500 steps all together) to look out over all of Rome - so amazing! Like being on top of the world, which I would have been if I could have climbed in 1600 years ago (you know, before it was built.) I took photos all around and then spent ages trying to figure out if the Pope lived in that pink castley looking one or the white central mansion or the greyish one with the fountain. I still don't know, but it was fun wondering if the Pope owns jeans and whether he's a boxers or briefs man.
Climbed down all those stairs and headed around the waterfront past the Castel Sant' Angelo and the Palazzo di Giustizia, across the river to the Ara Pacis, which I viewed through the window of the museum because I couldn't be bothered paying to go into another museum, I still got a pretty good look at it, very clean glass! Then up to the Piazza del Popolo which was really beautiful. I was exhausted so I sat on the steps of the fountain and read my book for a while, nice to chill out in such a setting! And then I made my way back to the hostel. I started to write this then actually but I was so completely wiped that I ended up saving it with brief notes about my day after one paragraph and going to make dinner. A couple card games and some book and it was an early night for me.
So today I slept in a bit and read a bit. I've picked up Dante's Divine Comedy as my souvenir of Italy so it's fun to read an Italian book in Italy. Now I'm emailing you before heading out to see the Protestant Cemetery (where Goethe, Keats and Shelley are spending their decomposition) and maybe the market. And maybe lunch near Campo del Fiori because it's meant to be pretty and cheap food from carts. Mmm pizza. Also I want to eat gelatto on the Spanish Steps so that I can be like Audrey Hepburn in just one more imperceptible way! Wish me luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment