Italy - Rome

Our next adventures began with an overnight ship, Grimaldi Lines, to Rome(Civitavecchia). The boys were pretty excited, they hadn't slept on a ship before. I think they were imagining a 'fancy' cruise ship, but there was nothing too luxurious about this ship! It didn't really matter, it was only a 21:30 hr crossing and another experience.

We seated ourselves at the rather odd pool bar, containing a miserable looking drained pool and a lot of loudly spoken truckies. Pizza here was a sorry excuse, especially since we were bound for Italy.

Meal options were disastrous.

5 star not, but all good anyway.

Gadgets are go on the boat too.

We gave up the additional bed in a shared room, a rather unattractive option, and all squashed in to our 4-berth cabin for the night.Chris and Lachlan topped and tailed in short beds with Lachlan's bandaged foot well protected. Poor Chris was a bit bleary eyed in the morning. I was highly surprised that I actually slept.


The next day we thought it was a good opportunity to use the ship's medic to change Lachlan's dressing. The medic was a very gentle man who was so surprised by the extent of the injury he felt he couldn't possibly redress it without anesthetic which was unavailable. It would have to wait till Rome.

Off to a bad start we arrived three hours late into Civitavecchia (9:45pm). An additional hour long drive into Rome went quite wrong as we drove off on a few tangents on the way. I got a call from the apartment owner on route, sounding a little annoyed, who suggested rather than finding a carpark building we drive to the front door of the apartment to unload and then park our car. Great we thought, much easier, especially with an immobilized Lachlan. Strangely he didn't mention that the apartment was in a restricted entry area and that we couldn't drive in without getting a nasty fine. We made a double circuit in the most horrendous erratic traffic jam before confirming that this was the case, we were highly confused ,tired and stressed. Even at midnight three lanes of Roman-style traffic were at a standstill, all trying to squeeze into a city that obviously had no space left. The owner rang again and asked me to pull over at a suggested spot and he would come and find us. He seemed a little annoyed when I tried to explain that we couldn't pull over, there was no where to stop. On the other side of the river we eventually stopped and agreed to meet "Under the angel on the bridge". Not realizing that there were two bridges side by side with "Angels" , I then stood under the wrong one not understanding why things were still going wrong. "How can you not know the Bridge of Angels?" the host said to me when we finally meet. "Well I am under an Angel" I said, pointing to the one above me. Even after discussions at 1am in the morning standing on a bridge, he was still adamant that we could drive to the front door. Not long after as we sat in the car stopped by the flashing 'no entry' sign, he admitted he was wrong. He still seemed annoyed, the feeling was mutual.

On top of it all the carpark was located a 20min walk from the apartment so we illegally unloaded on a footpath corner and then carried luggage and Lachlan to the apartment and it's three flights of stairs. After the final car park drop it was around 2am - what a disastrous arrival!

Anyway, the next morning all was better and it was mother's day. We were in Rome, a most incredible city, with 16% of the world's cultural treasures how can you even begin to describe it?

Chris came back from a morning 'food' search highly enthused and excited.

Then we all followed suit. Lunch was great at Mimi E Coco , just around the corner from Piazza Navona. We got into our first delights of amazing Italian food, the beginning of eating excess.

http://www.mimiecoco.com/en/index.html

Around the corner at Piazza Navona, Chris took a break from carrying Lachlan with a seat on the side of the 'Fountain of Moor'. There is a lot to be said about this buzzing city space. It started it's life around 2000 years ago as a sports venue for 30,000 spectators (Stadium of Domitian) , but is now a favourite meeting place for locals, artists and street performers. The main attraction is the three fountains filled with masterpieces.Its grand masterpiece being Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, a personified representation of the rivers Nile, Ganges, Danube and Plate.

Fountain of the Moor designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1576.
Bernini added the Moor holding a dolphin in the mid 17th century.

Fountain of the four Rivers with Egyptian obelisk, in the middle.

Probably the most memorable monument from my trip to Rome some 16 years ago was the Pantheon.
I remember it tucked away down a side street, it had an almost undiscovered feel to it. We were one of only a handful of people inside. The atmosphere inside memorably unique, revoking ancient glory and architectural magnificence. It was a little surprising to come again to the Pantheon and find it full to bursting with tourists. I guess this is how much tourism has changed in the last 16 years.

The Pantheon is now a christian church and one of the city's important burial places. Raphael and two of Italy's 19th century Kings are buried here. But the Pantheon started it's life as a temple to the classical gods some 2000 years ago, built by Emperor Hadrian over Marcus Agrippa's earlier 27 BC temple.

Considered to be the ancient Roman's greatest architectural acheivement, it's greatest fascinations lie in the massive dimensions of it's dome and it's remarkable mathematical unity. Thanks to it's consecration in 608AD it was spared the worst of the medieval plundering and remains the best preserved of Rome's ancient monuments. It is one of the most influential buildings of the western world.

The Pantheon, a pagan temple, a Tomb and a Christian Church.
Built over Marcus Agrippa's earlier 27 BC temple, the pediment is from Agrippa's original inscription. 

Roman obsession with symmetry and space, a sphere within a cylinder - one of Archimedes' mathematical discoveries.

As I gazed up at the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, it's secrets still unknown, I recall drawing it from picture books at architecture school. Considered by some to be the world's only architecturally perfect building, it was an architectural lesson on the usage of simple mathematical balance to achieve perfect classical proportion. You can feel the remarkable harmony of the building as you stand inside, the diameter of the dome exactly equal to the interior height of the building. The overall design of the Pantheon utilises one of Archimede's greatest mathematical discoveries, the sphere within the cylinder , the 2:3 relationship between the volume of a sphere and cylinder.

The 8.7m diameter oculus at the centre, the "all-seeing eye of heaven", was the only source of light and also functioned to redistribute the dome's tensile forces. Rainwater which enters can be drained away through the 22 holes in the sloping marble floor.

One-footed Lachlan, while Chris takes the photo shot.

Heavenly symmetry: Five levels of trapezoidal coffers, the course of the five then-known planets.
The thirty foot oculus, the sun, a symbolic connection with the gods. Twenty eight coffers to each row, the number of lunar cycles.

16 Corinthian Columns support the triangular pediment.

The outside looks it's age, grey and scarred.

Piazza Navona, early evening art stalls.

A little exploring on my own retraced my steps past the Piazza Navona and over the spectacular pedestrian travertine marble 'Ponte Sant'Angelo' or the "Bridge of Angels" lined with ten angel sculptures designed by Bernini. The bridge was originally built by Hadrian to connect his mausoleum (Castel Sant'Angelo) to the centre of Rome. For hundreds of years it was used as a passageway over the Tiber river for Christian pilgrims to St Peters. During the 16th century it was used to display bodies of those executed as a warning.

The angels all hold a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ. Replicas now replace the two statues originally created by Bernini himself, they were deemed too beautiful to be kept outside by the pope and are now housed within a museum by the Spanish steps. The angel standing sword drawn at the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo, is that of archangel Michael, who legend says was said to have been seen here, signifying the end of the 590 A.D plague. This is the origin of the 7th century AD name, Sant'Angelo.

I woke to my birthday. Yippee a birthday in Rome, not bad at all! Chris prepared a second breakfast in a row, for once mother's day and my birthday weren't the same day.


We had done a bit of research on where to go to get Lachlan's bandage changed. Chris had run to a couple of hospitals the day earlier, both proving useless. It seemed that unless you were an absolute emergency no one will deal with you. My travel insurance company tried to offer recommendations but they involved overnight stays in 5 star hospitals, not really what was needed. Eventually we found a GP in central Rome who was happy to help. So our day was planned with this appointment in mind.

Chris and I took a quick early morning trip to get some provisions and were surprised that we managed to get so lost. I think we thought our navigating skills were reasonably decent after our navigational adventures in Morocco, but sadly no.

After returning sheepishly late to our children we set off , Lachlan's carrying being alternated between all parts of Chris's body. I could only carry him for tiny durations, he had got really heavy and I had got really weak.

Trajan's column, built in 113A.D. to celebrate the two successful wars waged by emperor Trajan.
The 2500 figures carved into the column tell the story of Rome's victory over the Dacians(now Romania).

We excitedly reached the Trevi fountain to be disappointed that it was undergoing major restoration work. Nevertheless, they were not going to miss out on the 3000 euro's per day of revenue from coins thrown in. It does have a good cause, food and clothes for the needy. A temporary platform had been erected, which looked pretty ridiculous to me, but even so we did it, we threw a coin with our right hands over our left shoulders - it is thought that it will bring us back to Rome. The fountain is at the junction of three roads and at the end of an aqueduct constructed in 19BC by Agrippa. The aqueduct brings water from 21kms away supplying the historic centre fountains.

Jarvis, keen to return to Rome.

After a rather startling visit to the doctors, Lachlan's grasp of foul language once again amazing me, we headed for an ice-cream stop across the lane. I tried my first coffee granita which wasn't shy on flavour, actually pure frozen expresso, too much for both Chris and I.
Not keen to pay the extra six euros per head to sit down we walked around the corner to the glitzy Plaza Spana. Here we with our ice creams squeezed onto a spot at the bottom of the famous Spanish Steps. It wasn't until after the event that I noticed the no eating signs, an attempt to keep them clean. The widest staircase in Europe, the Spanish steps were built with French money 300 years ago. From time to time thieves and confused tourists have been known to use the 138 marble steps as a road. While obviously very popular with tourists this place of congregation wasn't a place I wanted to spend too much time at, a little squashed.

At the bottom of the Spanish steps the boys filled their bottles from the boat shaped fresh drinking water fountain, Fontana della Barcaccia, spouting water as it sinks. Supposedly it marks the spot where a large barge came to rest when the Tiber overflowed its banks in 1598. In reality the sinking boat was invented by Bernini to overcome the technical issue of low water pressure.

Fontana della Barcaccia in the Piazza di Spagna.

Opposite the spanish stairs, the via dei Condotti , 
one of the richest streets in Italy. Out of my league.

I took a walk down Via del Corso myself, a main street in Rome remarkable for it's straightness in a very meandering lane city.
It was quite nice to be able to pop into a few stores without groans from the boys. But mostly I just looked and observed a unusually large number of beautiful young women, many seen fare la bella figura, ("cutting a beautiful figure"). There was a certain energy felt too, you could observe the youth literally clapping and gigging to their own rythmns as they wandered along. There was no self-conciousness here, fashion was stylish, tight and revealing.

Back at the apartment I delighted in the tiramisu birthday cake alternative that the boys had sourced for me. The joy of eating exactly what you want!

Over the bridge of Angels again, this time with Ollie and Jarvis.  We were on the way to the Vatican, not capable of carrying Lachlan for the day, he happily stayed at the apartment with Chris.

Castel Sant'Angel, Hadrian's mausoleum , a hiding place for Popes, and a novel scene (Dan Brown used the Castel Sant’Angelo in his novel Angels and Demons).

The amazing vatican city holds two world records, firstly the Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world in both size and population(800). Secondly St Peter's Basiilica is one of the world's two largest churches, holding 60,000 people. Neither of these records amazed the boys!

There has been a church on the site of St Peter's since the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. The present basilica was constructed between 18 april 1506 - 18 nov 1626, it replaced the old 4th century A.D St Peter's basilica  There is strong historical evidence that the tomb of St Peter, the chief apostle, is directly below the high alter of the Basilica. 

On arrival the queue snaking around the outside of St Peters looked pretty uninviting. Odds were I thought, that those for the Sistine chapel would be worse. An easy decision was made, resist any of my desires to revisit the Sistine chapel and appease the boys by making this visit reasonably short and to the point.

Around 4.5 million visit the Sistine chapel each year but this time it wasn't going to be us. The joys of seeing Michelangelo's works, in particular the "Creation of Adam", would live another day for the boys, maybe when they are a little interested.

So we stood in St Peter's Square in a very long line looking across at the pope's balcony for quite a long time.
We had plenty of time to observe Bernini's famous elliptical shaped square. Bordered on two sides with semi-circular colonnades, it is said to  symbolize the stretched arms of the church embracing the world. The colonnades of 1660 are topped with 140 statues created by Bernini and his students. 
Once we reached the outside security scanners the boys started asking some questions, I think they realised that this was something significant. Fortunately we followed the rules, no shorts or singlet tops. I watched those in front of us being turned away for inappropriate clothing at the final door after 40 minutes in the queue, I was surprised they didn't take the multitude of warning signs seriously.

Standing in line. St Peter's Square.

Inside was just as breathtaking as I remembered it, it really was quite overwhelming, massive in scale, it's opulence testimony to the wealth of the catholic church in the 16th and 17th centuries.

We were drawn through the nave to 26m high Baldacchino , placed in the most holy spot in the church, above St Peter's tomb. This is one of Bernini's main creations inside, a baroque masterpiece made of bronze taken from the Pantheon. This was Bernin's solution to slimming the proportions of the enormous main body designed by Maderno and raising the gaze to Michelangelo's majestic dome above.

Bernini's baldachin.

Of course we all looked up at Michelangelo's majestic dome above. The 42.34 m diametered dome was supported on four massive pillars. On top of the pillars rested a cylindrical drum - with sixteen large rectangular windows - that supported the colourful ribbed vault. The 16 ribs met at the oculus on which an enormous lantern was placed.

We didn't muck around and after a quick once around we headed for the climb up to the dome and the roof for those breathtaking views. For Ollie and Jarvis this was the best, well probably the only good bit. They dashed up the stairs with a crazy amount of energy leaving me in the dust. I joined them some time later on the roof.

At the foot of the dome we had a bird's eye view of the interior of the church, from the outside we got a better view of the dome's exterior. From here we climbed the spiraling narrow stairs, situated between the inner and outer walls of the dome, to the top of the dome , just at the base of the lantern. Here we were rewarded with a wonderful view over the city.

Slanted walls inbetween the inner and outer domes.

Love Locks on the 'Ponte Sant'Angelo'.

La Gelateria Frigidarium

Feeling a little sorry for Lachlan, Chris and I took him out for an early evening gelato. I had taken note of where the locals had queued on a previous meander, it proved to be for a reason. It was amazing. Gelato has less fat and less air than ice-cream, making the flavour more intense than ice-cream. It is also served semi-frozen so that it is softer than ice-cream.

Three euros for three flavours of the best gelato we had in Rome. Lachlans as normal included limone nella coppa(lemon in a cup).

It was interesting to observe the evening passeggiata ("little walk"). Around 5-7pm much of the city puts on their best clothes and walk to see and be seen.

Piazza Campo dei Fiori.

Chris went of for a morning run and on his return I headed for the Piazza Campo dei Fiori. I can't quite say I'd agree with the description 'jewel of Rome'. It was rather touristy and certainly overpriced, but still I enjoyed the ambiance as I always do at markets. At the centre of the square stood a statue of the philosopher and monk Giordano Bruno who was accused of being a heretic and burned alive here in 1600. The bustling marketplace I experienced during the morning disppears by the early afternoon when it is transformed into a nightlife centre. 

Bundled into an overpacked taxi we took a rather thrill seeking taxi trip to the Coloessum . "Who needs rollercoasters?", Ollie and I commented to each other as we darted through narrow streets narrowly avoiding cafe table legs. Stopped by the police at a checkpoint I was sure that we were in for trouble, our driver looked relieved as we were ushered on.

Last on our sightseeing list, the Colosseum is probably one of the most impressive buildings of the Roman Empire. It is considered to be one of the New 7 Wonders of the World(2000-2007). Even though it is a ruin it still dominates the space it occupies. It is a symbol of Roman architectural ingenuity and it's domination.

The hypogeum (underground) remains: Chambers and tunnels below the ground for gladiators, slaves and animals. 

Cages containing wild animals could be hoisted by mechanical devices to appear in the middle of the arena.

The Colosseum was started by Emperor Vespasian in 72 A.D and completed by Titus one year after Vespasian's death in 80 A.D. In its inauguration approximately 9000 wild animals were slaughtered.

It was originally an immense elipitical building measuring 188m x 156m x 48m high, even so it was too small for the movie Gladiator. It was clad in marble which was later used for the construction of St Peter's Basilica and Palazzo Farnese.

One of the 80 entrances.

We were pleased it wasn't too hot as there was little reprieve from the sun, but originally it was covered by an awning, the velarium. 

We needed a final bandage change before we left Rome, but first another ice-cream stop. Running short of time Chris dashed off up the street with Lachlan to the doctors while I waited for Ollie and Jarvis to finish devouring their ice-creams. They struggled.

It got the better of Ollie.

Not long after I was dashing down the street too, not quite believing my ears. I could hear Lachlan cursing and screaming from a long way away. I arrived feeling rather torn between embarrassment and concern. All was seemingly under control, the doctors almost looked a little amused by Lachlan's mouth, they certainly weren't shaken by it.