Way back in time....

Thursday 29^th May

Another big day in Rome with a trip to the Colosseum and Ancient Rome. We headed in early because we weren’t sure of the time it would take to the Colosseum. When we arrived at the metro station it was jam packed and we had to wait for 3 trains before we could get on. I couldn’t do this every day of the week. I didn’t need to hold on in the train because there was nowhere to fall to!

Again we took a guided tour to avoid the long lines and be guided to the best places to see. Unfortunately our guide this time was doing her first tour and also her English was not easy to understand so we did not get the value out of the tour that we had hoped for. It was good that we had been to Niems and Orange and seen the colosseum and theatres there as it helped us to visualise what the colosseum would have been like. Now the colosseum is really just ruins and hard to picture. Still, it is an amazing structure and incredible that so much is still standing 2000 years later. Apparently the colosseum was built by jewish prisoners and slaves.

First look at the Colossuem.

Even though entry to the Colosseum was free, each person had a ticket
and it gave a gate number for entry - just like the MCG. 

Looking down into the arena from the second level.
The floor (example at right hand end) was made of wood
and covered with sand. 

Looking along the length of the arena
- there were 2 levels below ground level
where all the gladiators and animals were housed.
It was also used for setting up the events.

From the Colosseum we then went to the Forum which was the centre of Ancient Rome. Quite incredible when walking around to see lumps of marble lying around which were part of old columns. Our tour finished at the top of Palatine hill which is one of the 7 hills of Rome.

Columns at one of the temples near the Colosseum.

Constantine's arch - and just an example of the crowds of people
 that we were dealing with everywhere.

Some of the ruins in the forum.

A temple inside the forum. 

Ancient roman road from the forum to the top of Palatine Hill.

Part of a big foot - not too sure that the big toe is an original.

Just a small sample of the tiling that covered the whole floor
of Nero's palace. The colours in the marble are just beautiful.

An open games area.
Not for chariot races but believed to be for other games. 

Circus Maximus - looks like a paddock at the moment
but I think they are restoring some of it to open up for tours.

By this time we had had enough of ancient Rome so we just had lunch and returned to the hotel for an afternoon rest and to plan our next accommodation after Rome.

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I don't think I really like Rome. It is fantastic to be able to see all the things that we heard and read about at school but I just hate the crowds of people everywhere you go. It makes it hard to absorb what you are seeing when you have to constantly fight for space to see anything. I have also found the Italian men in Rome to be very rude especially when it comes to getting on the trains.

Tired and Ripped off in Rome

Wednesday 28^th May

We decided to do the tour of the Vatican this morning because the crowds would be less due to everyone being at the Pope’s blessing in St Peters square. Well if everyone was in the square, then where did all the people come from in the Vatican? We had booked a tour so didn’t have to wait in line, but inside the Vatican the crowds were just unreal. According to our tour guide there has been a resurgence of interest in the church under the new Pope and crowds have been huge since he was appointed. She said they would expect to see 100,000 people in the square this morning!

The entrance to the Vatican with the Vatican coat of arms
- Michelangelo on the left and Raphael on the right.

Our first view of St Peter's Basilica

 We are glad we did the tour with a guide as she took us to see the main items in the museum. On our own it might have taken forever and we would probably miss something. The statues and tapestries were just stunning and we really enjoyed Raphael’s rooms and the gallery of maps – just incredible works of art. The frescoes on the walls and ceilings throughout many rooms in the museum were just beautiful. Far too many to take pictures of. Also some of the floors had wonderful mosaics in them.

Apollo

Laocoon and his two sons - Laocoon was a man who said
'beware of Greeks bearing gifts' relating to the Trojan horse.
He was thought to be a prophet and he and his sons were executed
- they should have listened. The rest is history.

Just some of the fresco work on the ceilings.

This gilded bronze statue of Heracles was found in 1864
beneath the courtyard of the Palazzo Pio Righetti.
It was lying horizontally in a trench and covered by a slab of travertine.
The statue had been struck by lightning and, following the Roman custom,
had been granted a ritual burial.
The statue is dated to between the end of the 1^st
and the beginning of the 3^rdcentury A.D.

Just one of the floor mosaics.

A section of one of the 16th century tapestries.
How many people, how many years?

One of the maps in the map room
- commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII

Looking the length of the map gallery.

One of Raphael's frescoes.

The ceiling in one of Raphael's rooms.

This figure (appears in Raphael's large painting above)
 is Michelangelo writing poetry.

And the fellow in the black hat is Raphael himself
- apparently they were not allowed to sign their art works
and this was their way of doing so.

Beautiful marble top on this table
 - looks like Dahlia quilt pattern. 

OF course the final piece de resistance in the Vatican is the Sistine Chapel. It was standing room only in the chapel – packed in like sardines. By the time we got here we were desperate to sit down but there were no seats and they were trying to move people through as quickly as possible. No photos were allowed in here so you just had to stand and try to absorb it all. It really is an amazing piece of work and incredible to think of the actual execution of the paintings.

We finally left the museum and headed directly for lunch. Tired and desperate to sit down we made the mistake of heading for the nearest restaurant and ordering food without looking at the menu and therefore not aware of the cost. Ripped off mightily – and it wasn't even nice!

 

Waiting in line for tickets to the museum.

Yet another flavour of Italian uniform - he saluted someone
who drove through is a car so must be something official,
 not just dress-ups.

We finally visited St Peters square (which is not square) and looked at the lines of people waiting to go into the Basilica. We had already decided not to go in so we saved ourselves a very long wait. By now we were both totally worn out so we headed back to the hotel on very crowded metro trains. I have decided that Italian men are very rude when it comes to the metro – they are the first to push their way on to the trains and will grab any vacant seats – no notion of giving up seats for the old ladies.

St Peters square - looks empty but that is because
they are all in a queue  that goes right around the square waiting to go to the Basilica
- you can see them behind Rob in the photo below.

Just some of the crowd of people in the area.
Along this road there were many Africans selling handbags,
scarves, sunglasses, etc. etc.
Again it was amazing to see the road clear when there was sight of the police.

Rome - the free stuff!

Tuesday 27^th May

We have finally worked our way to Rome and did not find the drive to be as bad as we were expecting. We are staying on the outskirts of Rome and the road from San Gemini brought us almost directly here. We arrived around lunchtime, parked the car, and hope not to take it out until we leave Rome at the weekend.

 

Just one of the small villages we passed on the drive to Rome.

This afternoon we headed into Rome via the bus, train and metro and first went to the Spanish Steps. We couldn’t believe the crowds of people there – I hate to think how this will all be in a few weeks. We climbed to the top of the steps – and watched the African guys selling glasses, handbags, balls, etc pick up their stuff and run when the police arrived. It is amazing to see and feel the smoothness of the steps as they have been worn by so many feet over the centuries – in some places they were quite slippery.

 

The crowds of people in Rome - and it's not even summer.

And if you can see through the people,
this is the Spanish Steps..

A well educated dog visiting the Spanish Steps.

Looking back down the steps.

From there we followed along with the tour groups to view the Trevi Fountain where I got my bum wet sitting on the edge of the fountain and making a wish. Not sure if mine will come true because I didn’t give it the solemnity that the guy next to me did, but I did make a wish. I couldn’t find any reference to the money value that was required for the wish to come true, so I threw big money just in case. The crowds at the Trevi fountain were also huge – it was hard to get the photos you wanted without extra heads in them.

 

And the people that weren't at the steps
were here at the Trevi Fountain.

I threw big money in the hope that
it would make a difference.

After that we wandered along and saw the Tempio Adriano, Pantheon and Piazza Navona with a short break for gelati. These are all places I had heard of and never thought I would get to see. It is incredible to think that these places/buildings have been here for so many years.

This guy was supposedly suspended in the air just holding
on to the upright post. I don't think so!! If there was no trick involved
then why did he have to get on and off his perch under the cover of a big curtain.
You've got to get up a lot earlier to fool me.

The Tempio Adriano

The Pantheon

Inside the basilica that is the Pantheon.

More Italian uniforms
- we are not too sure what these guys were guarding.

Not a striking column until you get up close and look at the detail.
See below. It probably tells a story of a battle won
- I will need to do some googling ro see what I can find.

We took the alternative route back to the hotel after stopping for dinner in town – the hotel we are staying at does not seem to have many restaurants around it so we hope to eat each night before heading back to the hotel.

Turn on the water!

Monday 26^th May

Today we took a drive to the town of Spoleto. We didn’t have a lot of information about Spoleto but we had heard of it so decided to visit. The road we had planned to take over the mountains was closed (or at least that is what we interpreted from the signs) so we had to go the long way around through the town of Terni. The road to Spoleto winds up through the hills, one lane each way and double lines most of the way, so the journey can be slow. Not so for the Italians – what do double lines mean? They mean move into the bike lane you slow car so I can go past. There are some really desperate drivers here. It goes against the grain to pass over double lines but we found ourselves doing the ‘while in Rome….’ thing.

Spoleto revealed itself – again at the top of a hill, and on top of the hill was a castle. We visited the castle from where you had a great view of the old aqueduct and over the whole town, which is much bigger than just the historic centre. To get to the castle from the car parking there is a series of escalators – at least 8 I think and each about 2 stories – and then the last part of the trip up is in a lift which is at least 3 or 4 floors. A long way up! We struck out with the museum at the castle because it is closed on Mondays.

The castle (la Rocca) at Spoleto.

View across to one of the churches at Spoleto.

The old Roman aqueduct. The height of this thing
above the valley was quite incredible
and to think that this is all built with man power. 

The courtyard of the castle, and the six sided well
which was quite unusual.

The upstairs gallery of the courtyard with a lot of frescoes.
This castle saw a time as a prison in the 1800s
and during this time a lot of the original work was destroyed.

Where might this little door go to?

Aha!!

From the castle the view to the north was quite surprising. We had come in from the south via a twisting uphill road through forested country, but to the north was a huge wide open valley as far as the eye could see.

 

View over Spoleto and the valley to the north.

A lovely view of the Umbrian countryside.

Our next visit was to the Cascata della Marmore (waterfall). I did joke that maybe it was closed on Mondays too - this was not quite the case, but the waterfall is on the hydro dam and they only open the gates twice a day for an hour each time, and we weren’t there at the right time – so waterfall closed!  We did get to go back later in the day when the gates were open so we did see the waterfall at full power.

 

The waterfall once the gates are open.

These artists are all trying to paint the waterfall
 - hope they are quick because it is only full-on
 for one hour.

Today was supposed to be washing day but the Laundromats we were told about in the town of Terni were either closed or no longer there so no washing. Tomorrow we need to find a Laundromat – or somewhere to buy new undies!

More about our B&B - they have 2 dogs, both german shepherds and quite old; at least 17 cats and kittens (they need a vet in the family!) and ducks. The cats are experts in sneaking in when the door is open and while standing outside today I saw the kitchen window open, cat come flying out, and then again. Fausto, the owner, was a lovely friendly man with a good smattering of English so we were able to have conversation with him and his daughter Marta. We enjoyed our stay here though the only issue was there weren't really many choices for dinner. 

Our B&B at San Gemini