Rome, If You Want To

All right my readers, please make sure you are comfortably seated and have some time on your hands-- because this one's going to be a long one.

Rome.

My expectations of Rome were pretty high. Preliminary reading indicated that there would be a ton of sights for us to see-- and indeed, there were.

We started our first morning in Rome by testing out the Metro system. We hopped on at the station a few minutes walk from our hotel, made a quick transfer onto a secondary line, and emerged at the Colosseum about 15 minutes later.

A view of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum, aka, the Flavian Amphitheatre is an impressive structure. Construction began in 70 AD (completed in 80 AD), resulting in the largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. Considering the size and time it was built, it is one of the greatest feats of Roman architecture and engineering.

The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 - 80,000 spectators, and it is said that via a vomitorium (i.e. a passage situated below the tiers of seating), the large crowds could exit the structure within 15 minutes. The latin word vomitorium can be simplified to, "to spew forth," giving us our present day word, vomit.

Gladiatorial fights ended sometime around 435 AD, and in the 6th century a church was built in the center of the arena. In 1349 AD, the Colosseum was greatly damaged by a large earthquake, causing the south side to collapse. A religious ordered inhabited the building from mid-14th century until the early 19th century. Since then, the structure has been restored and repaired, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome today.

Tom and I outside the Colosseum.

Our next stop (literally across the street) was the Roman Forum. At one time, this would have been the center of the city of Rome-- home to government buildings, religious temples and a bustling marketplace. It is known that Julius Caesar was murdered in the Roman Forum in 44 AD. In the 8th century, much of the forum was torn down and dismantled, and in the 13th century it became mostly buried as a dumping ground. Archaeological interest and excavation began in 1803, but full excavation occurred in the early 20th century. 

A view of the Roman Forum.

Later that night, we Tom and I were startled awake by one of the loudest claps of thunder we have ever heard. It rained intermittently through the night. That morning, we headed to the Vatican, and foolishly brought no rain jackets or umbrellas with us. We joined the line to enter St. Peter's Basilica, and the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. Tom and I were COMPLETELY soaked.

Tom standing in the rain.

So instead of standing in line in the open, we headed to the Vatican Museum. Our guide book states that the Vatican Museum contains 4 miles (6.2km) of displays and artifacts-- ending in the Sistine Chapel. I don't think we made it through all of the displays, but we spent nearly 3.5 hours wandering room to room. I think we were both underwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel (it seems like sacrilege to say that-- but it's true!), but we certainly enjoyed other aspects of the museum.

An intricate hallway ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

At this point, the sun was actually shining, so we got back in line for St. Peter's Basilica. As luck would have it, an older couple from the Comox area in BC were ahead of us. So we chatted with our fellow-Canadian, and the 50 minutes we spent in line passed in no time at all.

The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica.

I think it's safe to say that when it comes to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, all that glitters is gold. I have never seen a more opulent building in my life. 

After admiring the general splendor of the Basilica, we purchased tickets to hike up the 551 steps to the top of St. Peter's dome. From there, we took in views of the city.

The dome on St. Peter's Basilica.

And as the sun set, we headed back to our hotel, taking in one last backward glance at the Vatican. And what a backward glance it was! This is one of my favourite photos from our trip.

The Vatican - my favourite photo from our trip.

For our final day in Rome, we planned a route through the city so we could take in some of the remaining major sites. First we visited the Trevi Fountain, which was crawling with hundreds of tourists.

  

The Trevi Fountain.

Next we moved on to Pantheon. The Pantheon was a building commissioned as a temple consecrated to all gods. The spherical dome was the first of its kind, built of cement around 30 BC.

The Pantheon.

The open-topped dome of the Pantheon.

Our last stop of the day was at Castel Sant'Angelo, an Italian castle that has served as a prison, a hideout, and now a museum. Our walk to the castle was along the Tiber River, which had risen significantly since our first day in town. When we had arrived in Rome three days before, there was a pedestrian walkway along the banks of the river. As you can see in the picture below, the walkway and the trees that lined it were submerged in water.

 

The Tiber River, rising.

From the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo, we watched the somewhat unnerving sight of flocks of starlings flying around the treetops. Starlings are only in Rome during the fall and winter months. There are thousands upon thousands of them in the sky at one time. They have in fact proven to be somewhat dangerous, when a flock was sucked into the engine of a Boeing 737-800, injuring 2 crew and 8 passengers when it crash-landed in 2008. Not sure how a flock of birds could be unnerving? Just watch.

From Rome, we picked up a rental car at the airport, and made our way to our last destination for our trip. Sorrento. Stay tuned!

But before you go, please enjoy the B-52's song, "Roam," which has been replaying in my head every since we left Rome. "Roam if you want to-- roam around the world."

The Grandeur of Florence

Florence. Firenze. I've found myself wondering multiple times on this trip-- why don't we, in Western countries, refer to cities by the same names that locals call them. To us, it's Florence, Italy. But to the locals, it's Firenze. They live in Roma, not Rome. And Venezia, not Venice.

View of the Old Bridge from Piazza Michelangelo.

We started our first full day in Florence by meeting Ben and Rups at the Piazza Michelangelo for some impressive views of the city. From up on the hill, we could get a clear view of the Old Bridge, the Duomo Cathedral and various other impressive buildings. From here, we got our first glimpse of the grandeur of Florence.

Next, we wound our way through the city to visit the Accademia, home of the Michelangelo's famous sculpture, "David." I've heard of friends who waited hours to shuffle through a line to view David. But we were able to walk into the Accademia with no line, and oggle David for as long as we pleased. I'm not actually sure if we saw the real David (apparently they often put a fake one in the museum if they are touring the real statue), but nonetheless, I was impressed by the details of the sculpture. You are not allowed to take pictures of David, so I have nothing to show. 

Our next stop was All' Antico Vinaio. The number one rated Florence restaurant on Trip Advisor. They make overflowing sandwiches of fresh meat, cheese, tomato, artichoke and anything you could imagine, on fresh focaccia.

Ben and Rups waiting in line at All'antico Vinaio.

Tom loved this place so much, we went back for lunch the following day too. And at $5 Euro ($7.50 CAD), it was one of the cheapest lunches we had!

Tom and I chowing down.

After lunch, Ben and Rups took us to their favourite gelato shop, and then we parted ways so they could catch a train back to Venice-- they were flying home the next day.

Tom and I headed to the Boboli Gardens, part of the Palazzo Pitti. We wandered around for almost two hours enjoying the expertly manicured gardens and grounds. At that point we had been on our feet for almost seven hours, so decided to call it a day. Then we tracked down a Chinese restaurant so we could have a break from non-stop consumption of pizza, pasta and panini.

Tom in the Boboli Gardens.

A fountain statue in the Boboli Gardens.

On our second full day in Florence, we finally went inside the absolutely beautiful Duomo Cathedral. Tom and I stayed at a B & B inside the heart of old town-- and could actually see the Duomo down the street from our hotel window. These pictures don't even do the Duomo justice-- this is definitely a building you need to see in person to appreciate. It is a towering structure made of white, pink and green limestone. It is beyond ornate, the carvings adorning every surface and corner are intricate and detailed.

A side view of the Duomo Cathedral.

   

A front view of the Duomo Cathedral.

It was also interesting to see that the outside facade of the Duomo is in being restored. Sections of the building are gleaming white, while large sections are still grey-- or even black, with years of built up grim and pollution.

So... With all this grandeur on the outside of the building, we imagined the inside of the building would be a sight to see. And sadly... It wasn't. The inside of the Duomo is surprisingly bare. The Pisa Cathedral was far more impressive on the inside than the Duomo in Florence. By far the most impressive part of the interior were the extensive paintings inside the dome.

Paintings on the dome in the Duomo.

Tom and I took the steps up to the top of Duomo to get another view of the city. Something I found a little sad was the amount of graffiti on the cathedral. Why people find it necessary to deface everything, I will never understand.

Graffiti on the Duomo.

Tom and I at the top of the Duomo.

We spent the rest of the day eating gelato, getting more sandwiches, and exploring the Galileo Science Museum.

On our last morning in Florence, we sat on the steps of the Duomo and watched locals hawking their crappy souvenirs to tourists. It was actually a very interesting sight to watch. You see the same souvenirs everywhere-- these blobby kids toys that squeak, wooden letters you can connect like a train, painting replicas, knock-off purses, and camera tripods. It's illegal for these people to sell their wares, so they are always carefully watching for police or carabinieri, who circulate through the piazzas on a regular basis. When the sellers see the police coming, they scoop up their stock and melt into the crowd, only to reappear moments later when the police are gone.

Then we were off to the Santa Maria Novella train station, and on our way to Rome!

No Vampires in Volterra

Leafing through our guide book, Tom found a section on the Tuscany town of Volterra, and decided that we would use our last day with our rental car to make a trip out into the country to see the scenic hill-top town. The town has a beautiful view, as well as some Roman ruins that we thought would be an interesting sight.

Conveniently enough, Tom's friends, Ben and Rupinder, were also moving through Italy on a holiday (although on a different timeline and moving in the opposite direction as us). However, our paths overlapped in Florence for two days, and they agreed that they would come on the day trip with us.

As we piled into the car after paying what surely amounts to the most expensive overnight parking bill. EVER. (over $60), we declared that we were heading to Volterra. Rupinder replied-- "the TWILIGHT Volterra?" Yes. For those of you who know how I hate-read all of the Twilight books, it all came rushing back to me. Bella hopping on a plane to Italy, driving recklessly through the Italian countryside in a quest to stop Edward from publicly revealing himself as a sparkly vampire in the sunlit main square in Volterra... Yes, you read correctly. I said SPARKLY VAMPIRE. I told you I hate-read these books, right? They were terrible.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the author of the Twlight series has never been to Volterra. There really is no main square with a fountain as she describes in the books.

Anyway, no more talk of Twilight. There are no vampires in Volterra.

The road to Volterra was long and winding, and everyone (except Ben) were feeling car sick when we pulled into a parking garage in the town. We got out, shook it off and took in the sights of the town.

Hilltop town of Volterra.

We ambled through the side streets for a few hours, passing a massive penitentiary plastered with NO PHOTOS signs.

Osage orange.

We saw some very bizarre fruits on the ground. I later googled, "green tree fruit brain", which immediately brought up similar pictures of the fruit. They are commonly referred to as Osage orange. They are not edible, and are actually full of a latex-like substance. They are a little bit bigger than a tennis ball, and they look like little green brains.

From here we continued through the town until we found the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. Apparently at one point this amphitheatre was used as the town dump. It was later excavated and reclaimed when it was identified as an archeological site. As with many things in the off season, the amphitheatre was closed to visitors, so we took pictures from around the perimeter.

Ruins of a Roman Amphitheatre.

Tom, Ben, Rupinder and I checking out the ruins.

We finished our day trip off with a visit to the local patisserie. My favorite was a flaky pastry filled with a mixture of ricotta cheese. Yum!

Next up, our two days in Florence!