Roma

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Cari amici e la famiglia,

We completed all we could do of the Cinque Terre walks as the track from Corniglia to Manarola was closed. We took the train all the way to Monterosso del Mare and felt as if we were in a different town to the day before. The sun was shining, the umbrellas were up and people sunbaked or swam in the sea. I was tempted to pay for a little change room and sunbed on the beach with its own umbrella. The umbrellas all looked brand new for the season.

After buying a gelato we started the walk. It was only three kilometers but took an hour and a half. There were a lot of steep steps going up out of the town and the sun was shining hotly. We were very pleased to reach Vernazza and sit down in a pleasant little café called Trattoria del Sandro. I had vegetable pie, a local specialty while John had octopus and potato salad. He said it was very tender. We were amazed at the throngs of people flowing through the village, from trains, ferries and walking tracks but then it was a Public Holiday (Republica Day).

We headed off again on the Vernazza to Corniglia track. This was supposed to be longer at 4 kilometres but the time taken was the same – one and a half hours. It started to rain at one stage but was a welcome relief from the heat. We sheltered under a tree until the big drops stopped. Corniglia had cars, motorbikes and buses parked in a piazza as we arrived. The piazza led to a narrow street where we bought a lemon gelato with Ligurian honey drizzled over it (a local specialty). The narrow passageway wound its way to another piazza where a number of cafes had large umbrellas covering most of the area. At the back was an ancient church (C14) with a paved area beside it with children playing the inevitable soccer game. The road continued to a look out over the sea where telescopes could be used to view the other villages in the distance. This wasn’t the way to the train station so we walked back all the way to a set of 382 shallow steps which curved and turned all the way down to the train station. We were glad we were going downhill and that this was almost the end of the journey. Back at Riomaggiore we walked up our 300 metre hill and decided it wasn’t so bad.

For dinner we tried Le Grotto. Our main course was spaghetti with fresh anchovies and herbs (delicious). For dessert we had strawberries, home made gelato and cranberry sauce (with a bit of chocolate). A vino rosso and some aqua (gas) and the bill was E50 with tip. On the way back we passed a brass band warming up outside a church (or was it an oratory?) We didn’t stop to hear them play but as we lay in bed later we could hear the music. People talked loudly until late in the night and as our room was right beside the footpath it felt like they were in the room with us.

Friday, June 3, 2010

The train left Riomaggiore at 8.37 which would get us to La Spezia early so we could buy some lunch for the journey, walk down to the main piazza, check out a market and buy some pane with prosciutto and formaggio. Away from the station it was a very attractive town.

Arriving in Roma we carried our backpacks to the Welrome where we were taken to our new room by Mary. It is called Colosseo and is larger than the Trevi and has a small balcony overlooking an unloved garden.

After a shower and short rest we headed off to revisit the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Our hotel from 1998, The Tritone, was still there near the Trevi but I found it had become too expensive when I tried to book this time. We decided to try a pizza restaurant called Ciro recommended by Mary and Carlos. We ordered one pizza with six different toppings and a salad.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Today was such a huge day. We walked so much we developed “Golfer’s Vasculitus Heat Leg Rash”.

After eating our croissant and fruit juice we headed off on a walking tour to the Vatican. The temperature was rising as we arrived at Campo di Fiori which was completely filled with a market selling fruit and vegetables as well as flowers, clothes etc. As we had only had a light breakfast we ordered a prosciutto and formaggio sandwich and two iced coffees. As we wandered around we bought a container of papaya. At the next stall they were selling fruit salads so we bought one of those too.

It took a while to find the meeting spot for our Vatican Tour. Anna, our tour guide, was actually from Boston - she had studied abroad in Italy (Art History Major), returned to the US to graduate, and then went back to Rome to live. She was excellent, informative and funny as well. We all had headphones and Anna spoke into a mike. The noise in the Vatican was loud so it was the only sensible way to do it.

The tour was so comprehensive I don’t know where to start but I was so glad we did it and so was John. The early popes started collecting “rubbish” from excavations for new buildings etc and all these prizes pieces of Roman history have been kept. We learnt a lot about Michaelangelo and Raphael and it was all entertaining and interesting. It was fantastic to actually get to see the Sistine Chapel after missing out last time.

Afterwards we started walking for home which took well over an hour. Just near Piazza del Poppolo we came to a wine bar where we ordered a beer for John and a proscetto for me. No sparkling wine has ever tasted so good. It deadened the pain in my legs enough to get me back to the hotel. After a shower and a short rest we dressed and walked the short distance to Ristorante da Giovanni, a restaurant below ground level lined with timber and opened in 1948. It specializes in meat dishes and so we had the first meat since we left Australia. I had pork and John had veal. It was simply cooked but very tasty. It reminded me of the Greasy Spoon in Wollongong in the 1970s.

Back at the hotel Carlos loaned us two books on Art of the Vatican which he happily discussed until he had to attend to someone else.

Next day we planned to explore the Colosseum, the Forum and if we had time the Palatine Museums. I had bought a ticket online for the three and asked Carlos to print it out. We were so pleased we had it as the queue for the Colosseum had hundreds of people in it. We just walked straight through and had our tickets checked. I had downloaded audio guides from iTunes (Rick Steve) for the Colosseum and the Forum. John had his iPod and I used my iPhone both with the headphones and we were very pleased with the result. Even though we had an excellent guide yesterday it was nice to go at our own pace today. Again I stood there and thought I’ve finally made it to the Colosseum and the audio guide brought it all to life. It was John's first visit since 1968.

After some searching we found the entrance to the Forum and again found the audio tour really helpful. We decided against the Palatine Museums even though I wanted to see the giant toe. The two stop train ride from Termini to Colosseo was like travelling in a hot sardine tin so we elected to walk back. I think the Hop on Hop Off bus would have saved us a lot of pain and time.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Citivecchia on the train to board our ship so a new adventure awaits.

Addio fino a quando ci incontreremo di nuovo in mare

Linda and John

PS: John says he learnt that the Vatican has an extensive collection of pornography, that one Pope had 15 children but there is officially zero birth rate in the Vatican! He also found that Holy Water comes out of a tap and it is potable. The Pope appears from his bedroom window on Sunday morning so can leave his PJ bottoms on. All the gold on display is real gold and came from the Holy Roman Empire. One Pope ordered that all penises on sculptures were to be covered with fig leaves but grew impatient and knocked the remaining ones off with a hammer. Somewhere in the archives is a box full of stone penises. In 300 AD if you were a Christian you were put to death (usually by crucifiction). In 400 AD you were put to death if you weren't a Christian (usually by burning at the stake). St Peter was crucified upside down at his own request and had his feet chopped off. The patron saint of chefs was burned at the stake. A Pope had to beg Attila the Hun for mercy at the end of the Roman Empire which lasted a 1000 years. Michaelangelo mooned the Pope (in a painting). John is collecting many little anecdotes for the folks back home.

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