Blogs from Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe - page 13

This is an adage referring to the need for time to create great things. It is the usual English translation of a medieval French phrase, “Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour”, from the collection Li Proverbe au Vilain, published around 1190. The founding of Rome goes back to the very early days of civilization. It is so old, it is today known as 'the eternal city'. It is our last day in Rome, and we met up with our friends Liz and Darrol to undertake one final tour of the Eternal City. Liz had booked four tickets for a timed tour of the famed Galleria Borghese prior to leaving Australia, and our tour commenced at 11.00am. We decided to walk to Galleria Borghese, a distance of some four kilometres. Arriving early, ... read more

We only had a short walk this morning from our apartment to visit the renowned Basilica of St Clement. It was generally believed that the present Basilica was the one to which St Jerome referred in 392 AD when he wrote that a Church in Rome preserves the memory of St Clement. In 1857, Fr Joseph Mullooly began excavating under the present Basilica, breaking through a small hole to uncover the original fourth century Basilica directly underneath, that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman. Further excavations revealed that part of the Nobleman’s home had in the 1st century, briefly served as an early Christian church. The Nobleman’s home, being only a few steps from the Colosseum in the very heart of imperial Rome, was the city mansion of Titus Flavius Clemens, ... read more

Our next major goal before getting to our wintering spot of Gaeta was to get to Rome. We had a pleasant sail from Pisa to Salivoli using that as a quick stopover. We didn’t even get out of the marina that evening, just registered with the office, got the wi-fi code and did some research on Rome as we figured we could take a day to explore. We know that isn’t even close to enough time to “do Rome” but as it appears to be easy to get to Rome from Gaeta, we will plan another trip to Rome via train. The 2nd night we made it to a lovely anchorage where we were by ourselves for the evening. It was a great evening for sitting in the cockpit and enjoying the sunset. There was an ... read more

After breakfast we walked to the subway and took the southbound train to Ancient Rome. We got off, walked thru the exit doors, and BAM-- there was the Colesseum! The Arch of Constantine was right next to the Colesseum. Once we were inside, it was hard not to be impressed with the design of the building. It was constructed with the purpose of putting on a show for all of the viewers. I was really taken with the below arena warren of passageways and cells that were used for the gladitators, animals and scenery that were lifted to the arena floor for a performance. Amazing. We then walked thru the forum with the rubble of markets, temples (including that of the vestal virgins), and streets dating from the days of Caeser. Even the remaining vestiges of ... read more

A good nights sleep...a bit disjointed but good sleep. A day to get our bearings of the local area. One way multi lane streets and must use the crossings or you will never get across...they are still crazy fast. Fabulous supermarket shopping at 'Simply'....using your own bags...we must make more effort to get away from the plastic bags! (I read they are finding table salt now contains small beads of plastic). Our apartment is very comfy, we have attempted as far as thought goes to go and vote at the NZ Embassy today...that would have made us one of the first to vote for our Electorate...seeing as voting in NZ does not start until Monday....but we are struggling with the jetlag....so Monday it is (& therefore NZ would have had a days voting by then). Love ... read more