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Published: December 14th 2006
Roman Forum
Site of numerous ancient debates, violent executions and road rage incidentsMatt:
After a two day entrée of gorgeous panoramas, cute villages and (of course) amazing pizza and pasta, mum, Ed and I had arranged to gorge ourselves stupid on a main course of four days in Tuscany and Rome.
After shedding a tear for Steve Irwin on the streets of Montorosso (thank you mum!), we caught a train to La Spezia - the nearest main city - to pick up our car. From there, we drove directly to Lucca, an old walled city on the edge of the rolling Tuscan hills. There we introduced mum to our patented hour long town tours: head for the largest spire in town, check out the church, grab a coffee, take a few choice photos and get the hell out within 60 minutes (after spending more than a year in Europe, you need an approach to these sort of things). We also had time to wander around the city walls which were really pretty.
On the 58th minute, we drove out of Lucca and into the never-ending Tuscan scenery. Each perfectly rounded hill brought another; every postcard worthy field was followed seconds later by an even more perfect patch of grass. It
Lucca...
...and the only city walls I've seen that could host a cricket match was all a bit overwhelming for us (and our cameras) at first… After a while, our brains just became as numb as overdosed drug addicts’.
We eventually found some respite from the unrelenting and unstoppable hills in the hilltop (uh oh!) village of San Gimignano. The village is dominated by 13 huge towers, which were originally fortified homes and give the place the feel of a medieval Manhattan. While there we did the clichéd Italian thing and sat in the piazza eating pizza. If this image wasn’t enough, we then walked further into town and discovered a café that was voted the best gelato in the world. I can assure you it more than lived up to this prestigious title!
From there we headed to Sienna for the night. After a quick dip in the hotel pool (which was surrounded by vineyards and stables… Ah!), we headed into town for dinner in the shell shaped Piazza del Campo. I’ll give you two guesses what we ordered…
The following day, Ed and I ventured into town to check out the local sights: the spectacular Duomo, the gothic Palazzo Pubblico and the huge Campo (by daylight).
From Sienna,
Tuscany
When will the hills stop screaming, Clarice? we continued across those endless Tuscan hills: up and down, around and around, over and across. Eventually it all got too much for us and we pulled up for a break outside a huge imposing edifice which turned out to be a Benedictine monastery. From the huge ‘No Entry’ sign at the front gate, we could tell that they had problems with hill weary travellers in the past and so we took a few photos and continued on our way.
Eventually we somehow made our way out of Tuscany and into the neighbouring region of Umbria, where the landscape changed from hills and more hills to mountains and rivers and lakes (oh my!). There we stopped at the fabulous city of Assisi, the birthplace and spiritual home of St Francis.
Despite being heavily Catholic and a destination for millions of pilgrims, in the opinion of these two original sinners (and one mother), Assisi is one of the most magical places in Europe. Built on the side of Mt Subasio out of a particular type of stone that gives the town its pink hues, the place maintains a pretty tranquil feel notwithstanding its religious significance. Unfortunately, the day we
Mother and son...
...on the road in Tuscany visited coincided with preparations for a visit by the Pope (the guy is following us around Europe, what can I say) which meant that the town’s most important landmark, St Francis’ Basilica was closed. Still, even without its biggest attraction and in the face of battalions of TV crews, armies of security and the odd regiment of nuns, the place still had a serene (dare I say, holy) feel about it and was definitely worth the visit.
From Tuscany, we drove south and into Rome. That’s right you heard me right people: drove into Rome.
Rome has a reputation for many things: history, food, glamour and (last, but certainly not least) the poor quality of its drivers. Not wanting to prejudge the poor hapless Roman driver, we pushed on in earnest; me behind the wheel, Ed with the map and mum, cowering in fear on the back seat.
In the end, I came away with a lot of sympathy for Roman drivers. Although undoubtedly crazy and prone to unpredictability, the standard of Rome’s roads and signage is terrible (I guess the fact that the city’s plan was laid out 3,500 years ago is a reasonable excuse). Around
San Gimignano
Where sleepy Tuscan village meets Gotham City half way into town, the signs to ‘Centro’ disappeared and the maze of one way streets took over. Amazingly, we made it to the car hire place intact, if only after countless u-turns, a couple near misses with the swarm of Vespas that inhabit the streets, and a number of shaking fists from irate bus drivers.
From the car hire place near the main railway station, we then navigated our way to our hotel via Rome’s two line Metro (which looks like it dates from Mussolini’s era). It was at this point, crammed into a glorified graffitied goods wagon, with a few hundred leering Italians, that mum’s love-hate affair with Rome began. At one point, she looked like she was about to do a bit of fist shaking herself.
After making it to our hotel with all our suitcases and limbs intact, we decided to stay in, order a pizza and get an early night.
The following day, we opted to take it easy at first and went down the road from our hotel to have breakfast at a street café. From there we then walked the short distance to the Vatican Museums.
The Museums themselves
San Gimignano
Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your golden hair! are colossal, covering more than five hectares. Wandering through centuries of papal plunder, in parts the museum gave me the same uncomfortable feeling as a day out in the British Museum. On the plus side though, the setting is gorgeous and allows visitors to view the treasures of Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia and Persia in one convenient stopover (without the annoyance of jetlag, Greeks, Mesopotamians and Persians).
The Vatican Museums are also the home to the most famous ceiling in the world, Michelangelo’s Creation in the Sistine Chapel. After missing it last time we were in Rome, Ed and I made sure we spent an age admiring it despite the persistent ‘Shhhing’ from the guards (who definitely looked like they would be more at home in Mussolini’s era!) and the risk of long-term neck problems.
On the way out of the museum, we literally bumped into Greer and Justin (friends from Oz) who were in town for the day. We ended up looking around the rest of Vatican City together, including a visit to St Peter’s and enduring a very long and hot queue to climb the 323 steps to the top of the cupola (I thought we were
Gelato in the Piazza
When in Rome (or San Gimignano) going to loose my poor mother on a few occasions on the way up).
The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the Colloseum, Roman Forum and the amazing Musei Capitolini which houses many sculptures and relics of Ancient Rome.
That night, we gave mum a much deserved night off (complete with take away pizza - again!) and went to have dinner and drinks with Justin and Greer. We found a gorgeous little restaurant around the corner from Piazza Nanona and spent the rest of the night in a bar. We arrived home in the wee hours of the morning to a tut-tutting mother and few leftover slices of cold pizza.
The following morning, feeling a little worse for wear, we headed back to our local street café for a long and lingering breakfast before taking that tried and tested means of touring with a hangover: the hop-on hop-off bus (mum was a more than a willing participant). We visited the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Circus Maximus and Pantheon before heading back to our hotel for a final meal of… You know where I’m going with that sentence.
The next morning we had booked a taxi
San Gimignano
From the top of the hill you can see... Sigh! to take us (at some unholy hour) to Rome Airport for the short flight home. In poetic proof of Rome’s reputation, the driver darted his way through the streets narrowly avoiding pedestrians and getting up to speeds that would be more appropriate on a German autobahn. Along the way, he almost drove my mother to an early grave.
Italy was awesome! Although the crowds, the heat and the occasional suspicious whiff made mum’s time in Rome uncomfortable at times, I think she really enjoyed it too.
It’s the final countdown guys! We’ll be seeing you all real soon.
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