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Published: December 29th 2007
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We got up feeling pleasantly dry but separated due to the two mattress double bed so favoured by continental hoteliers, we had missed breakfast but the sun was filtering through the curtains so we packed up and were ready for a long day's walking.
We left the hotel and walked about five minutes into a new country, albeit one with a population of 800 and an area of 0.17 square miles. There is fortunately no passport control to enter the Vatican City State but there was a bunch of discontent looking cab drivers who had seemingly ended their industrial action. St. Peter's square is a magnificent space and you can't help wondering how it must have felt for believers to have visited there in the middle ages and seen the fully might and glory of the Catholic church. We took the mandatory photos and then waited in a long, but fast moving queue, surrounded by umbrella wielding tour guides whose charges had less queuing etiquette than even the Italians. Once through security we were marshalled through the tomb of dead popes before we could enter the basilica, this was a little strange as most people had only a passing interest
Inside the Vatican
I've never seen so much marble in all my life in the tomb of Linus I and Gregory IX but there were many people praying and being jostled at both JPII and the remains of St Peter, suitably protected by about three layers of bulletproof glass, a stern Swiss guard and Silas the albino monk.
Once inside the Basilica it is hard not to notice the opulence of the decoration. Regardless of one's beliefs, upon entry into a church there is typically a serene, peaceful feeling making the visitor aware of the age of the building. St. Peter's, in contrast, felt more like a grand palace than a place of worship. That is not meant to denigrate the interior which is incredible, in particular the cupolas and the windows. We spent a long time walking around taking in how much it must have cost to decorate the church.
Outside we walked down towards the Tiber, pausing briefly at the Castel di Sant'Angelo to be asked to sign a petition against drug use. We declined. We crossed the Tiber, taking in the beautiful views that were shrouded in rain and darkness the night before and sauntered through the narrow back streets through the Piazza Navona, which is a magnificent
square, largely ruined by a market whose stalls sell worse tat than you would find in Blackpool, before turning a corner and seeing the Pantheon. Due to being used as a place of worship for Romans and Christians the Pantheon is the best preserved of the Roman ruins (and perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world) and is utterly breathtaking, the front simply says that Agrippa made it which always strikes me as amusing. Inside, the Christian decor sits strangely with the circular building but doesn't detract from the size of the dome (the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the history of architecture) and the perfection of the dimensions - it would be possible to fit a sphere exactly inside the building. After Martin had bored Mary with his mathematical excitement we stumbled into a fantastic little Taverna for a glass of wine and some delicious pasta.
Feeling refreshed we headed for the Forum by way of the unmissable, tasteless Il Vittoriale. The forum itself was probably our favourite part of the trip. We spent hours with our guide trying to piece together how the forum would have looked in its day (see
Virtual-Forum ) and
Inside the Pantheon
Its a little blury, but you get the idea. revelling in the history of the place. Rome has a historic feeling unlike anywhere else I have visited, perhaps due to its central role in two of the greatest 'empires' of the last 2000 years and the forum has a peaceful, awe inspiring atmosphere. After taking photo after photo and trying to see everything we paid to up to Palatine hill. This was also fascinating, we especially liked walking along the secret passage Nero had built to escape from the summer heat. Afterwards we walked down to the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum to the unpretentious) but were too late to get in and consoled ourselves with some excelllent sunset views from the outside.
We then avoided the fake Louis Vuitton bag sellers and the people that sell those strange wind-up plastic birds to evidently delirious spend-happy tourists and weaved our way up Via Del Corso to the Trevi fountain. This is a bitch to find but beautiful - the water is an incredible shade of blue, but it is also appeared to be where everyone in Rome had decided to congregate so we took a photo and pushed our way out of the crowds, passed the Prada and Gucci shops
Il Duce's monstrosity
This might actually be the ugliest building in Rome, and what's even better is you can't avoid seeing it from anywhere in the city. Awesome onto Piazza di Spagna, which was being refurbished and had its charm diminished by a giant H&M billboard on the scaffold, and then finally to Piazza del Poppolo. This is my favourite Roman square, unspoiled by tat distributors and splendid in its size and simplicity, the sun was almost gone and we took in the view for a few minutes then dragged our blistered feet back to the hotel and the well deserved dip in the jacuzzi.
After a rest we went for dinner in a family run Taverna that was, again, absolutely delicious. Mary was astonished as to how much better Italians can prepare pasta with olive oil, pepper and parmesan. All the food we had was inexpensive, simple and truly delicious. The wine was also very reasonably priced and of very high quality which pleased Martin greatly. After a long dinner we returned home, dry and very content.
For the full set of photos from this trip visit:
Flickr
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