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Published: October 22nd 2008
We arrived in Rome on the 13th of July at 9pm. We then took the train and the bus to the camping village we were staying at on the outskirts of the city, not too far from the Vatican. The village was not very central, but a very quick and easy 1 euro bus and train ride, so we were quite pleased with the location. The company (plus) was the same company that we had used in Florence. They have decent facilities but they strike me as a faceless mechanised corporation. The staff don't really give a shit and you have to pay extra for everything. We were lucky to be upgraded to an air conditiond cabin for free, because they had overbooked. It was good because Rome was stinking hot, and from what we heard from other people, the unairconditioned cabins were pretty unbearable.
On the morning of the 14th, we took the bus to the Vatican city. The line for st Peters basilica was enormous, but it moved really fast, so we actually only waited 15 minutes (it was a Monday morning). When we got to the security check though, the guard told us that Louise's shorts were
too short, so we couldn't go in. We went in search of a scarf that we could use to wrap around Louise's legs, but decided to take the scenic route, went a bit off course and ended up wandering thorugh a park. After a lot of walking, we decided we were closer to the Coloseum, so we'd go to that instead. On the way to the Coloseum, we took a wrong turn and ended up back at the Vatican. This time the line was really big and wasn't moving like it had been earlier. We got dragged off the end of the line by an American tour company to pay for a guided tour and skip the line. We payed quite a bit more, but didn't have to wait and got a running commentary through the Vatican museum. We did the tour with a guy called Mike from Ohio, who was pretty engaging. Mike told us that the museum was so large, that if you spent a minute with each piece on display, you'd be there for seven and a half years! Our tour lasted forty five minutes, so I couldn't help but think that we might have missed out
on some things. At the end of the museum part of the tour, Mike had us take a vote on whether we wanted to see another wing of the museum, or go on to the Sistine Chapel. Mike put a bit of a spin on it though, he obviously wanted to finish up early. I was astounded that Louise and I were the only ones in the large tour group who voted to see more of the museum. Why wouldn't you want to see the museum that you've paid to get in and have a guided tour of? Anyway...
We then went through to the Sistine chapel, where they make sure that you know that you're not allowed to talk or take photos inside. The chapel was packed, so obviously some people were talking quietly, and many people were taking sneaky photos. The guards at the front of the room are constantly making loud hissing noises (supposed to be shhhhh) and shouting at people not to take photos, which kind of ruins the effect of having the silence rule in the first place. We then saw the tombs, where all the Popes are buried, and finally the inside of
The crypt
at the Capuchin monks templethe basilica itself which was absolutely amazing. It is filled with brilliant sculptures (including Michelangelo's Pieta)We both agreed that it was the most impressive man made structure we had ever seen. My photos can't even begin to do it justice. It's kind of sick that the Christian church would poor so much money into a cathedral when there were so many people starving on the streets. On the way home we had crappy pizza and potatoes in a concrete reserve in the dirty congested streets. Rome is a disgusting city.
On the morning of 15th, we went to the supermarket across from the camping village, and had the most amazing olive bread you can imagine. After that we went to the Coloseum. We again got seduced by an American tour company and did the Coloseum tour after skipping the huge line (and getting into a slightly less huge line), the tour guide was pretty good. The inside of the Coloseum was pretty amazing, it definitely stimulates the imagination to think what it must have been like to be there when it was being used. The second part of the tour was at Palatine hill. It was shit. We had
a whiny annoying self absorbed tour guide, who we didn't stick with very closely. We then saw the house of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and then went down the hill to the ruins of the Roman forum. It's amazing to see and walk amongst the intricate ruins of this ancient city right in the middle of modern Rome. We had no tour guide for the Roman forum, so we resorted to making up our own stories about giant chickens and L Ron Hubbard. We then went and had gelatis (just for a change), and then had mixed salad and chicken from an awesome pizza place which we discovered on the way back to the camping village. At the village they were showing Sweeney Todd on a big outdoor screen. We sat down to watch it, and about 15 seconds later the credits rolled.
The next day we went into town at about midday, and to an ancient temple of the capuchin monks (who supposedly invented cappucino) which we had learnt about from our Vatican tour guide. It turned out it was closed until 3, so we went to the nearby Villa Borghese park to kill some time. The
park was absolutely shit. There are main roads running straight through it, so your peaceful walk in the park turns into a battle for survival against a series of aggressive Italian motorists in the 35 degree heat. The grass was dead, there were a couple of fountains that were filled with algae. It was pretty gross. We walked to the centre of the park where it was slightly nicer and hung around the uninspiring lake for a little while. After we'd killed enough time, we went back to the temple. The crypt in the temple is lined with the bones of four thousand dead monks. It was absolutley disguting, after a few minutes in there I started to feel physically ill. In the last section of crypt there was a plaque that said "What you are now, we once were; what we are, you will be". Sobering. In the last section there were also the full skeleton of a young child arranged as the grim reaper, his scythe was made of the bones of another dead child. It was a horrible experience, but it was intense, and I therefore have to recommend it. After I had regained my composure, we
went to the famous Trevi fountain, threw some coins in and had some gelati. We then walked to the pantheon which was pretty spectacular. Its amazing that they could build such a complex structure two thousand years ago. As an engineering student I should be amazed. We got the audioguide tour when we were inside, and then fell asleep on the benches while we were listneing to it. After the Pantheon, we did a walking tour with a guy from Louisiana, who had been recommended to us by the Vatican guide. To be perfectly honest, was a bit of a dickhead really. He wasn't interested in questions from us, and kept talking on his mobile phone in between stops so it was kind of hard to get anything out of him. He was very knowleadgeable though, so the tour was still worthwhile. We visited Piazza Venezia, the Vittorio Emmanuelle II building (which is so big you can't believe it even as you're looking at it), the Pantheon (again), the Trevi fountain (again again) and we finished on the Spanish steps, where an ethnic type tried to sell us beer out of a plastic bag. We also saw a very large
Louise
Pre vatican tour, complete with headset and very frightened rat amongst all the tourists at he bottom of the Spanish steps. We walked around looking at restaurants, but in the end we decided to go back to the pizza place we had been at the night before, which again was really bloody good.
On the 17th, we went back to the Villa Borghese park, on advice from the tour guide to see the museum there and the Bernini sculptures. Bernini was a famous Renaissance sculptor. I definitely have a soft spot for good sculpture and this museum absolutely blew my mind. I was amazed at the quality and detail of Bernini's sculptures. In the space of two hours I saw the best four sculptures I've ever seen. It was incredible, and highly recommended. We then went for a stroll through the park, and some parts of Rome we hadn't seen yet, piazza navona and campo del fiori (where there was supposed to be a market, but quite conspicuously, wasn't). We went back to the village early, bought some groceries from the supermarket and had an excellent dinner of chicken, pasta salad and broccoli.
The next morning we got up at 5:15am, packed showered and
Sneaky (blurry) shot
of the roof of the Sistine chapel headed to the airport for our flight to Athens.
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