Ruins, Parades & Gelato - five days in the Eternal City

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After having successfully disproven the theory that all roads lead to Rome, I ended up finally taking a budget flight there instead, from Catania in Sicily (monday 1st June). And what a flight it was - from the moment I took my seat to the moment I left the plane, there was a little shit screaming his lungs out in the row behind me! And although the first thing I did when the 'fasten seatbelt' sign was turned off was grab my iPod and turn it up as loud as it would go, this tactic unfortunately only worked for a short period in mid-flight, while during the take-off and landing I could do nothing but shove my fingers as far inside my ears as they would go! Why screaming children can't be stored in the luggage hold is beyond me, because I have no doubt it would be beneficial to everyone involved...

Of course the fact that I had purchased the flight for less than fifty euros probably just goes to prove the old adage that you get what you pay for! Anyhow, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the weather when we touched down in Rome was absolutely horrendous - which probably explains why there were no less than ten planes all lined up on the taxiway waiting for the runway to clear for take-off.

Thankfully the weather had cleared somewhat by the time I had checked into my hostel (the 'Beehive'😉 so I was able to explore the city and see some of it's world-famous landmarks. My first stop was none other than the Colosseum, which despite being partially in ruins from two thousand years worth of earthquakes and looting, is still an impressive sight. I must admit though it did feel a little strange to find myself standing in front of the Colosseum after having seen so many pictures and heard so many stories about it ever since I was young.

From the Colosseum and nearby Arch of Constantine, I passed the imposing Monument to Vittorio Emmanuel II, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona (with it's Fountain of the Four Rivers); before crossing the Tiber River and heading towards St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City. After marvelling at St.Peter;s Basilica for a while - which like the Colosseum seemed almost familiar to me from all of the pictures and stories I have heard about it throughout my life - I headed off past the Castel Sant Angelo and Palazzo di Giustizia, before heading back across the river to the Piazza del Popolo with it´s twin churches, the Triton Fountain, and finally the Piazza della Repubblica. And since by this time the sun had well and truly set, I decided to set off once again to see some of the same landmarks again under the cover of darkness - only returning to the hostel shortly after midnight!

On tuesday - the 2nd of June - I had hoped to check out the interior of the Colosseum, only to discover that it was in fact Italy's national holiday! My initial annoyance at all of the major tourist attractions being closed for the day soon turned to joy when I found myself - totally by accident, I must admit - with a perfect vantage point from which to watch the National Day parade winding it's way through the streets. And so with crowds lining both sides of the road, various regiments from Italy's armed forces and civil services marched past, including everything from a Ferrari police car and massive fire-fighting trucks to attack dogs and soldiers on horseback! And for the grand finale nine Italian Air Force jets performed a flyover while leaving plumes of red, white and green smoke trailing behind them!

And in a typically Italian (ie farcical) postscript, no sooner had the parade ended than the thousands of spectators started flooding out onto the roads that had until then been cordoned off... with none other than the president Silvio Berlusconi's car getting stuck in the middle of it all! Needless to say, no amount of carhorn-tooting could rectify the situation, with the president taking the opportunity to hop out and wave to the crowds as he waited for his driver to negotiate his way through the sea of humanity!

Only in a city like Rome could I have seen so many famous sites the previous day, yet still not have seen such landmarks as the Trevi Fountain or Spanish Steps (nor had I yet sampled any of the local gelato for that matter!), so it was to these places that I headed in the afternoon after the parade had ended. After climbing the Spanish Steps to Pincio Hill I spent a relaxing couple of hours wandering around the grounds of Villa Borghese, before heading back down the hill to Piazza del Popolo, where the sight of the square with it's beautiful fountains superbly lit up in the evening - accompanied by the soothing sounds of a lone saxophonist drifting through the air on a breeze - would have been enough to make anyone fall completely in love with the city.

Wednesday brought a guided tour of the Colosseum and nearby Palatine Hill, where legend - as well as recent archaeological evidence - says that the city was first established around about 753BC. From the Palatine Hill I headed down into the Roman Forum to explore the ruins of temples, churches and the like, before the lure of gelato took me back to the Trevi Fountain. In the evening I had hoped to check out the Pantheon, but somehow took a wrong turn and ended up at the Vatican City instead! Undeterred, I continued past the Vatican until I arrived at the nearby metro station - only to realize that the metro had already stopped running for the night! So an hour later, after having to trek from one side of the city centre to the other, I eventually arrived back at my hostel at 3am!

The next day not surprisingly brought a much-needed sleep-in, before I made my way back to the Vatican to check out the expansive Vatican museums. From the Galleria degli Arazzi (Tapestry Gallery) with it's massive and ornate tapestries, to the Galleria delle Carte Geographe (Map Gallery) with it's equally large and incredibly accurate maps of Italy - both housed in a grand and seemingly never-ending hallway - to the Stanze di Raffaello (Rafael rooms), which were once the private apartments of the Pope, and where three consecutive rooms are covered on all four sides by magnificent frescoes done by Rafael over a period of nine years in the early sixteenth century, the magnificence of the surroundings was almost overwhelming... and then I arrived at the Sistine Chapel.

To say that the Sistine Chapel is beautiful would be an understatement. Measuring forty metres long, twenty metres high and thirteen metres wide, and covered from floor to ceiling in the most beautiful works of art, it is absolutely stunning. While a number of famous artists were involved in the painting of the chapel, it was Michelangelo who stole the show. Having spent four years (1508 - 1512) adorning the ceiling with the magnificent 'Creation' - a series of nine panels depicting scenes from the bible - he then returned twenty-four years later to spend another five years (1536 - 1541) adding his masterpiece, 'The Last Judgement', to the wall behind the altar.

Eventually leaving the Sistine Chapel behind - with a sore neck from straining to take in the entire spectacle - I then headed over to St. Peter's Basilica, which despite not appearing so large from the outside (probably due to the size of the adjoining square), was absolutely immense inside. But even more impressive than it's size is the richness of it's interior, embellished with the most intricate sculptures, paintings and furnishings; including the vast 'Baldacchino' - a twenty-metre-high canopy which stands over the altar, supported by four spiralling columns and covered in gilded bronze. The altar in turn stands above the supposed tomb of St. Peter; while rising high above it all is the crowning glory of the basilica - the enormous cupola (dome) that soars 120 metres above the altar, and was designed by none other than Michelangelo (who clearly had nothing better to do once he had finished decking out the Sistine Chapel with his remarkable frescoes...)

After leaving St. Peter's behind I had just enough time to make my way up to the top of the nearby Gianicolo Hill to enjoy the wonderful panorama of Rome as the sun set slowly behind me, before exploring the winding streets of Trastevere at the base of the hill; and then finally making my way back across the river to check out a few of the sights such as Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on my way back to the hostel for the night.

Friday unfortunately turned out to be an exercise in frustration, as I first set out to track down the bank responsible for a cash machine at the Central train station that had ripped me off one hundred euros on my first night in Rome; and then spent the rest of the day searching for a new camera to replace the camera of mine that had stopped working the previous day. Thankfully though I was able to sort everything out just in time to make it back to the Vatican for another look at St. Peter's Basilica (though once again I arrived too late to check out the view from the top of the dome) and enjoy one last bacio and stracciatella gelato - bringing my gelato tally for the week to eight!

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Photos

Riverside in Rome
The Tiber River and Castel Sant'Angelo

Ravaged by time, but still colossal
The one-and-only Roman Colosseum

Grand monument
Monument to Vittorio Emmanuel II

Timeless treasure
The Pantheon... 2000-years old, and still awe-inspiring

Modern-day gladiator
Inside the Colosseum

Popular meeting place
Crowds gathering on the Spanish Steps

Blessed boulevard
The road leading to St.Peter's

The grandest church of all
St.Peter's Basilica

Stunning square (even if it's really a circle)
Piazza del Popolo at night

Monument to Vittorio Emmanuel II at night