Italian whirlwind insights

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I am typing madly next to the Trevi fountain, listening to Pavarotti and sitting next to a priest in black typing emails. Very strange. Obviously I am in Italy safe and sound in beautiful Roma. After over two months in Greece it's still a culture shock. Conversation is a little trying as I'm still in Hellenic mode and the Grand Prix is on so all eyes seem to be on the box!!

My Italian is EXTREMELY poor but my sign language exceptional (thank god). No one in Southern Italy, where I have just come from, speaks English naturally and because I am travelling solo in first class on the train the only people seem to be oldies and this morning an exuberant, fat and happy nun. The nun was very keen to talk and I deciphered she had been to Sydney and Melbourne which are bella!! She seemed thrilled with my namesake and a very popular name in Italy I imagine.

I have just come from Napoli, a gorgeous Venetian style city on the South West Coast and close to Mt Vesuvius. I visited Herculaneum and saw the ancient remnants of the early Romans wiped out by the lava. It was fantastically preserved, even the wooden doors in tact, and I saw beautiful early frescoes and mosaics, bath houses, schools, gyms, theatres etc, all buried under metres of lava. My mind has been opened further again!

Then off to the Museo to see one of the most important collections of Greco Roman artefacts in the world. An art collection of the super wealthy Farnese family and treasures discovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Stunning. Apparently there are few museums with English translation so that's a little frustrating. I discovered a way to look inconspicuous whilst trailing tour groups with ENGLISH GUIDES. The fact I was 20 years younger made it a little obvious but no one seemed to mind. The things you do for information!!. To my joy a whole section devoted to inscriptions.

I left early for Rome this morning and saw how truly connected Italians are to coffee. I thought Greeks loved it but I have never seen such devotion. At the train station I decided to find a cup of tea to have with my 1 millionth bread roll. The Italians where cued up like they where buying train tickets and moving along quickly. Soon I discovered that the bar men where handing out short blacks like there was no tomorrow. They stand at the cafe bar, exchange a prepaid ticket and down the coffee like a shot of alcohol. Off they drive VERY quickly on their motor bikes. The energy of these people reminds me of the Greeks but more so. Lots of revving.

After seeing the Colosseum and the Roman Forum today I am in Art History heaven. Nothing prepares you for the originales and I am pinching myself that I am living one of my longtime dreams.

Next day....

This bit is for the historians in the familia. I went to the very out of the way Etruscan site yesterday. They have excavated about 20 or so of an estimated 6,000 tombs from the ancient Necropolis at Tarquinia. I couldn't believe that there where only two other people there as it was extremely interesting. The fact that it's 8 hours return from Roma probably had a little to do with it.

The painted tombs showed scenes of dancing, feasting, fishing etc. One man had created a tomb for he and his wife decorated with orgiastic dances in an olive grove which showed the lovely Dionysian influence. Horny even in ancient times 😊 Another had a painted door symbolically representing the entrance to the nether world, and guarding it was Charun, the Etruscan demon of death. A lot of the tombs had exactly the same chequered ceiling pattern as the caves at Dambulla in Sri Lanka and the same as the early iconoclastic decoration in Cappadoccia. Love the connection of art styles.

The portraits where very Egyptian in pose - more rigid than Hellenistic Greek of course with a side eye profile and posture with one foot forward. Even the depiction of birds was reminiscent of the Egyptian style. They dug out sarchophagi with detailed portraits of the deceased lying across the lids carved in the round. I found these particularly beautiful.

Prior to the burial days they cremated the bodies but still buried the ashes enclosed in bronze urns shaped like decorative little houses. Overall a unique and interesting site I was glad to have experienced.

Few days later....

St Petes Papal Palace can be summed up in a few words: pompous, pigeons, pharaphenalia, pizza, perverts, papal plates, Piets and FULL of puritants.

Quite a spectacular affair, ugly in it's grandioseness but magnificent because of Michelangelos great contribution to the art world. The true Renaissance master stole the show for me. I didn't get to rub shoulders with the Pope but with a maximum number of little brown monks scooting around. I didn't know they seriously dress like Friar Tuck.

Architecturally though St Peters is a Renaissance masterpiece but I enjoyed the Pantheon better for overcoming architectural difficulty and more beautiful in it's simplicity. There is surely only so many collanades necessary to walk through a Holy Door.

The irritating crowd rivalled rush hour at the Taj Mahal and I have never seen such a huge amount of money spent on any building in the name of religion. The sheer size is indescribable and I can see why Mussolini had a fight on his hands for pressure to make it an independent city. The Italian mamas have enough brute crowd strength on their own to topple an empire!

It's the first time I have ever seen nuns as tour guides or the Pope memorialised on tea towels. I think the message of Jesus has got a little lost in Roma Grande. There is a cordoned off prayer area but with 10,000 people in there - not really conducive to prayer. I just couldn't find the waiting area for the lame 😊. I was delighted to see no entrance fee but also not surprised when within the church is a Museum and for a mere $10 you can see the Popes outfits.

The Papal message is also available outside the Holy Door as expensive gold cruifixes, portrait earrings, write your name in a mosaic and the obligatory signed portrait of his Holy Purpleness are all for sale. Needless to say I was out of backpack space sorry Mum 😊

I've seen other beautiful sights of Italy and was certainly not disappointed. The ancient ruins of the Roman city after Vesuvius erupted has been a highlight for me so far. Italy really is a living museum and the people are lovely, not to mention the food Im eyeing but can't really afford. $25 for a plate of pasta is just too crazy for this backpacker. So bread, bread, bread and cheese is the menu for me along with most people under 30 I see. I have never seen such beautiful, well dressed people in all my life.

I'm now heading North through Florence, Sienna, Bologna and Venice and next stop Austria.

Ciao for now!
Kris
xxx

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