Rome, Thursday 29 May, Day 36

Got up half an hour earlier and it was a different world down in the breakfast room with no students. We were out the door by 8.30 and wandered without a very fixed plan over towards the forum. Heading the shortest path in a straight line took us over the Capitoline Hill, and past the Capitoline_Museums.

It is claimed that these were the first museums in the world, and I wanted to show Anne the giant head and feet from the colossal statue of Constantine that is located in the courtyard there which I saw last time I was in Rome. It was free then, but now you pay 12 Euros, I guess that is progress. We paid up the entry fee, and it turned out to be way the best thing we have seen so far in Rome. The collection is phenomenal, from the bronze she wolf from 500 BC (a relative of the Chimera of Assezo I suspect) to the amazing 2nd century BC roman statue of the many breasted fertility goddess Diana Efesina (or the Efesian Artemis ), to the magnificent 4th Century BC bronze horse, to the views of Rome and the Forum from the terrace, to the super sized equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, plus so much else besides, this one gets our 'museum of the journey' sticker by quite a margin. Lost some points for being almost deliberately confusing in layout and signage, but the collection and location more than made up for that, and it was all the nicer because we got in early before the rush. As an added bonus, there was a special exhibition of Michelangelo's work, which had drawings and sculptures which I had never seen before, including a marble bass relief which he completed at the age of 15.

Had pizza in the roof garden, then a bit of down time, then I headed back to visit the Forum. It really is extraordinary to walk down the same streets, and stand outside the buildings that have been the scene of so much history. The Curia, for example,  where the Roman Senate would meet, is pretty much intact, though the doors were purloined for a nearby church.

Before dinner we decided to revisit the Pantheon and to check out the Trevi Fountain, which turned out to be not such a great idea as the streets were choked with crowds of tourists and people trying to sell things to tourists. The Pantheon was filled with people chattering away excitedly and futilely taking photos with their flash on, all those little flashes getting lost in the vast dome. Despite the annoying fellow humans, the building itself is just wonderful. I realised tonight that it functions something like a sun dial as the light from the sun shines down through the open disk at the apex of the dome.

After the Pantheon we battled our way to the Trevi Fountain, which was an extraordinary scene - probably breaks some world record for the greatest number of people taking selfies in one place. My estimate is that less than 10% of the people there were actually looking at the Fountain.

It was good to get back to this side of town. Dinner in a restaurant with average food and nice wine. On the way home, we saw that the little church of Santa_Barbara_dei_Librai, which we have walked past many times and which has always been locked up, was open. It is a lovely little church, and provided just the antidote that we needed  to the tacky crowd scenes from earlier in the evening.

Rome, Wednesday 28 May, Day 35

A bit late down to breakfast, and had to navigate through the tribe of American students who are staying in the hotel as part of some graduate program. They are nice but they do seem to take up more space per person than most people.

After breakfast we headed off our separate ways. I walked down by the Tiber, past Circus Maximus, and on to the Palatine_Hill, where I spent a very pleasant morning pottering around through the different bits of buildings. A happy hunting ground for archaeologists, with so many layers upon layers of human habitation, with the added bonus of a written record that potentially illuminates parts of what they find. There are a number of active digs in progress, with people in hard hats with shovels and trowels earnestly burrowing away. 

After I'd explored as much as I could find I headed over to the Coliseum, largely for the guilty pleasure of walking past the extraordinarily long queue as my Palatine Hill ticket is good for the Coliseum and the Forum as well. An impressive but depressing building, all that clever engineering to provide a venue for killing animals and humans for entertainment.

Today's picture is taken from the steps outside the Coliseum looking back along the Roman Road to the Arch of Titus, which celebrates his victory in Judea in 70 AD. The pic has the elements which seemed prominent today - the amazing vestiges of the Roman world, the touts waiting to prey on the unwary,  the crowds and crowds of tourists, and even an archaeological dig on the left.

Anne had returned from her morning excursion when I got back, and we had lunch up on the terrace of delicious artichoke pizza slice from the shop round the corner. A quiet afternoon, next stage of the Giro (a bit dull after the dramas of yesterday) then off for dinner and a walk back round the fountains in Piazza Navona.  We were worried that Rome might be as wearing as Florence but in fact it has turned out to be very relaxing. Yesterday in one of the little streets we had a fleeting encounter with a teenage girl who turned to her parents just as we passed and said, with a sort of wonder and enthusiasm,  "I love this place".  We know just what she meant.

Rome, Tuesday, 27 May, Day 34

We woke up super early so we could take advantage of the hotel's 7 am breakfast and set off to Saint Peters through the relatively quiet streets. There were streams of persons in all manner of clerical garb out and about. A chap in a fetching bluish robe whizzes past on a bicycle, another with white robe and impressive facial hair, a group of purple clad nuns, lots of chaps in basic black and dog collar, nuns with white dresses and black cardigans, others with black dresses and white cardigans. There is obviously a language in the garments, which must be apparent to the cognoscenti. I wonder if there is an equivalent to my Field Guide to Australian Birds available for cleric spotting.  The other thing which became apparent to me is that my dinner outfit last night - dark pants and a black shirt - is very similar to off duty clerical wear. I thought I was getting a few extra hard stares last night when Anne and I were strolling along hand in hand. Jeans and light shirts from now on in Rome.

After St Peters we walked over the foot bridge at Castle San' Angelo, and down some lovely quiet streets to visit a couple of churches which contain Caravaggio paintings. The Basilica of St Augustine had the beautiful Madonna of the Pilgrims. The second church had three Caravaggios - perhaps lesser works - but had hit on a novel fund raising tactic. The paintings were located in a particularly gloomy corner, and to get sufficient light to view the paintings one needed to insert a steady stream of Euro coins.

Next on the walking tour was the nearby Pantheon. After the churches we had just visited, the
Pantheon with its open circle at the apex of its great dome revealing the sky was really impressive, a breath of fresh air.

Last stop for the morning was Piazza_Navona with its marvellously elaborate fountains. It has been a social space since Roman times, a lovely place to spend some time on a sunny spring morning. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers has a kind of mythic grandeur. The river gods are more or less twisted around the base of an Egyptian obelisk, probably 2,000 years older than the figures.  The photo below is the Fountain of Neptune, at the northern end, a fountain more easily photographed.

We had lunch on the Campo_de'_Fiori watching the market vendors pack up for the day. Anne retired to the hotel while I visited the cats who live in the Largo di torre Argentine ruins around the corner. Most of them are very cautious of humans, and some look pretty sick and sorry. But a couple came up for a pat, poor things, their fur is really matted.

We watched the end of the Giro, feeling sympathetic lactic acid in the leg pain as we watched the riders struggle up some of those gradients. For dinner we tried a place in a little square nearby that seemed to always have a crowd of local people obviously enjoying themselves. Simple menu, mainly battered cod, no frills, great food. After dinner we walked around, exploring some new streets and the nearby ghetto area, very atmospheric, right down to a chap walking down the narrow street playing exotic airs on his violin.

Tomorrow I plan on visit the Forum and the Palatine_Hill, and Anne is visiting Galleria Doria Pamphilj and neighbouring churches.

Rome, Monday 26 May, Day 33

Another glorious blue sky Tuscan morning, as we set off back down the many escalators back to Siena train station, admiring the beautifully tended terraces of vegetable gardens as we descended.  We had to catch a regional train back up to Florence, connecting with a Frecciarossa down to Rome. For a while it looked like we might miss our connection, as acrid smoke started pouring from underneath one of the three carriages of the train a couple of minutes before departure. But we all got piled into one carriage and the train departed only a few minutes late. Made for a very squeezey trip as more and more people piled in, but we got to Florence in good time, then onto our connecting train which was much more comfortable.

The trip from Florence to Rome is mighty scenic, with lovely rolling hills and lots of little hill top villages.  We got a metropolitan bus to the Largo_di_Torre_Argentina, with its ruins of some impressive Roman temples and the site of Julius Caesar's assassination.  An easy walk to our hotel, which we found first go. Maybe we are improving at hotel finding. Hotel is nice, located in a lively area with some nice looking restaurants and a gelato shop nearby. It has a nice rooftop terrace with a great view of the dome of the nearby church, whose bells play different versions of "Ave Maria" every half hour. Hope they give it a rest at night though.

We are located around the corner from the Campo de Fiore, where the mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Giordano_Bruno was burned after being found guilty of heresy by the Roman Inquisition, for, amongst other things, suggesting that there might be life in other places in the universe other than earth.

Today the square hosts a busy market, but a statue of Bruno erected by the municipality of Rome in 1889, despite opposition from the clerical party, stands to mark the spot. I walked along lots of little streets - such wonderful names, Via Penetenzia, Via Consulate, Via Pellegrino - over to St Peter's Square, to marvel at both the building and the length of the queue waiting to get in. I think we will follow the advice of a priest on our bus coming in,  and try to get there very early one morning.

I expect Rome will be good entertainment.

Siena, Sunday 25 May, Day 32

Today we decided to take it easy. And a beautiful Sunday morning in Siena to take it easy in.  Within a few hundred metres we came upon a group of children heading off for their Confirmation by the look of them, all dressed in white robes, each clutching a white lilly, symbol of Saint Catherine patron saint of Siena. After a lot of shuffling and reorganizing, they set off in procession to the church over the road.

A very nice sight to start the day.

We headed on into town to visit the Siena_Cathedral. The Baptistry is well worth it, particularly liked the Last Judgement panel, where all the dammed are being shuffled off into the jaws of a huge beast whose head follows the line of the arch of the roof. Also very interesting is the crypt, which seems to be what is left of an earlier church built on the same spot. The builders had knocked arches and run pillars through the lovely murals of the earlier church without any compunction.

The other thing striking about the Cathedral is the construction work abandoned in the mid 1300's a combination of the impact of the Black Death, management by committee, changes in Siena's fortunes, and the realisation that there were some serious structural issues with the design. The original ambition was to build the largest church in the world. The East wall stands as a sort of monument to the vanity of human wishes.

Home for a siesta, caught the end of the Giro, then out to dinner where once again we had cause to be thankful for the great kindness of the local people.

Tomorrow Rome.

Siena, Saturday 24 May, Day 31

A nice slow start this morning, to catch the 11.10 train to Siena, and just äs well because we were both a bit fuzzy when the alarm went off. There was a very noisy group of youths hooting and hollering at the Irish pub down the street last night, and I think we might not have slept so well.  But by the time we'd had breakfast, packed, said goodbye to signora in a carefully rehearsed Italian, got to the station and had our espresso hit, we were feeling pretty good. Here is Anne on Florence railway station waiting for our platform number to come up, looking like the well seasoned traveller that she is.

We are really enjoying the Italian trains so far. The trip from Florence to Siena was gorgeous, lots of rolling hills, vineyards, veggie gardens, Tuscan farm houses, plus the occasional mouldering castle or hill top village clinging to a rocky outcrop. All beautifully green, with blue sky and fluffy clouds, almost picture book. The fellow passengers are often good value too. 

A series of escalators gets you up the hill from the station to the outskirts of the old town, just as well as it would be a fair hike otherwise. Our hotel is lovely - a little balcony and very quiet. The crisper air and the quieter pace are very agreeable after the crowds of Florence. After a restorative siesta we walked into the main Piazza down the winding narrow streets, to the famous Paleo where the annual horse race is run.  The traditional flags hang prominently from the buildings of each ward and the feeling of Siena's long and distinctive history is impressive.  We had an excellent dinner at an outside table watching the Passagio of dogs, babies and expectant mums. The Italian families in these smaller towns seem to be very relaxed and happy.

We are now more than half way into the trip, and we're really conscious of how fortunate we are to be able to do what we're doing. Tomorrow we will have a quiet day, to rest up before Rome.

Florence, Friday 23 May, Day 30

As predicted, we woke up to a grey drizzly morning. We had tickets for midday at the Uffizi, so we had a low key morning, an expedition to the post office to post a package, to find a tabacc to post some post cards, and for Anne to check out the many scarf vendors and increase her scarf collection. On the way we encountered the tail end of some sort of Florentine procession - brass horn marching music and chaps in striped pantaloons swaying down the street.

We got our tickets and eventually into the Uffizi at the appointed time. Very crowded and for a while we seemed to be caught in a crowd of people who, despite the signs saying no photos, persisted in taking photos of one another standing in front of the paintings. Here is Giotto's Madonna. Stand in front of it with your back to it while I take your photo. Here is Martini's Annunciation. Stand in front of it looking at me with the same inane expression while I take your photo. And so on. Given how many paintings there are in the gallery I wonder how far they got before the novelty wore off.

The Uffizi is amazing but the gallery is so large and rich that we stumbled back to the hotel afterwards and spent the rest of the afternoon very quietly in a darkened room.

By dinner time the weather had cleared and all the tables were out along the lovely curving street that snakes past outside. After dinner we bade a fond farewell to Cristina, the super hardworking, utterly charming young waitress in the Trattoria next door. She was genuinely kind and warm towards us, and made our visit here extra special. Thank you Cristina.

Off to Siena tomorrow.