The Last (Full) Day in Italy

We got into Venice this afternoon, after a four hr. train ride from Rome.  It was a bit of a hassle to bump all the (excessive) luggage down the steps of the Santa Lucia train station , and then we were treated to a water bus ride on an overcrowded boat to Lido where we were cursed openly and loudly for inconveniencing several of the patrons during the ride.  Frankly it was a hellish situation for two overly polite people-pleasers;  we kept trying to shrink us and the pile of luggage into a little ball, but unfortunately it remained the mountain it was.  After at least eight stops which entailed everyone having to bump past us all the while muttering and fixing us with the Evil Eye, we finally reached Lido. The B&B was three blocks from the boat landing, so we were checked in and soon in a cafe sipping remedial Gin & Tonics, eating a bit of pizza and gelato and generally licking our wounds.  We walked to the beach, and then witnessed a spectacular sunset.  And that's how the day went over here.

Here are some pictures:

                                                     Termini Station, Rome, Italy

                                           From the train window, on the way to Venice:

This is what the inside looked like, until the Florence stop when it filled completely

Venice beach at Lido

                      The "cafe society" of Lido:  the jolly fellow with the stains down his front is bumming cigarettes

And that is the end of our Italian adventures, at least for the time being.  I'm glad that you could come along with me, and I hope that you enjoyed it! 

Goodbye to Rome

This is our last full day here.  We put off visiting the Forum until today and that turned out to be a bit unfortunate.  We are in a hotel which is about 1 1/2 blocks from there and even before opening the doors to the street you could sense that today was different.  It was quiet on the street!  Why?  There were no cars!  It took me a moment to realize that.  All around this area, the streets had been blocked and people were walking down the middle of them.  As we looked toward the Forum, we saw a huge glut of humans...  all waiting in a line to gain entrance.  Wow.  Just yesterday there were no lines.  Why??  As it turns out, the Forum was free today and the line was for free tickets.  I don't know how frequently (or infrequently) this occurs,  but it was like one big free-for-all party in the streets connecting the Colosseum and the Forum, and I'll bet that the Colosseum was the same mobbed (and free) scene as the Forum.  Anyway,we sailed past the lines, happily, since we already had tickets, and were soon walking over the same stones that Caesar and Nero trod upon (or were carried over by slaves or horses).  Since we got there around noon, it was hot (it felt like it must be around 100 F), so water drinking became major.  I eavesdropped on a few guides and picked up some tidbits like:

                                                                                  NERO

 This is a bust of him which was de-faced shortly after his death.  He was not popular with pretty much anyone by that time.  For instance, he had his mother, stepbrother and first wife who also happened to be his step-sister killed, kicked his second wife to death when she was pregnant, and reportedly the source of light for his gardens at night was Christians being burned alive...  you get the picture.  Just your basic sociopath blossoming into full blown megalomania.  He committed suicide just before he would have been murdered.


                                     These are thought to be the busts of his first two wives:

All of what follows dates from around 55AD, or what I cavalierly call "really old stuff"

The gas station on our hotel block, and yes that's the whole thing; a guy sits there on a folding chair beside the pump, waiting for customers

This was by a fountain in a small square where people were gathered; the police always seem to be around in this kind of situation.  They are usually joking and friendly, and so their presence is not hostile.  I took the picture mainly because I like the blue color of their lights.

                    Scene in an alley tonight that caught my eye, although I admit it's pretty cliche

Say arrivederci to Roma, and don't worry...  I threw a few coins in the Fountain for you and so I am certain that you'll be here yourself at some point.  Ciao.

Rome on a Saturday night

Today we walked a bit, and also hopped on the red bus for some more touring around.  This is the only decent picture I took on the bus.  It's of a portion of the Forum.

 We ate lunch up near the train station in an area filled with Ethiopian restaurants, though this particular place made pizza. 

That's pizza dough in his hands and a marvelous wood-burning cavern behind him.  He'd shove limp pieces of dough into it and in just a few seconds it seemed, the pieces would be transformed into puffed bread marvels.

We grabbed dinner at an Argentinian restaurant before heading over to the Colosseum for the night tour.  The food was good, but what mainly impressed me was the young woman who carried the food to our table.  She was tall, had dark hair and the super-erect carriage of a dancer, plus that haughty sort of remote expression that you see sometimes on the faces of Tango dancers (for me, only in pictures up to this point).  I'm sure that she was a wonderful Tangoer, or Tangress.  I would love to have seen them dance.

At any rate, we needed to streak off to the Colosseum.  And the almost-full moon was coming up.

NOW the moon decides to show up....you can barely see it

This is not the glamorous poster shot I'd been hoping to capture:

We walked to the Trevi Fountain, still packed with people at 11:30 PM

This looks a bit like Times Square on New Year's Eve (minus the overcoats), but these are the thousand or so lemoncello-swilling revellers parked for the evening in front of the Trevi Fountain

                                                            Good night from Rome

Rome Day 3: The Colosseum

Today we walked up to the site of the old Baths, which were of massive size, let me tell you!  They could accommodate three thousand people at one time, and covered a huge area.  Today a church stands on the site, Santa Maria degli Angeli.  Inside, it feels almost as large as St. Peter's. 

At that point we got on one of the tourist double-decker buses, rode around briefly and then got off in order to meet the tour we'd signed up for at the Colosseum.  It was a special one in that we got to go into the pits as well as up on the top level... both areas not generally open to the public.


Here are some pictures from the walk and the tour:

                             This is a bit of preserved ruin near the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument

                             Vittorio Emmanuel, which looks like a gigantic wedding cake to me

                                                      Walking towards the Colosseum

                                     

                                                           Beginning the dungeon tour

Standing in the dungeons... now the guide is talking about the animals that were brought in in cages and the pulley systems that transported them from one place to the next.  Note the cross erected for the copious amounts of animals and people who died here

Part of the waterway system which helped to flood the arena (before the rooms were built) so that mock ship battles could be staged

                    Now we  are up on the middle level, so you can see the whole arena more clearly

                                The platform is built to show where the arena floor would have been

All of those rooms and alleyways are to house the animals and people acting in the spectacles.  Some of these were criminals accused of crimes and sentenced to die;   they were given over to lions

                                                 And now from the highest tier currently available:

Tomorrow night we will tour through it after dark for another glimpse, hopefully with the full moon in evidence.

Roma! Yikes

Today we rode the subway to the Vatican and did a tour for 3 hours.  And then we walked part of the way back, and later hopped back on the subway to return to the hotel.  Some pictures:

                                                              Subway "art car" packed to the hilt

                                               Vatican art museums:  beginning the tour

                               Ceilings and floors...  that seems to have been my particular focus:

                                             In the tapestry hall, the ceilings were beautiful too

                                                                            

                                                         La Pieta in St. Peter's Basillica

This is from an exhibit at the Giardini in Venice, the Biennale 2011, called La Pieta or Self-love

Many of the floors are intricate patterns of fine mosaic

                                                                In St. Peter's Basilica

                                   There is no possible way to capture the enormity of this space! 

                                                   This is towards the main alter area

The only time I ever toured the Vatican was in the early 70's while on a 4 1/2 month magical hiatus from "real life".   Seeing the Sistine Chapel was turned into a torture then because too many people were herded through it at one time and just sort of pushed you through.  I only remember being able to steal quick glances up towards the ceiling;  it was not a fun experience.

But this time it was better!  They have started some sort of process to control the number of people in the Chapel at one time and so now you can stand in one place and actually look up at the ceiling !  It's  pretty wonderful!  The only bad thing is that they are very militant about picture-taking, and so I have none to share with you. 

I shared that trip in the 70's with one who has a finely developed sense of social justice (and injustice).  He read the irony in the riches of the churches that the poor prayed for tenderness and mercy within.

                                                                    Jim, not much has changed:

                                            From the walk back towards the hotel:

The Spanish Steps

                                                         This concludes Day 2 in Rome