Rome

The River Palace Hotel Via Flamino is placed just outside an original Entrance to Rome. Although it is quite small it has a sumptuous interior with gleaming marble floors. It was pleasant and welcoming. Our cosy room included a luxurious bathroom and powerful rejuvenating shower. We had English TV and were able to catch up with family using the free wi fi.  The lounge was always a pleasant retreat after a long day of sight seeing and they provided a free cold buffet in the evenings.

 www.riverpalacehotel.

Outside in the Piazza Flamino I was poised with my camera ready to snap every historical archway and sculpture surrounding me in awe of this aesthetically stunning city. I was later to find out that this square was quite bland in comparison to other parts of the city. I was about to be wowed.

The modern Capital set in amongst ancient architecture is well maintained and more modern buildings compliment the old. Exquisite fountains, statues, columns and churches face you at every turn as well as cafes, restaurants, shops and boutiques with manikins of unobtainable slenderness displaying rich fashionable clothing.

Street vendors are everywhere some selling hot chestnuts at an outrageous price, others handing you selfie sticks, scarves, water, supplies on demand. The one day it rained they suddenly conjured up waterproof ponchos. 

Beggars kneel humbly faced down on the ground clutching Rosary beads and a container for offerings. They generally wear head scarves and you rarely see their faces. None of them look too starved.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and you will struggle to see all of it in a week. It is best not to have rigid expectations as sometimes things can close for maintenance occasionally as I found out.

The Spanish steps at Piazza Di Spagna named so as they belong to the Spanish Embassy are usually lined with flowers and open to the public.  During my stay they were being cleaned and so they were visually less impressive than I had seen in pictures as well as being fenced off.  Piazza Di Spagna was still bustling with visitors and very much alive.

The Trevi Fountain, the most spectacular fountain in Rome  in which people throw wishing coins into and in doing so it is said to secure a return visit.  Well I will almost certainly revisit the city as I missed out on this vital attraction as it was also closed for maintenance.  A sign gave the impression that it was just for a day and so I went back on several occasions. I could see it’s magnificence even without the water though.

The enormous Vitteriano  is an imposing white marble building. It is referred to as the wedding cake and said to be the alter of the nation. Although it’s a stunning work of art It is slightly out of place in the city because of it’s origin in time. It overshadows some historical features in ancient Rome which can be seen from the back of the building. It was built between 1885 and 1911 to honour the first Italian King Emanuele II and the unification of Italy.  The monarchy only lasted for thirty years after it was completed.

It became a land mark for us as all roads opposite it lead us to our hotel.

Just along from this monstrosity are ancient ruins of the Trajan Markets named after the Emperor Trajan. It is the world’s oldest shopping mall dated back to the second century A.D. Once full of life where flowers, oils, wines and fresh fish kept alive in salt water tanks would be traded. If you can imagine the echoes of voices bartering for goods and badgering for sales all those years ago now only seagulls, crows and the occasional cat inhabit the place.

Circus Maximus was a chariot racing track built in the 6^th century BC and is situated in a valley between Palentine and Aventine. It is now a deserted empty looking space like a river drained of water. But once it was all so much alive. All kinds of athletics were held there as well as wild beast fights and crucifixions. 380,000 spectators could be seated there, seven times that of the colloseum. Whilst these events took place there would also be an abundance of food and wine stalls, astrologers and other vendors trying to make money from a captive audience much like today. It looked as though more excavation is currently taking place.

Piazza Navona is the city’s artistic central surrounded by bars and restaurants. Artists display, demonstrate and sell their work. It is a beautiful place to come at night and nearly always has live musicians playing romantic music. There are striking constructions such as the Fountain of Neptune at the north end, The Fountain of Four Rivers with an Egyptian Obelisk in the centre and at the south west end the Statue of Pasquino. In ancient Rome it was once Domitian’s Stadium and you can still recognise it’s oblong shape today. Apparently it is undergoing excavation also to discover the ancient treasures beneath. Everywhere you walk in Rome you are treading on the ancient Empire.

Technically the Vatican is classed as a small country and is not Rome. It is an essential part of the tour though. Don’t be fooled by the queue all around the magnificent St Peters Square to enter the church. We came early and prepared to queue for longer than an hour but it was no more than twenty minutes. Private tour guides will offer ticket sales to help jump you through the queue which also includes the museum and Sistine Chapel. Remember, it is free to go into the church and you only need to pay when you climb to the top of the Dome. As for the museums, you will need a whole separate day for that and the last thing I would have wanted was to be rushed through with a private tour.

Photos do not do justice to the grandeur and scale of this delightful masterpiece. We went to the top which was 320 steps after a short elevator ride. It was a long, narrow climb and it continued to narrow in breadth and height as we ascended towards the top though you never could tell how much further it was. Health and Safety takes a back seat here for if someone had feinted up there, nothing was to be done. Luckily no one did. The view was brilliant from the top but there wasn’t much space to move and take photos.

The Church itself was overwhelmingly beautiful. I felt deeply awestruck by it’s powerful spirituality. The ornate marble carvings, splendid artistry is almost indescribable.  

Castel Sant Angelo another fantastic building near by with a wealth of history. Built in 123 – 139 A.D.  by the Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum to himself. It was a tomb to him and his family. Later it was converted into a fortress of defence in medieval times as well as a prison and home to the pope.

At the top of the Castel there is a Montelupo statue 1544 of an angel sheathing a sword. It signifies a legend that an angel was seen over Rome during the end of the plague in 590 AD.

The view from the top is fantastic. Not as high up as St Peters but a bigger base to walk around and see Rome in it’s entirety.  The building included a museum collection of artefacts from all around the world, some from the travels of Guiseppi Tucci an Italian explorer.

The Pantheon and the Square around it is yet another bustling lively place. The Pantheon was a place of worship built during Hadrian’s reign but was one of the first Roman Temples to be made into a church by Pope Boniface VI in 609 A.D. It’s famous for having the world’s largest unreinforced dome. A marvellous construction indeed. Many leading Italians have been buried here including painter Raphael.

The weather in October was warm and sunny most of the time and you didn’t really need to bring a coat. We had only one day of patchy rain and so chose to go to the Vatican Museum which would mean spending the day inside.

The museum is holds an amazing ancient Egyptian collection of sarcophagi, mummies, jewellery, ornaments etc.   It also has a fantastic collection of Roman and Greek statues. There is so much to see and soak in. One of the most striking things to me were the ancient tapestries which were hand woven by artists. The room displaying these had an aroma of dampness. The Raphael rooms were fabulous and beautiful displaying elaborate ceiling art. On the way to the famous Sistine Chapel we passed through a modern art area ranging from the 20^th century onward. The crowds dispersed here and sadly no one was that interested. How could they be, Art seems so inferior now to what it was in the renaissance period or earlier. I put that down to the technology we have now. We replicate or portray character even beauty through the use of film and photography. We no longer need to sculpt portraits to remember our heroes and idols by. Tapestries once told stories. People sought immortality by leaving images of History behind long after death as a sort of trail to their descendants to learn from. Now the internet does the job.

The Sistine Chapel was amazing with enchanting, eye catching hues. The museum provides a personal audio handset which explains it all. By far the most breathtaking piece was Michael Angelo’s Painting in bold sky blue portraying judgement day as it is said to be in the Bible's book of revelation.  The ceiling offered bible stories from the beginning of God bringing light, Adam and Eve and Noah. On one side the life of Moses is displayed in frescoes and on the opposite wall the life of Jesus. 

We returned to the church of St Peter afterwards.

It is important to do your own thing in Rome and not to just follow guide books. I discovered that every church in Rome is beautiful just by popping into them. It is also nice to get away from the crowds and relax a little because did I mention how annoying the incessant presence of tourists can be?

At the Piazza Della republic where the centre piece is yet another gorgeous fountain, we discovered the entrance of an old looking Roman structure and decided to go inside and it was completely transformed inside. Santa Maria delgi Angeli dartiri had originally been the Baths of Diocletian but now a beautiful marble church. Antonio Lo Duca had the revelation to reconstruct it and again Michael Angelo had a hand in it’s design.

Outside in the grounds we walked further to discover the Roman Museum National. It had a complete collection of artefacts dating back even further than the Romans. Tombs of an earlier agricultural period had been excavated and even the discovery of magic and spells. Many Roman busts, plaques and statues from all the famous emperors were exhibited here too. Tablets from new years vows and announcements made by names like Tiberius, Claudius, Augustus, Caligula and Nero. There’s nothing quite like brushing shoulders with the rich and famous.

When going to the Colosseum  it is a good idea to first go to the Gladiator training grounds just across the road. There is a scaled down arena as well as the stone cell like rooms the gladiators lived in. You could imagine they could hear the crowds roaring and cheering from there as they headed towards their fate.

It is a good idea to have a guide talk you through the Colosseum or it’s real name Flavian Amphitheatre. It is impressive from the outside but just little more than a shell inside as it has been exposed to earth quakes and some of it’s materials were reclaimed for recycling in the middle ages when sentimentality towards the Romans was non existent.  You can appreciate the size of it as you stand at the highest point.

The Roman Forum is worth spending a large part of your day if history fascinates you. It is important to have a guide as there it is a collection of ruins and many unlabelled structures. It contained lots of government buildings including a bank. It was the centre of Roman life and full of temples, arches and shrines.  It is easy to imagine you have been teleported through time and it left me with an unquenchable thirst for Roman history.

More importantly my favourite eating places. During the day time a lovely place to stop for a drink and a rest is Mr Boom on the Corner of Piazza Pascale Paoli.

A good place for an evening meal and decent wine would be Cavona Tadolini. Via del Babuino.  It has charm and character as well as delicious food. You are surrounded by white stone statues because it is actually a museum dedicated to Antonio Canova a famous sculptor and teacher of art.

I ate roasted vegetables with artichoke and mozzarella for starters (it was huge) followed by the most succulent chicken breast with chopped pistachios. 

www.canovatadolini.com

I would have liked to have been able to bring home the essence of Rome. A lovely City well worthchecking out.