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Low activity day

This will be a short missive tonight for a quiet but enjoyable day. So as I said yesterday I got a SIM for my iPad and I diligently downloaded the App for Ostia Antica. So I thought I’d head off there today. Was just about to head out the door when Chris rang. She told me I couldn’t go to Ostia Antica because she had arranged for us to go on Sunday. she had even booked to go to a site that isn’t open to the general public. So I was stopped in my tracks.

Then what to do. My main problem is that I feel I always have to be ‘doing’ something so I took a deep breath and decided on a low activity day. But first I wanted to find an electrician/ electrical shop to see if my kitchen wiz stick could be revived. I went to 2 places that spent endless time trying everything. The second place was fantastic but in the end pronounced it ‘morte’. I was very, very sad about that and I do feel awful…so sorry Ham and Az. How stupid of me not to have given it a try before I left London.

I had a whole cauliflower and some potatoes in anticipation of my wiz working so I decided I wasn’t going to waste them. I chopped them into tiny, tiny bits (with a bread knife!!) and started to make a good old mess using 2 saucepans to cook it all up. End result…delicious soup!! I went for a couple of walks, sat in the lovely sunshine, did some Italian revision and before I knew it the day was done.

Chris just rang to suggest we have tea tomorrow night at her place and watch a movie so I’ll take some cauli soup and I’ll buy some yummy ravioli from my ravioli shop to take over. Maybe I’ll stay the night to go to Ostia Antica on Sunday am or maybe I won’t. I’ll see how I go.

How’s that for a domestic day for a very undomestic Mumma.

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Quiet days in Rome

Not too much to report over the last two days, I’ve had a fairly quiet time. Yesterday I set off to get myself to a part of town that I hadn’t been too. The big Piazza del Popolo on the northern edge. I found a bus to get me half way and then I set out walking. But I got distracted half way there when I stopped at a “Wind’ office (Wind = Telstra). I wanted to top up my phone and I also wanted to see about a Sim for my iPad because there are these good Apps that can recreate sites like Ostia Antica and The Forum. I thought this would be cool, not to mention I could also use Google maps if needed. So after getting all the info I said yes, I’d get this Sim. Once the transaction had gone beyond the point of no return I realised that I’d tucked my passport away in my apartment and guess what? You can’t get sim cards without photo ID. So…around I turned and back I went and then back again. My quiet little day was turning into another day walking, walking. Anyway to cut a long story short I did it and got my Sim. Only time will tell now whether it is going to be worth the cost which is fairly hefty but not too bad.

I finally got myself up to the Piazza but by now it was starting to drizzle and there was no enjoying the Piazza for a while. I trotted and bussed my way back to my ‘hood’. I know you’ll be thinking I deserved a gelato after that, I know that’s what I thought and got one forthwith…pear and ricotta + rice and honey a bit of Italian revision.

Today I set off to go to a church not too far from here with a magnificent Bernini sculpture in it. I got there and there was the Bernini statue completely covered in scaffolding with just enough peeping out to let me know what I was missing…bugger! So I wandered around, popped into another church built on layers of previous ancient places of worship that was fascinating. Then I did a massive supermarket shop to buy lots of cleaning products to keep this place in shape…they provided nothing which is a bit annoying. I found an electrical place to get an adapter for my kitchen wizz but I sadly haven’t got that going yet. I wonder if the wattage is different here??

Another day has vanished. I’ve got my Ostia Antica App going so may head off there tomorrow to see how that works. That is if I can find my way there.

4 weeks until Rose gets here…wow!!

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Of mosaic hunts and Etruscans

Two days to report, all about settling into Roma and trying to get the most out of a city that holds extraordinary wealth.

So back to yesterday. Always my morning coffee with cornetto (or without)… cornetto = croissant. Then I set off to do the ‘mosaic walk’. I have to thank Sally and Frances for sending me these walks. The first was in my own street and truly hidden…you have to be bold to work out how to get into the church. You will forgive me being boring but I want to record the names of the churches here for my own sake. This was Chiesa di Santa Pudenziano and it was just lovely. Then I went to one nearby, Chiesa di Santa Prassede which was probably the days highlight really with extraordinary mosaics of C12. I got really excited here!! Then onward to Basilica di San Clemente and onward again to Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano and its Baptistry. This was amazing too. It is the second most important church in Rome and the Pope’s parish church (not St Peter’s). Lastly I went to Basilica di Quattro Coronati which has amazing C13 frescoes…but it was closed so I had to go away and contemplate when to return. At this point I was fatiguing so I headed back around the Colosseo to get myself home. But not before I’d stocked up on my wine and had another coffee. I was tired I have to say.

Then my landlord was supposed to come with the second set of sheets I was supposed to have so I had to be tidy and neat but she didn’t show and didn’t show so being tidy and neat was starting to pale i.e. I had to make a mess to eat etc. She eventually came after 10and left them on the doormat so why did I bother??!!

Today I decided I had to complete yesterdays mission and go back to B di QC. So I set off. I had also worked out that the Number 3 tram took me to Villa Giulia, the Etruscan Museum that I had been wanting to go to ever since I (and Rose and I) went to the City of Bologna Museum which told us all about the influence of the Etruscans. The number 3 tram went from near the Basilica…easy!! So I went and saw these amazing frescoes that I really loved. It was truly amazing. It is an order of sisters and you have to ring a bell and a nun appears behind an iron grid. She asks for a donation and then buzzes you into this little chapel which is SO beautiful. It also has a wonderful cloister, so I really enjoyed that.

Then off and found the tram which took me god knows where but did end up at Villa Giulia and I enjoyed the Etruscan heritage which is amazing. For some reason I was very tired today so by the time I’d spent a few hours there and got myself back to the tram stop I was ready to collapse at home.

Not to collapse for too long I decided to do some washing and then got into making my first soup. I got it all ready for mushing with my new fantastic magic kitchen wiz stick. Hooked up the adapter and guess what…fucking nothin!! How disappointing was this??Now I have all this soup ready to go and no wizen. I’m sure the problem is Chris’ adapter so I think I’ll find a place to buy a new one tomorrow and try again. It’s too much not to be able to complete the task about which I had got very excited.

So I am now cooking some tea (spaghetti) for tonight…how impressive am I???? It takes a shitload of vino to get through these challenges!!

My final word is to announce that Roses birthday present is a course in Mosaic creation and it will be my mission to inspire her when she is here!!! Sorry darling!

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Living in Roma

I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon but need to go back to Friday to do a bit of catching up. First of all, the weather has definitely decided to embrace Spring and for the last few days I have discarded my coat for the first time in a few months. It actually feels weird without it as it has been constantly on my back since before I left Bologna. The sunshine is just wonderful, it just warms your bones and you realise how much you have missed it.

Chris is going away for the weekend and she has suggested that I stay at her place on Saturday as she has set up this wiz bang home theatre thingo as per Hammy and on Hammy’s advice. I thought this was a good idea as I do want to catch up on a few films but also want to get a load of ‘heavy’ washing done like my jeans etc that are too hard to do by hand. So this entailed going over to her place again to learn how to use the home theatre gizmo. So I set off on Friday morning and walked over to Via Monserrat again. It is about 3 kms and takes me about 45 mins, so (for me) its a good bit of exercise for the morning. We had a coffee and then I had a lesson in how to use the very delicate home theatre system as well as how not to electrocute myself using the washing machine etc. I also borrowed a Europe/ UK adapter so I can use the kitchen wizz I got for Christmas. Chris had a couple of errands to do so she suggested I tag along. One was trying to get an appointment to get into the second largest amphitheatre in Rome that isn’t open to the public, so that was really interesting. The other was delivering signatures for a petition to stop horse drawn carriages in Rome because of the poor treatment of the animals. So it was an interesting tag along! Back to her place and I then went and enquired about Italian lessons at the school near Chris and then got on the bus to return to my area.

I did a good shop on the way home to stock up a bit on food, wine etc. I spent the afternoon wandering around, having a gelato and sitting in the sun reading. I come back to the apartment in between and try to do a bit of Italian study as well as planning places to go in the days to come.

Chris was supposed to leave in the AM on Saturday but her plans changed and she didn’t go until the afternoon. So she rang me to say she was going to the market in the morning and did I want to come. So I packed up my washing and enough gear for the night and set off to catch the bus over to her place. But I waited and waited and no busses came, so with all this gear I once again started to walk. Chris said sh’e pick me up half way but when I got down to where we were to meet it became clear why the busses weren’t running. There was a massive demonstration and all of Piazza Venezia was cut off. So…nothing for it but to keep walking. Living on the other side of town to Chris is good for my fitness!! Anyway, all fine, we went to the market and I bought stuff for tea and veggies to make my first soup.

Chris finally set off and I indulged myself in 3 movies. I saw ‘Boyhood’, ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Whiplash’. I saw Whiplash because I couldn’t get ‘Birdman’ to work which was a disappointment and I wasn’t enthralled with Whiplash. That was just so indulgent but I enjoyed doing it. I got up this morning, collected all my gear and headed off back to my apartment, praying that the busses were running because with laundry still damp and stuff bought at the market, I was buckling under the weight of my load. Fortunately they were running and I only had to stagger from the bus-stop…phew. I dumped all my stuff and went for a coffee, a walk around down to the Forum area to people watch a bit. I then decided to go to my new-found friends at the ravioli shop to eat there. It is just so delicious I can’t tell you!! That was divine, then a lounge about in the local piazza and a read of my book. Now I’m back to try and wrap my head around trying to learn a bit more Italian and have a quiet afternoon.

It is definitely the challenge of stopping in places for a long time, trying to stop being a tourist and then what do you do? I need to feel more comfortable doing mundane things like at home, but somehow it’s different. But having Chris here in Rome makes all the difference. Although I don’t see her all that often (or for too long) I don’t feel so totally alone in a big city.

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Settling into Roma

Two days have gone by as I find my feet in Roma and settle myself into life.

Yesterday started with me having a bee in my bonnet about dying my hair. So first thing in the morning I was up and getting that going.

OMG….Disaster!!! Bright orange!! I nearly flipped, was calmed down marginally by Rose’s sage advice and went out to brave the world for my morning cappuccino.

Nobody started to laugh spontaneously so I kept walking around the place. I went up to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore…one of the big 4 Basilica’s in Rome. Gorgeous mosaics!!
So I kept walking around the place just getting my bearings in this area.

It was a beautiful, beautiful sunny day. I swear in the sun it must be at least 17 degrees. I thought I was getting sunburnt at one point…and maybe I was!!

I went home for a bit of Pizza Bianca and cheese for lunch then went out again for some more walking. I sat in the sun and had a pear and ricotta kindle and read while I ate my gelato. This was bliss. Then I got this wild idea…I was totally obsessing about my hair so I plucked up the courage to go to a random hairdresser and ask for a cut. My hairdresser was a trans-sexual woman with a very deep voice called ‘Joanna’. It is a good cut much to my relief and it did make me feel better about my hair. On Rose’s advice I’m embracing it and adjusting to the transition from ordinary blonde/grey old lady to ex-hooker, orange haired, flamboyant old lady…I think I could like myself in this new genre!!!

Came home and did a bit of Italian with Al Jazeera in the background. My old friend AJ is back! Also a few episodes of VEEP compliments of H&A.

This morning I was up early and heading off to Chris’. I went up to catch the bus after my coffee but I was early so decided to walk…about a 40 min walk all up. When Chris was ready we went and had coffee and then loaded up her car with my luggage and off over to my area. Luggage up and down stairs but finally ensconced back in my apartment. Chris and I wandered around Monti for a while and then headed off to do a few errands all over the place. We then went and had lunch in an old convent that is now a women’s refuge. They have a restaurant and we sat outside in the sunshine under a magnificent Magnolia tree. This was really just lovely. Chris and I then parted company and I came back here.

Now…I’ve been searching for a place with good food I can take home, heat up and enjoy, like the one I relied on in Bologna. Chris had sent me a link to a little place that specialises in Ravioli and meat balls. So I went there to see if they did ’take home’. They were totally adorable and I am sold!! Not only do they do ’take home’ but have some wonderful ravioli AND he was so charming. Offered me a free glass of wine and had one with me. I bought the ravioli with a filling of rabbit…delicious, and I will enjoy it as soon as I finish this email. Got my wine at my wine shop and came home. Spent the next couple of hours unpacking all the luggage I had left with Chris. Retrieved things like my sunglasses that look as if they’ll be needed again and settled down for the night.

Goodnight all.

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Getting back into Roma

Today was a day to walk the area around Monti and sort out my new environment. Feeling like a stranger, of course, and I always struggle with that but I have conquered the essentials:

a) I have found my wine shop, directly over the road from the apartment, where I can not only buy a nice bottle of wine but also get a 1.5 litre plastic bottle for 2.40 Eu…this of course is very bad for me and puts temptation right in my path.
b) I found the supermarket but probably not the one I would want, it is upmarket and expensive.
c) I found the bank to extract all my hard earned money to pay the landlord and signed off on the contract. I
d) have the best gelato shop within 200M…another very bad thing requiring even more discipline, not that I was disciplined today. It was a most wonderful, sunny day with the sun just pouring down and warm so I sat int the sun a couple of times and just lapped it up. On one such occasion the sit in the sun was enhanced by a gelato.
e) I found a salumeria that is run by an Australian/ Italian who helped me choose a nice cheese
and best of all:
f) I found a delicious bar for my morning coffee.

So the day went by and I feel more acclimatised at the end of it.

I’m about to get on the bus when I finish this and take myself back to my ‘old’ area to meet Chris for dinner. It will be lovely to catch up with her and relay both of our goings on over the last month.

Not too much excitement other than this. My challenge now is to find myself a ‘life’ in Roma. Hopefully I will get to know the city much better over the next 6 weeks.

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From a final day in Venice to Roma

Here I am back in Roma. But more of that in a minute. First I backtrack to our last day in Venice. A day that we gave over completely to Carnevale and in truth it didn’t seem quite as chaotic as Friday had seemed. Not sure why but the crowds seemed a little more manageable. We set off in the morning after cappuccino in the local Patisserie that we had grown to know and love as you do! Then we had the inspiration to book at the best restaurant we had frequented in Venice because the previous night we went to 3 restaurants that turned us away because they were fully booked. Then to the Vaporetto and off to San Marco to get with the action. Really from there it was just that, a day of wandering around amongst the amazing costumes and the tourists. The thing I really liked about it was that it just wasn’t a Carnevale of the highly glamorous and intricate costumes, it was increasingly becoming the peoples fun with more and more people donning masks and going with it all. Needless to say we were totally hopeless and were very much observers rather than participants….perhaps sadly!!!

There was the flight of the eagle with an ‘eagle’ i.e. a woman doing a high and ‘daring’ flying fox…a bit underwhelming when it’s all said and done. When we needed to get out of the fray we went and had a quiet lunch and glass of wine, then back into it but briefly because it is exhausting, it is a very intense and ‘happening’ environment. Each afternoon we went back to our lovely apartment and had some wine, cheese and downtime before heading off for dinner. Which was delicious! I had seafood lasagna and it was to die for, something I will try when I get home!!!!

This morning was pack up time and lugging the luggage back over the bloody bridges to the Vaporetto and the the train station. But not before our last cappuccino and arrivederci to our yummy pattiserie. Then Tull and I parted company at the station. I can’t believe a whole month just flew past. It flew on one hand and on the other the start of this adventure seemed like a lifetime ago. We certainly packed a lot in and it was great for me to spend the time in places I’d been to before but never had the luxury of a week of concentrated orientation to the city. The highlight being Naples just because I hadn’t been there and I loved it.

So, in a jiffy back in Roma. No hitches, met the manager of the apartment as arranged at the arranged time, an easy walk from the station. The apartment is great but very small and missing some basics such as no microwave and no oven. It will take some ingenuity to work out how to heat the lasagna I bought as a quick fix for tonight. Rosa…prepare to be up close and personal with your Mumma!!! But we do have separate beds so don’t totally panic!

Then out i went. I had to find a bancomat because I have to pay her cash and I have a bee in my bonnet about taking out less than 500Eu when I need a lot because you get charged for each withdrawal. So walk I did…and walk and walk! Anyway, it had the effect of orienting me not just to the local area but also the broader context. It’s a terrific area, very trendy, lots of wine bars (Enoteca’s), restaurants and great places for coffee. I’ll get into it in the morning and choose my daily coffee place to bond with. Chris and I have been talking, of course, and will catch quickly if not tonight.

The one good thing I’ve done (you will think me very ’slow’ of course), but I’ve found Aljazeera online and as I write this Aljazeera news is going on in the background…very good, it has become my friend again!!

More tomorrow and more of my love across the airwaves.

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Venice gone totally feral

Oh my God!! Until now Carnevale has been fun and entertaining and manageable but today it became totally nightmarish.

Tull and I went our different ways and I started the day going far away down past the Arsenale…down the Grand Canal…so I had a nice morning, there were people around but it was all nice and gentile. I then walked back along the Grand Canal and as I approached the Sam Marco it suddenly became total chaos with police out directing the hoards of pedestrians.

As amazingly as you could imagine I bumped into Tull and we walked together for a while and were able to manoeuvre ourselves around although there were pockets of standstill pedestrians. We sat for a while in San Marco Square at the seating of a restaurant, of course expecting to have to pay a fortune for a drink. But after a while when no-one approached us we decided we’d had our burst of people watching and didn’t need to pay for the drink as well, so we left. We walked around for ages and found a small place to stop and have lunch and a drink. That was a pleasant interlude.

We then parted company again and each of us entered the fray that was building up by the hour. I went back to San Marco where there is always something happening and sat and watched the judging of the best costume thing that happens every day. I got into it and had my voting card in action. It was a great exercise in being part of a real Carnival.

Then I left there and decided to start walking back to the apartment. That’s when it really got crazy. Standstill pedestrian traffic, you literally couldn’t move, quite scary at times with people getting cross (usually Venetians trying to get through). I spent just ages getting home because I couldn’t move and I couldn’t see where I was going. Today is Valentines Day and it’s big here…there is a ‘love in’ in San Marco’s this evening so the crowds were truly horrendous, although not very loving!!!

Anyway to cut a long story short I got back. I was sure I didn’t have any wine left so detoured to buy my supply, only to find I had nearly a whole bottle at home. As we leave Monday that has me with a surplus but I think the way things are shaping up I’ll need it!!
I have to say that sadly I think I’m just about over Carnevale. There is a massive happening in San Marco tomorrow that I guess we’ll have to brave but honestly I rather dread it. I think the sanity of Rome again will be a welcome relief!! The glamour of Carnevale has definitely faded as Venice becomes totally overrun by the hoards from all over Italy and all over Europe.

Hopefully I’ll survive to write of tomorrow although being crushed to death is a real possibility!!!

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Another day in Venice and a missed episode!!

Firstly I realised last night that I had completely missed a day in my narrative. So yesterday we went to Murano but the day before I missed completely I think. This was when we went to 2 lovely islands, Torcello and Burano. Torcello has little on it but this one church that has mosaics second only to Ravenna. Amazing really. And then Burano is the quaintest, loveliest little township with brightly coloured houses along lovely canals. Quite a treat to wander around and at Carnevale it becomes a bit of a focus with lots of people (mainly French people on the day we were there) in all the getup wandering around. So that was a really nice day, it was sunny, vaguely warm ( or at least trying) and gorgeous.

So now I skip a day and come to today. First stop was the Academia Gallery. I won’t stop and talk to much about it, it was fabulous, magnificent,Venetian artists on display in all their grandeur. Took ages and ages to get around it all but around it we went absorbing the grandeur of it all. Tull and I then parted company. So as this is my story I will proceed. I went to Scuola Grande di San Rocco which is Tintoretto in overdrive, the place is totally covered in his frescoes and canvasses. There are also wood carvings extraordinaire and it all adds up to a massive insult on the senses. Then to Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari where there are even more Tintoretto’s, amazing choir stalls, fabulous mausoleums carved by Canova etc. Not to go on and on because it gets very boring. Suffice to say that this trip has been full of extraordinary art to the point that the senses actually do get overloaded.

So I left the churches and the masters and went to San Marco to join the Carnevale crowd. And crowd it is, increasing every day with the crescendo being this weekend. I sat in San Marco to watch one of the costume judgings and had myself a hot chocolate. The people being judged in splendiferous costumes were from Italy, UK, France, Russia, Switzerland…it is a very European happening. I enjoyed that little sojourn enormously. Then I walked home from San Marco, stopping for a Vino Brule along the way for old times sake.

By 5pm it’s getting really cold so its always good to get back for a bit of catch up time before the need to forage for dinner.

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Of Murano and Peggy Guggenheim

Busy, busy day today. The day always starts with a cappuccino and a ‘dolce’ of some sort. I’ve become totally dysfunctional without my coffee (often=2) in the morning. My first cappuccino in the morning and my first glass of wine in the afternoon are invariably highlights of my day and never, ever to be gone without (if anybody even suggests that is bad English I’ll be mortified).

Then we set out for Murano, the third Island that we decided not to see yesterday. This entails getting a Vaporretto to cross the Grand Canal, a walk across to the other side and then another Vaporretto to Murano (or yesterday Torcello and Burano). The vaporetto rides are great but at the moment, with Carnevale in full swing, it’s a wonder they don’t tip over (I’ve touched wood!!) they are so full of tourists. Mainly European tourists, the French seem to have entirely abandoned France and headed for Venice, the Germans and the English follow suit. Then there’s the odd few thousand of Chinese, Japanese and Korean. So the Italians on the vaporettos who are trying to go about their business are often very grumpy.

Anyway we got to Murano and it was lovely. It was nice and quiet off the main drag and a lot less tourists than were in Burano yesterday. We went to the glass museum which was interesting, then to a church whose name escapes me(something Donato) but with wonderful mosaic floors and a wonderful mosaic dome. Anyone reading this will know how I love a good mosaic. Then we walked from the side of the island where we got off the vap. to the other side to get back to the mainland. As if that wasn’t enough, we had planned to go to the Peggy Guggenheim Art Museum and we stuck to the plan even though I was having second thoughts about tackling such an important collection already feeling tired.

Having said that as soon as I got in amongst it any thoughts of being tired vanished; it is such a truly amazing collection of art. I was just gobsmacked by the representation of all the most amazing talent pulled together by this woman..Picasso, Dali, Ernst, Klee, Miro, Pollock, Mirando to name but a few. I was truly in awe.

Finished the excitement of this gallery with an Aperol Spritz and came home. 3 more days in Venice which is a city bursting at the seams and full of excitement which is a good thing and in some ways it brings a few trials.
Having my pre-dinner vino and before you know it it will be time to go out foraging for a meal again.
Lots of love to everyone who reads this, all of whom I miss greatly.