Author: susan

Firstly let me say that the sun is back with a vengeance. So much so I was sweating today even though I didn’t bring the coat out. I even harboured the thought that I may need to go to T-shirts before long!! Still unreliable but when the sun shines it is just wonderful.

So … in the sunshine, two more days of touristing to give me pleasure and make the time go so, so quickly.

Yesterday I wasn’t going to do much. I stayed home for the morning and then thought I’d go for a walk. As is always the case though, there is always something to tweek the interest and make you want to explore.
I was wandering along in the centre and was going to pop into a church to catch another Caravaggio I hadn’t yet seen. But the time was wrong and the churches were closed. So I decided to go into the Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Attempts. I was great…an amazing collection of of classical sculpture which was part of the Ludovisi Collection. Some gorgeous pieces in there and once again the setting for the display of sculptures was just superb with frescoes decorating the rooms. I love it!!

When I finished there I went back to Chiesa di Sant’Agostino. I’d been wanting to go there. It is just near the church that holds the 3 Caravaggio’s but I had somehow always missed it. There is a lovely Caravaggio in there, ‘Madonna dei Pellegrini’, but the added bonus is that there is always a beautiful Rapheal frescoe of ‘Isaiah’. So I loved that. Then as I started to walk home again I stopped at the Chiesa di Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola. In here there is a ceiling frescoed in such a way as to defy the rules and creates an amazing optical illusion of a dome although it is actually flat. That was also great. So what started out as a quickish stroll meant that I didn’t get home until after 6. And a little tired I have to say!!

Didn’t know what I was going to do today but decided on a place I’d barely even heard of, The Terme di Caracalla. Again I was taken by surprise, it is an awe-inspiring, massive complex/ ruins from 216 AD that held an Olympic size swimming pool, thermal pools, large gymnasiums, libraries, shops etc. It was elaborately decorated with beautiful floor mosaics, superb sculptures etc. It is one of those places that you can really imagine the Romans lying around the pool playing games, going from hot to cold pools and working out in the gym. There are remains of the mosaics, There are stones with games carved into them that they used to play by the pool. The only other place I’ve seen such great examples is Ephesus.

The great thing for me was that I was able to make connections because most of the greatest works of art have been removed and displayed elsewhere. There is the wonderful ‘Farnese Bull’ that used to be there. It is now in the Archeological Museum in Naples and I remembered it so went back to my photos tonight and there it is. Also mosaics of athletes that are now in the Vatican Museum and same thing I remembered them and was able to go back to my photos and refresh my memory. Its like a jigsaw and it really is a wonderful feeling to be able to start to put it all together. You actually feel as if you are learning something with all this touristing!!

It was quite tricky to get to the Terme and I well and truly overshot it once I worked out which bus to get, so had to get on a bus going back and even then I didn’t find the right stop and had to walk back. Walking so much is harder in the heat…your feet don’t like it as much….I can hear your mocking ‘oh yeh’ as I explore the world!! But I was HOT today. Also the tourists in Rome are increasing by the day. Yesterday I stuck my head into Piazza Navona and pulled it straight back out again. It was FULL to the brim. I’m unaccustomed to it. The noise in my little apartment at night is really quite disturbing at times, although I tend to get used to it, but on St Pat’s Night it reached a crescendo with drunk idiots singing outside my window.

Enough!! Thinking constantly now of Rose arriving in 9 sleeps…can’t wait. Then Easter with Ham and Az as well, what a lucky possum I am. Only one thing missing and so wish you were here too Ang but great that I have August to look forward to with you and Kirsty.

Woke up this morning and still drizzling away…not much just not uplifting like the sunshine.

I took my time. Favourite time of the day is my 2 morning cappuccinos and a read.

Then I tootled off to another church. The amazing thing about this one was that there sat Michelangelo’s Moses. A very ordinary church that doesn’t rate in the guidebooks yet there sits Moses. One of Michelangelo’s greatest pieces. It blows me away that these pieces of total brilliance just sit there in some obscure church.

After that I walked around a bit and decided I’d treat myself to lunch which I did…just a pasta and a glass of wine but it was nice (Pappardelle with wild boar sauce).

Not much else to report today. Just soup and broccoli for tea as penance for lunch.

I certainly think I spoke too soon about the gorgeous weather and the advent of Spring. Today was the second day of rain which is a pain. It’s not absolutely teaming but it is dampening. There’s nothing you can do unless you want to stay indoors all day and I can’t do that. So out comes the prickly Montenegran beanie, the overcoat is back in service and off I go for a walk down to Piazza Venezia and then up Via Corso to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. The problem with walking in the rain in Rome is that so much walking space is shared with cars and that means getting splashed routinely. So you end up being wet around the cuffs of your pants Ho Hum! Anyway the Gallery was really lovely. It is a private collection in a family palace where they actually still live. It is one of this amazing collections…eclectic with rooms jammed full of paintings and sculptures. The best thing though is the palace itself and the frescoed walls, the amazing wallpaper, the gilded tables and mirrors. Just entrancing. So after that I walked back home via the supermarket to stock up a bit on food, then home again.

This afternoon I cooked up some Italian Broccoli (it’s different to broccoli as you know it) with garlic, oil, lemon juice and parmesan. It is delicious, gives me my vitamins and is great to have in the fridge for lunch. The other thing that is delicious here are the artichokes. I had one when I went out to dinner with Chris the other night. It was so delicious and different to what we know as artichoke hearts. I may even given cooking that a bit of a try but that might be a bit too complicated.

Apparently it’s supposed to clear up tomorrow…I hope so. When the weather is nice I want to take a bus outside Rome to Tivoli. Apparently the gardens are wonderful.

Off I go again. Hope Portugal is fantastic Hammy. 12 sleeps til Rosa arrives!!

Oh my god I can’t believe that 3 days have gone forever and I haven’t sent my catch up. Basically because they have been fairly low activity days. On Friday I had to use my 2 day Forum ticket to go to the Colosseum. Its just up the road so I took my time and then tootled on up. I had a good look at the Colosseum but it isn’t my favourite site and not a lot has changed since I last walked around it 13 years ago now. It was more something I had to do because I had the ticket and because I’m sussing everything out before Rose gets here so I can pretend to be informed!!

I then did what I do best and sat in the sun in my piazza, had a gelati and a coffee and eventually came back to the apt. Then yesterday was also slow. Each day I do a bit of Italian revision and try to learn a wee bit more. I went off for a walk up to the Quirnale and then down to the shopping area. I did a bit od surveillance re things I will see in the next week or so but I had decided it was going to be a non-tourist day so I just walked around. Later Chris cam over to my ‘hood’ for dinner. We walked around for a while, had an aperativo (or 2) then went over the road from my apt to a restaurant that always looks SO busy. The patrons have kept me awake every night as they make merry leaving the restaurant every night. I hadn’t been game to tackle it alone so it was good to have Chris to come there with me for a meal. Which was indeed delicious. They are fully booked every night with people waiting outside for a table. Good one for us to go to Rosa!! After dinner I walked up to the bus with Chris and then came home to tuck up.

Today(Sunday) it rained all day!!! It was a quiet morning mainly spent at home doing a bit of Italian and a bit of other stuff. Chris and I had planned to go to the EUR (an area of Rome where expos are held) in the afternoon but the weather was shit so instead I went over to her place to watch a set of interlinked fils/plays by David Herd, one is ‘Page 8’. They were great with Bill Nighy. Its nice to get a movie in at the weekend and Chris is very excited by her home movie set up inspired by Hammy. I then came back to Monti on the bus. I went via my lovely Ravioli shop where every time I go to get take away they give me a glass of wine and make me feel like a long lost friend. Very lovely really!!! So now I’m home with me friend Al Jazeera, a glass of wine and a delicious take-away ravioli. This morning I cooked up some lovely fresh asparagus to have for lunch during the week. So freshly picked and flavoursome.

So, another week is over. Only 13 sleeps until Rose arrives!! This time in Roma is just flying, there is always something amazing to see and do.

Well after days of sniffing around the Forum I finally paid up and went in and spent the next 6 hours pottering around in there. I was trying out the iPad App that does this virtual thing of what it looked like in Roman days. It comes with you and uses your location to identify what you are looking at. Having said that it is limited and I also get sick of peering at my iPad so once I got the gist of it I abandoned it and went on my own imagination. Truth be told it is very hard to envisage what the Forum used to be like. It’s hard to convert piles of stone and marble that have been put back together in the C20 as a vibrant, active, commercial city centre. So the Forum left me a bit wanting so up I went to the Palatine Hill and that was a different matter. It is a lovely green and treed area with the ruins of the Dumus (Mansion/Palace) of Augustus and you really could imagine it as a living breathing place with it’s internal oval for races (chariot), its swimming pools and gardens and mazes and baths with ducted heating etc. It was great. The area also provides great views over the Circo Massimus (where the Ben Hur – type chariot races were held) and Colosseo and the rest of Roma. So a long and tiring day but good. My ticket is for 2 days in a row so tomorrow I’ll use it to go to the Colosseo so I can inform Rosa’s visit.

I spent the whole day in my new shoes which may have been a bit risky and I know you will be just hanging out to know how it went. First day of new shoes and all good!!! Somehow those Merrells seem to suit me.

This is a quicky…tomorrow I continue on my excursion into Ancient Rome!!

Spring is definitely peeping out in this part of the world and lovely it is to feel the sun, to soak it up and enjoy the moments. It was a good decision to see the winter out in Rome and as each day passes I get to know the city a bit better and grow to love it. I love the way the Italians embrace you, greet you as you walk down the street and kind of accept you. With Spring comes an increase in the tourists but they don’t really bother me too much. Yesterday I went to the Capitoline Museum(s) which are two joined Museums that are part of the Capitol Building (The wedding cake – white monolith). I spent the whole day exploring these museums. They are so rich with Roman History. Amazing sculptures and paintings. The Lupa Capitolina is there, that is the famous wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Anyway…all bloody day!!! I came out smack into another demonstration. There is certainly a lot of political activity going on.

Today I thought I should give my tourist role a bit of a rest. So I did a bit of Italian study in the morning, then decided I should buy myself a pair of sneekers. Specially if I’m going to give the Cinque Terra a go when Rose is here. So I went up to the shopping area Via del Corso where I had seen a Merrell shop. That was successful and I came home with a pair of sneakers although their summer collection isn’t in yet but Spring will have to do.

I then came back to Il Vittoriano (Wedding cake building). I was walking past it and there was an exhibition on at the Immigration Museum of the liberation of the Concentration Camps at the end of WWII. It was free and I waltzed in only to be totally stopped in my tracks. It reminded me of when we went to Vietnam War Museum on Christmas Day. It was honestly the most disturbing thing I have seen in a long time. It brought tears to my eyes and profoundly impacted on me. I guess I was taken off guard so it hit me between the eyes.

When I left there I went to the Marmertine Prison which is on the edge of The Forum and is where Saints Peter and Paul were incarcerated and it was used as a brutal prison in Roman times…very spooky. So all in all not exactly an uplifting day. I scuttled back to my neighbourhood. Went to my Ravioli shop to get a delicious ravioli for dinner. Then went and got myself a Gelati and then a cappuccino. Then I came home to pull myself together.

I certainly never have boring days in this extraordinary city.

Yesterday I started sniffing around the outskirts of the Forum as I move slowly towards finally entering and trying to understand this massive excavation. So, I went to the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Like all churches in Rome it is full of interest and art. It is built on an ancient temple and blah, blah. I love it all as you know so not much point in going on too much. I then went to the Capitoline Museum forgetting that it was Monday…bugger. I should remember that by now!! So back I go tomorrow. Then I got a bit aimless and wandered off through the Ghetto which reminded me of stuffed Zucchino flowers!! So, for the first time since I’ve been in Rome and counting my pennies after spending too much on the gallivant with Tull, I sat down to lunch in a Jewish/Roman restaurant. There is no better food! I had Zucchini flower stuffed with Sea Bass!! That was a really delicious, between the Jews and the Romans they know a bit about food.

I then wandered around the streets and ended up in yet another church. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. This one houses a Michelangelo statue just sitting there, a lovely chapel decked out in frescoes by Filippo Lippi among other loveliness. If I was ever going to end up religious it would happen in Rome (not that that’s ever going to happen). I then wandered home.

Now it is morning and I’m about to go and get my coffee. Then I guess it’s back to the Capitoline Museum and more sniffing around the perimeter of the Forum. Tomorrow might be the day to actually enter!!

19 sleeps til Rose arrives and I have my little buddy with me again!!

Very quick update tonight. A day of very low activity/ laziness. It was a glorious day with sun to warm the bones and the cockles of your heart. My morning coffee is always a disappointment on a Sunday bec. my usual bar is closed and I have to find another source. After coffee I wandered off to the piazza, called the Piazza del Madonna di Monti so naturally I feel it is my piazza. Who else would be the Madonna of Monti I ask myself, it must be me. I was in the last throws of my book and I couldn’t put it down so I sat in the sun for 2 hours and soaked it up reading my book/ kindle. I then went home for a spot of lunch and spoke on Skype to Norjie who is visiting in Lucca in July. The reception was so good that I also Skyped Hammy while I was at it and the great reception continued. I then went out again and had a brief passagiata before holing up for the night as the chill set in. End of very quiet but nice Sunday in Monti.

Just a quick post before bed tonight to say the sun is back but it’s taken a bit of a dive temperature- wise in this part of the world. It has that ‘there’s snow in them there hills’ feel and actually I believe there is – blizzards actually!

Anyway after coffee this morning I don’t know what got into me but I decided I’s better clean my little apt. That took all of 10 mins (well, actually a bit longer). I had some lunch and then headed over to Chris’. As I said she’s away so I packed up a bit of washing and walked over there (it’s about 3 kms). I put the washing on and got myself organised to watch ‘Bidrman’. That was interesting but I’m still not sure what I thought of it. I need my buddies (Rose and Jule) to talk to to work out what I thought of it.

Then I packed up my wet washing and thought I’d walk back to my area. I went the back roads and through the ghetto which unfortunately found me on the wrong side of The Forum which in Rome means disaster because you can’t cross the Forum, you have to go around it and in this case that was massive. I was walking to punish myself for a slovenly day but I didn’t mean that much punishment!! I reckon I doubled the trip home. I wonder whether my knees really will wear out before their time!!

So to reward myself I got a gelati, came home and collapsed. I’m watching ‘Newsroom’ now so I watched 2 episodes of that. Now I’m ready for bed. The Saturday night noises and really in action outside my window. There is a very popular restaurant just on the other side of the street and it generates lots of noise. I’ve never been there because I don’t eat out at night by myself but I think it would be a place to try…maybe when Rose gets here.

Nearly finished my book ’The Bone Clock’ Rose…good one to get. Most unusual but an absorbing read.

Yesterday it rained all day. It started the night before and rained and rained. So I did nothing other than pick up a few essentials (wine!!) and I holed up inside with my computer, my book and started to go stir crazy. I heard it was going to be shit all over the weekend but this morning when I woke up the sky was blue and although it was cold it was lovely. So off I set. I went up to Piazza del Popolo and went to a church up there (Chiesa di Santa Maria del Popolo) that is literally full of stunning works of art. A couple of wonderful Carravaggios, Raphaelles, Berninis…quite gob smacking. I enjoyed that very much and puttered around in there for ages. Then I walked up the hill that overlooks the Piazza and sat for a while in the sun in the lovely gardens up there, the Pincio Gardens. I then walked back down and along to the Museo dell’Ara Pacis, the Museum set up solely to house the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Peace) completed for Augustus in 13 BC. This vast marble alter is considered one of the most important works of ancient Rome. It’d need to be important given what they charge you to see it….but it was nice!!

Then I hopped back in the bus and headed home to do a bit of shopping, have my afternoon coffee and come home to do a bit of very simple cooking (!!!!!!!!) for my weekend meals.

Chris is away this weekend so I’ll probably tootle over to her place tomorrow to do a bit of washing and maybe watch a movie while the washing machine is on. Otherwise who knows what the weekend will bring.

Had a fantastic email from Mares with lovely, lovely photos of you all…made me very homesick I must say, it all looks so familiar and as if I should be in there somewhere!!

More later.