Rome Day 1 - Ahhh Roma!

It’s a funny feeling – waking up before the sun and realising that today you’re going on holiday. And you have to get out of bed right now and get to the airport!

James woke up on the right side of bed at 6am and was chirpy and happy to be clothed and fed and bundled into the car. Martin drove James, Mum and I to Heathrow in time for our 9.25am flight. We were delayed one hour so I bought James a book and a fruit salad. The book was firmly dismissed but the fruit polished off in no time. Finally we were on our way. Like the flight from Melbourne in May, James amused himself and us by ‘making coffee’ from the arm rest on the plane. He was also pressing the channel buttons and counting the numbers. He did really well on the flight and ate all his foccacia and drank as much red orange juice as I’d let him!

We arrived at Rome Fiumicino airport and the first adventure was taking a bus from the plane to the airport terminal. James was excited to receive (another) stamp in his passport. And so was I!

We took a cab to our hotel, the ‘Michelangelo’,just 200 metres from St Peter’s Basilica. I was silently praying that the hotel would be good and as soon as we rounded a corer and saw the dome of St Peter’s I was praying for the cab to stop! We were really pleased when it did! The hotel was wonderful – a quiet room, 3 single beds, bath, bidet (more about that later!) and friendly staff who understood my Italian. I had done a 10 week Italian language course in 2003 and I must say it proved to be very useful and worth every cent!

We didn’t hang about the room long, eager to get out and explore the city. Mum and I couldn’t believe how close we were to the dome! We walked through the columns and out into the piazza and the sunshine. James immediately spotted the fountains and took off! By this time I was feeling a bit numb and a bit teary; it was so good to be back in this beautiful city and I was just so happy to be sharing this part of my life with my Mum. So the tears were close but I was truly happy!

We strolled down past Castel Sant’Angelo, the ancient tomb of the Emperor Hadrian. I decided that James had earned a treat and he was rewarded with a strawberry gelato. He made noisy “mmmmm” sounds as he slurped and licked – it was so funny!

We crossed the Ponte (bridge) Vittorio Emanuelle II where artists sat and painted and sold their works. The watercolours were lovely and Mum and I were very tempted. Meandering around and trying to absorb the atmosphere and dodge the crazy traffic, we eventually came to a street that brought us into the southern end of the Piazza Navona. This is Martin’s favourite place in Rome and I was a little sad not to be sharing this experience with him. Here too, were many artists and their works. As one would expect, travelling with my mother, we went into the most prominent church in the piazza, St Agnes in Agone (Agony). There, James and I lit a candle and said a little prayer. It was a beautiful little church and very spiritual and hushed.

By this time lunch was a distant memory so we started looking around for a place for dinner. On the way we walked down a street that was crammed with parked cars. For those of you who know Roman traffic, you’ll know what I mean! The cars were parked so close together that at the end of the street I had to get James out of the stroller, fold it up and walk through the tiny space between two cars sideways! Mad!

We found a trattoria at the Piazza Panico, almost opposite the bridge we had crossed earlier. It was early for the locals, about 6.30, but the waiters were only too happy to serve us and they just adored my little blonde James! We ate mushroom pizza, antipasto, bruschetta, white wine, James had a whole bowl of green olives (mostly!) to himself. We finished with tiramisu and cappucini. Food always tastes better on holiday and Mum was amazed!

We strolled home back across the Tiber and through the Piazza San Pietro. After we had collapsed on the beds and James had done a wee in the bidet (what an experience!); we called Martin who was green with envy but very, very happy to hear from us. He and James had a good long chat about the days’ adventures. As I wrote my blog notes James was ‘writing’ on a hotel fax header sheet at the table beside me. Very serious business!

It was so wonderful to be back in Rome and I am blessed to be given this opportunity by my husband. Thank you, husband!

Photos are here.