Rome Day 4 - Fini

I can't believe this is our last day in Rome. Mum, James and I have packed so much in but continue to find the energy to seek new adventures. The thought of missing something really amazing around the next corner is just not on!

This morning we had dedicated to visiting the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. I knew the queues would be long and the sheer volume of treasures to see could easily take all of the day!

We were walking our usual route to St Peter's when we rounded the corner and saw that something was obviously afoot . There were police, security, motorbikes and cars everywhere, just outside the Piazza columns. The nearby policeman couldn't talk to us as he was 'on guard' but an event was imminent. Sure enough, a command came over the radio and all security sprang into action! Off raced the bikes, sirens blaring, and along came black cars with tinted windows and along comes THE POPE! Seriously! There he was waving to the small-ish crowd (nuns and tourists!) who clapped and waved back. He was dressed in white robes and was on his way to St John's Basilica University, a 10 minute drive away (I made the policeman talk, after all!) Mum and I just stood there and looked at each other and asked if that had really just happened? She had caught it on video, of course! We went to Rome and saw the Pope! We felt blessed!

We were still spinning when we joined the queue for the Vatican. Luckily we had an hour-long wait ahead (!) so we could pinch each other and take in what we had just seen!

It was an 'interesting' experience navigating the museum with the stroller! A couple of people ahead of me got their heels whacked but what could I do? It was very crowded and I wanted to see some of the pieces on show and not just the floor and people's legs! At some less crowded points I let James out for a run. He especially like the Big Pine Cone in the courtyard, and once again we traipsed on grass we shouldn't have. The museum trail eventually wound its way via many, many steps to the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's masterpiece. I love this room and was not so overwhelmed as I was last time. This time I knew what I was long for ie. Genesis and the flight from Eden.. My task now is to read up on some of the other panels in the Chapel, a near impossible task when you're in there!

Mum was truly taken with the Map Galleries. The corridors, more like a series of never-ending rooms, were adorned with 16th century cartography. I commented that the Romans would have to re-do the maps every time they expanded the empire, so the paintings were plentiful! I, too, could have spent much more time here.

After 2 and a bit hours we had to 'step on it' to get out of the museums and back to the hotel. We had been lucky enough to be granted a late 2pm check-out as our flight was not until 5pm and I knew our last day would be curtailed if we had the normal check out of 12 noon. We changed and packed in about 20 minutes then caught a cab to the airport. My original plan was to go back to Piazza Navona for one last caffe and gelato but it was not be. We raced along the Autostrada at 130 kms an hour! Roman taxi drivers...!

So the rest of the afternoon was spent getting something to eat and checking in and waiting for our flight. I was sad to be leaving wonderful Rome, but looking forward to coming home to share our adventures. One Daddy was very happy to see his little boy at the airport, I can tell you!

Ciao Italy, until next time...

Photos are here.

Rome Day 3 - Shopping and Saints

Our hop-on hop-off bus tickets proved useful this morning. It was a 24 hour ticket and we still had 2 hours left so we hopped one at 10am and got off at the first stop after St Peters. This was a piazza and street I had seen from atop the bus yesterday and I wanted to explore the shops more closely! My wonderful mother entertained my son while I popped in and out of nearly every shop in the street! Mum bought James a gorgeous top and I bought a fantastic dress and belt. Some of the fashion was way too outrageous for me and I could feel my credit cards cringing but I had a great time anyway!

The next bus came along an hour later so we took it to the stop near the Trevi. In the crowd yesterday we had forgotten to throw money into the fountain to ensure our return to Rome someday! This we did - James took all our money and 3 goes to get any coins actually in the water! It was hilarious. There are a dozen photos of his attempts!

I promised James gelati and we walked the short distance (slightly impeded by so many shops and photo opportunities) to the Pantheon. This is my most favourite building in Rome. I love the hole in the roof (occulus) and the beautiful marble floors. Apparently rain coming through the occulus is a sight to see. Before we entered I popped into a pizzeria and bought a ton of food (see these photos too!). We had 3 types of pizza (eggplant, mushroom and sausage), arancini (risotto balls) and potato croquettes. We sat on the step of the great Pantheon and sucked up the atmosphere and the mozzarella!

Consulting my map we headed for Caffe Giolitti, THE BEST gelateria in Rome. Martin and I had been there before and I was really looking forward to it. To entice James away from the fountains at the Pantheon I promised that now we would get a gelato. My map was decidedly misleading and we actually walked away from Giolitti. Sob! James gave up and fell asleep.Mum and I consoled ourselves with a caffe latte on the Corso Vittore Emanuele. We splashed out and paid 1 euro extra to sit down at a table! By this time we were pretty weary so we caught a cab back to St Peters.

To our surprise the queue to get into St Peters was relatively short (only one quarter around the piazza, as opposed to three quarters!) so we joined it and only queued for about 10 minutes. We had to go through security and park the stroller but it was a fairly quick process. Carrying 14 kilos of exhausted sleeping child (lucky he didn't have that ice-cream!) we entered the amazing Basilica which was very crowded, due to a large area around the altar being roped off. As Mum and I were sitting in a side chapel (silence for praying only and no photos allowed) James awoke suddenly and pointed out the 'huuuuge candles' around him. He followed that with a furtive look around and 'are there any little ones we can blow out?' I had to laugh, quietly though!

We passed a deceased pope in a glass case (Pius, died in 1911) in another side chamber. I explained to James that this man was once the 'boss of the church' but not anymore. He later relayed to Ninny that this man was asleep and not the boss anymore. I wonder how much will sink in?

Home again and another bath. We had dinner at the nearby restaurant Vittoria. Not as good as the previous night due to the staff being in-undated with large hungry groups, but we enjoyed our spaghetti vognole (clams) and ravioli with spinach and ricotta and antipasto. I felt not even a twinge of guilt ordering tiramisu again!

Photos are here.

Rome Day 2 - Rome in one Day

James was eager to get dressed and downstairs this morning after a good sleep. I told him there may be croissants for breakfast, but here in Italy they are called "cornetti". He stuck to the French version. The hotel breakfast was wonderful and I think I ate 2 cornetti myself! I needed them for energy!

We purchased a 15 euro hop-on hop-off bus ticket so we could see the sights of Rome without walking every cobble. It was well worth it. James was thrilled to be back on a bus with no roof. The great thing about being up top was the traffic was so congested that you could get heaps of photos without whizzing past! Mum went mad! First stop for us was Piazza di Popolo with it's twin churches. James was free to run in most piazzas we visited and run he did! He was fascinated by two men cleaning a fountain. Mum and I saw a shop with some nice clothes in the window so we went in and flicked through some racks. I was a little surprised to find an op-shop in the heart of the city but thought I might find a designer outfit in decent condition...imagine our surprise and horror when the amused Signor kindly told us this was a Dry Cleaners! We were mortified! We apologised profusely and got out of there as quick as we could!

Once we had stopped laughing and spluttering we found lunch at nearby cafeteria (look at the photos of this!) and Mum and I swooned over plates of vegetables! James didn't think much of vegetables so I bought him 3 mini pizzas with olives, prosciutto and tomato toppings. That kept him going for ages! It also made him very sleepy...

Reluctantly leaving the cafeteria we walked toward the Spanish Steps. I saw a dress in a window and bought it! The steps were unfortunately blighted by scaffolding and too many people, so I sat with James asleep in the stroller at the bottom and Mum walked up. Not as lovely as the postcards but a must see on the Roman tour.

Next stop was the lovely Fontana di Trevi, Trevi Fountain. There was such a lively atmosphere here that despite the crowds it was fun! I bought gelati (vanilla, hazelnut and coffee) from the place Martin and I visited last trip. We had to wake James up for this but he did so willingly!

We were having such a good time here that we had to run to catch our bus on it's way through the crowded streets! It only came by once an hour so to miss this one would mean not enough time for the other sights. We ran one way. It was the wrong way. I spotted the bus coming and we chased it up the street! Well done Mum for managing the stroller over kerbs and past pedestrians to get there! James was shaken, but not stirred.

We leapt on and settled down. Our destination was the Colosseum and Forum and I knew that would take up the rest of the afternoon. At the Colosseum James immediately took off and I found myself running everywhere after him. We didn't go into the Colosseum but headed under the Arch of Constantine and up the ancient cobbled Via Sacra, Sacred Way. This was tough going with the stroller, I can tell you! James announced he was being 'Hadrian' and headed for any elevated platform of wall he could find. That boy has no fear when it comes to being a Roman! He really enjoyed the Forum, especially the drinking fountains. He'd drink then wash his blackened hands. He fell flat running downhill (audible gasp from doting Japanese tourists!) but was placated with a nice hand wash! He was filthy when we left! And I'm not sure his once-white shoes will recover from his one!

Our final bus stop was near the Piazza della Bocca, the ancient drain cover where you see people sticking their hands in the mouth. I was too scared but James insisted he'd like to do it and Mum gladly offered to take the photo! Chicken!

We nearly got locked in the attached church (guess who led us in there?!), and the bus was late but we made it back to the hotel unscathed. We all had baths (a real luxury after a day like this) and went out again in the rain to the nearby restaurant Osteria dei Pontefici. This was recommended by our concierge and we had a ball! Something to do with too much energy, a carafe of white wine, a jovial party singing songs and a digestive Amaro! The waiters once again were charmed by James who ate a bowl of rigatoni with tomato, all the breadsticks (grissini) that were on the table and most of the tiramisu. Mum and I had the most wonderful fettuccine with mushrooms and what was left of the tiramisu.

We staggered home full and tired. When I asked James what his favourite thing was today, he answered 'the tiramisu'. Mum's favorite was the Forum. Mine was the lunch!

Photos are here.

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.