I’m finding it rather daunting to begin this blog entry, my first for 2009, as there is just so much wonder to address. Italy revealed itself as a beautiful treasure trove of architectural beauty, artistic marvels and food and drink sublime. We were astonished at her beauty, helped by perfect weather and everything going without a hitch, including planes, trains and accommodation. Rather than timeline the trip though, I’ll try to paragraph the art/museums/galleries and the architecture/general sights/food for each city as I go. Ready? Here goes…Rome’s iconic and well known ruins and semi ruins were a massive highlight. I had an awesome moment when we trekked out after settling in to our uber-chic, yet tiny Roman apartment on the first afternoon. Topping a rise in a side street and seeing the Colosseum in the golden afternoon sun was a sight I’ll never forget. We joined a tour on spec for the Colosseum and adjoining Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, run by a perky intelligent young Aussie girl! We even wandered in to the lightly opened Augustus’ house on Palatine, only opened for the first time 5 months ago, frescoed and beautiful. We were just blown away by the majesty of the Colosseum and the Forum and found ourselves making detours enroute to other attractions in the next 5 days just to catch another look or wander through again, soaking up the sun, checking the famous Roman ruins cats. The Pantheon was so old and intact we could barely wrap our minds around it. The famous hole in the roof was there and we were ushered out as a service was about to begin, lingering in the shadows for a few precious minutes just about alone in the space…an almost religious experience! Circus Maximus just a big park now still hinted at former glory in the shape of the terraces and you could just about still hear a 300,000 strong thundering crowd and the hooves of chariot pulling horses. Piazza Navona, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, Tiber Island with remains of a huge marble ship, Castel St. Angelo and even catching a train out of town to see Mussolini’s much loathed but strangely attractive “square Colosseum ” were other highlights. Campo de Fiori was bustling and the Roman market saw us donate money to help the stray cats who live there. We even visted the famous "talking" statue. St. Peters provide yet another “take your breath away” moment, the sheer size and majesty of the place astounding, let alone the first of many “walks” to the tops of domes and bell towers that we undertook! Everywhere we turned in the 5 days, there was something more to see. We quickly fell in to the Italian routine of ducking into trattoria, osteria or wine bars for a quick standup macchiato, maybe a croissant, Panini or calzone as well. We were treated to a list of special “local” eateries by our Roman apartment’s owner, Alessandro. The “best pizza in the world” at Paino in the golden circle near the Pantheon we discovered to be only 2nd best, but more about that later, Taverna Romana, the Mum and Pop restaurant where we had to queue to get in, had a succession of mouthwatering treats that made all other Italian style restaurants in foreign countries pale badly in comparison. We had no bad meals in Rome: some were sublime and some merely excellent. We estimated we walked up to 20 km a day criss crossing Rome (and the other cities), and we both actually lost a little weight over the 15 days…that’s one way to offset that rich Italian cooking!
Churches, galleries and museums all provided such a rich tapestry of sights and experiences. We used tips from our little guide books, tips from friends and colleagues, including our American Italian neighbours (straight upstairs) who own a villa in Tuscany, as well as some detailed and excellent tips from my cousin Catherine. She and Emma had recently returned, so we sought out all they recommended and were never disappointed. The Vatican and the Sistine chapel are obviously must see highlights. We are a little “guide averse” normally, but were pleased to team up again with our intelligent and articulate Aussie girl Hannah, who led us most expertly through the Vatican and on to St. Peter’s. Cassy was delighted to view Raphael’s famous “School of Athens” and the Sistine ceiling restoration, completed in 2000, meant the dark images available until recently are no more. As bright and fresh as when they were painted, Michelangelo’s masterpiece was a real spectacle and by some quirk of fate, the normally oppressive guards were allowing all and sundry to take non-flash photos…wow! Michelangelo’s masterful Pieta in St. Peter’s was just delicious in its representation and we had trouble peeling our eyes from it. It was so wonderful to take in these sights with just a few others (relatively speaking): we don’t think we could enjoy it half as much with the summer hordes. It seems sacrilegious to gloss over all the great art we saw with such scant attention, but I must. The Capotoline’s Caravaggios and Titians along with Marcus Aurelius in muscular bronze stunned us. The Crypta Balbi, San Clemente and the Trevi theatre excavations were akin to an archaeological dig as we wound our way down through 4 levels of living, current structures to Renaissance buildings to medieval lodgings, down to Roman chapels then further to pagan altars and living quarters on occasions….stunning stuff! Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme was a sleek and expensive display of some intricate mosaic work, sculptures of power (including my second all time fav of a resting boxer: of course “David” is number one!) and beautiful frescoes. Michaelangelo designed cloister over the road had an almost modern feel, while the gild dripped Galleria Doria Pamphilj housed, amongst other treasures, two Caravaggio par excellence and some rooms which Cassy would be very glad to live in! A tiny church near our apartment, St. Peter's in Chains, had Michelangelo's Moses, which we visited twice, the second time we had the whole church to ourselves!I could go on and on and on but (I already have!). Looks like this one will be in more than one installment: I’ll write about Florence and Venice in the next day or two…
Photos pretty much speak for themselves I think: these 15 are from more than 150 taken in Rome alone!