Tuesday 20th October
Dubai Desert Safari
Not much sleep – must be the excitement as our journey nears its end. Mary had a great idea to fill in the time – let’s go to the Dubai Mall – brand spanking new – loaded with the top name shops and products: jewellery, bags and boots, dresses (the Italians were clever – there were shoes shops right to our terminal plane embarkation point, finishing with Gucci) – but in Dubai everything is new and whatever glitters is gold and diamonds. Also included in the mall was a 20 metre high aquarium full of sharks, sting rays and a big slow lazy groper – yep just alongside the skate rink. Apparently desert sands sell cheap and there is plenty of sand about – if for example we were going to move Chadstone into a corner here we would have to be careful not to lose it. But the recession is hitting Dubai hard – airport taxi queues are down from 3-4hours to 20minutes and the mall was very empty of customers which meant that every shop assistant (3 or 4 per shop including the supervisor who was in charge of spotting & allocating potential customers to appropriate shop assistants very politely saying, “hello” and “thank-you” and “enjoy your day”. Anyway to cut a long story short after saying “no” to Mary’s suggestions for shirts and shoes for 8 weeks - i relented and Mary bought me a pair of funky shoes and shirt and a groovy clutch purse(for herself) as a memory of this place.
Then a taxi back and a bite to eat before our Arabian Adventure Guide picked us up for our Dubai safari. Shahid our Emirate guide was full of energy and could barely contain his mounting excitement as we picked up 2 more Aussies and a young Brazilian woman whilst pointing out examples of Dubai’s progress including a ten kilometre Camel Racing Training Track, the beginnings of a rugby stadium way out in the desert, a tennis stadium and many more projects – which are moving very slowly at the moment due to the crisis – but no matter – it will all get sorted out as we travelled around the world’s tallest building at 880 metres high. And then we arrived at the 250 kilometre desert conservation park and our camels. Luckily, we left the camels behind and entered with 19 other 4xwheel drive vehicles for a serious 60 minutes of sand dune bashing. It was a very exciting time as we slid and soared and nose-dived over the desert dunes stopping at points for photo opportunities. Before arriving at our Bedouin camp site for a barbeque dinner and some lovely entertainment by a very confident, laughing, happy belly dancer – really you just had to clap and laugh with her as she wriggled energetically non-stop for about 30 minutes.
Only one mishap to report was that Mary lost her second pair of glasses – but really it all makes sense – we reckon her first pair of glasses have dropped into the Grand Canal in Venice and it appears the desert sands have swallowed the second pair – so of course it all makes sense and is very appropriate – to lose something when confronted by a brand new environment for the first time – yep the experience is saying lose the glasses and feel the vibe hahaha.
Home soon – about to head to airport in the next 45 minutes. See you soon, thanks for sharing, love Mary and Dick.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dubai
Monday 19th October
Dubai
Woke up with no bells ringing, but just in time to meet with our Arabian Adventures German tour guide and the disorganised chaos of Barcelona and Italy was but a dream. So far everything about Dubai is sparkling and new. The seven states of the United emirates became a federation in 1971( 70 years later than Australia and 100 years later than Italy) – Dubai’s existence began in about 1833 when 200 bedoiun tribesman took control of this area/oasis/trade route and their offspring/progeny continue to rule. But rule what? In the 1950s they ruled 4,000 square kilometres of desert. Then in 1969 oil was discovered. Nuff said – as our tour meandered past the clumsy misshapen building which was the sheik’s meeting place in the 50’s and towards the skyscrapers of every shape and size (making St Peter’s Basilica seem a bit small and lacking in imagination) surrounding the world’s tallest building.
This stop over is a gem – we disembarked about 11.30pm Sunday to be greeted by our transport/transfer man. And on arrival at our 4 star hotel we were provided with instructions for today’s and tomorrow’s tours. All we have to remember is to tip the staff who do everything for us – just the exact opposite to Italy and Barcelona. So far all the meals have been delicious and service immediate and spot-on. However, one observation about the road transport system – it seems that most roads are very busy, multi-lane, one way highways with very few get-off and get-on points. With the consequence that in order to get to a point just 100metres away often requires a complicated set of spirals and circuits of some kilometres in distance – along with the very big four wheel drives, hummers and V8s but what would you expect from an nation whose oil production accounts for 40% of GDP.
Today’s tour took us through the old city (post 1969 to 1993) and the new city( post 1993) past the current sheik’s house – at one end of a 5 kilometre driveway and at the other end of the driveway the house of his brother(also minister of finance) _” No Photos allowed” – as ordered by our German tour guide. Yep and there was a lot of land yet to be developed around these palaces/forts. We visited our first 7 star hotel – the “sail” built on reclaimed land bout 200m out to sea and watched a helicopter land on a helipad some 250metres up to drop off guests. The hotel is some 330 metres tall and has 160 two storey apartments/rooms. It is built a short way from the Wave hotel (by the same company) so that when the sun is setting in the west the two hotels’ shadows combine to become a boat out at sea(money is not an issue). And it is very interesting to compare what this nation is doing with its wealth and power with what we have seen in England, France and Italy – i.e., their remains of their days as world powers. The tour included a visit of a musem which demonstrated how things were not so long ago(60 years ago), a dhow/boat ride across an ancient so-called “creek” which was about 200 metres wide and 14kilometres long to an old spice market of 60 shops and the gold market – 600 shops. Unbelievable amounts of gold and diamonds filled every window and all the shop walls – surely this amount of gold and precious stones also acts as protection (as well as the oil) of this place’s economy (gold price in 2000 was about USD250, USD464 in 2005 and just broke through the $1,000 mark). But also it appears that whatever the sheik has done seems to have worked in this state’s/sheikdom’s favour – 20% of Dubai’s population is of united emirate descent the rest are immigrants (the immigrants – Indians and Pakistanis, Iranians etc do all the work) – however in the 1970s the sheik built beach frontage houses and gave them away free to united emirate descendents. Earlier on the sheik made importing and exporting a tax free activity – yep and look at the place now from a 4,000 square kilometre desert to 60 kilometre beach frontage city and they cannot get enough of it – so more beach is being reclaimed.
Tomorrow is the desert safari tour which includes a four wheel drive over sand dunes, a camel ride, a Bedouin barbeque, falconry and belly dancing all before our transport/transfer man takes us to the airport for our trip home.
Dubai
Woke up with no bells ringing, but just in time to meet with our Arabian Adventures German tour guide and the disorganised chaos of Barcelona and Italy was but a dream. So far everything about Dubai is sparkling and new. The seven states of the United emirates became a federation in 1971( 70 years later than Australia and 100 years later than Italy) – Dubai’s existence began in about 1833 when 200 bedoiun tribesman took control of this area/oasis/trade route and their offspring/progeny continue to rule. But rule what? In the 1950s they ruled 4,000 square kilometres of desert. Then in 1969 oil was discovered. Nuff said – as our tour meandered past the clumsy misshapen building which was the sheik’s meeting place in the 50’s and towards the skyscrapers of every shape and size (making St Peter’s Basilica seem a bit small and lacking in imagination) surrounding the world’s tallest building.
This stop over is a gem – we disembarked about 11.30pm Sunday to be greeted by our transport/transfer man. And on arrival at our 4 star hotel we were provided with instructions for today’s and tomorrow’s tours. All we have to remember is to tip the staff who do everything for us – just the exact opposite to Italy and Barcelona. So far all the meals have been delicious and service immediate and spot-on. However, one observation about the road transport system – it seems that most roads are very busy, multi-lane, one way highways with very few get-off and get-on points. With the consequence that in order to get to a point just 100metres away often requires a complicated set of spirals and circuits of some kilometres in distance – along with the very big four wheel drives, hummers and V8s but what would you expect from an nation whose oil production accounts for 40% of GDP.
Today’s tour took us through the old city (post 1969 to 1993) and the new city( post 1993) past the current sheik’s house – at one end of a 5 kilometre driveway and at the other end of the driveway the house of his brother(also minister of finance) _” No Photos allowed” – as ordered by our German tour guide. Yep and there was a lot of land yet to be developed around these palaces/forts. We visited our first 7 star hotel – the “sail” built on reclaimed land bout 200m out to sea and watched a helicopter land on a helipad some 250metres up to drop off guests. The hotel is some 330 metres tall and has 160 two storey apartments/rooms. It is built a short way from the Wave hotel (by the same company) so that when the sun is setting in the west the two hotels’ shadows combine to become a boat out at sea(money is not an issue). And it is very interesting to compare what this nation is doing with its wealth and power with what we have seen in England, France and Italy – i.e., their remains of their days as world powers. The tour included a visit of a musem which demonstrated how things were not so long ago(60 years ago), a dhow/boat ride across an ancient so-called “creek” which was about 200 metres wide and 14kilometres long to an old spice market of 60 shops and the gold market – 600 shops. Unbelievable amounts of gold and diamonds filled every window and all the shop walls – surely this amount of gold and precious stones also acts as protection (as well as the oil) of this place’s economy (gold price in 2000 was about USD250, USD464 in 2005 and just broke through the $1,000 mark). But also it appears that whatever the sheik has done seems to have worked in this state’s/sheikdom’s favour – 20% of Dubai’s population is of united emirate descent the rest are immigrants (the immigrants – Indians and Pakistanis, Iranians etc do all the work) – however in the 1970s the sheik built beach frontage houses and gave them away free to united emirate descendents. Earlier on the sheik made importing and exporting a tax free activity – yep and look at the place now from a 4,000 square kilometre desert to 60 kilometre beach frontage city and they cannot get enough of it – so more beach is being reclaimed.
Tomorrow is the desert safari tour which includes a four wheel drive over sand dunes, a camel ride, a Bedouin barbeque, falconry and belly dancing all before our transport/transfer man takes us to the airport for our trip home.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Leaving Rome
Sunday 18th October
Leaving Rome
We woke up, for the last time, to the bells of St Peter’s. We had an hour or two before the taxi arrived and decided to go for a walk around the Vatican walls. It’s a decent walk, with 20 metre high very imposing walls all around. A few days prior, I had seen a lovely little Nativity scene in the Vatican book shop and had decided to purchase it and, after the walk, forced my way through the thronging crowds in the Square to the shop in the colonnade. The “Boulangerie Theory” proven yet again. The “Boulangerie Theory” is: if you want to buy a baguette in France, don’t wait until later, the boulangerie will be closed. This theory has proven to be true, not just for boulangeries, but for petrol, supermercatos, general shops AND the Vatican book shop on a Sunday morning. Thwarted again. Well, that just means I will go back and buy it next time I am in Rome.
We got to the airport, and queued at several locations (still in Rome) and eventually boarded the plane for Dubai.
Dubai airport is enormous and everything looks newer than new. Settled in and went to bed. Off to the souks tomorrow!
Leaving Rome
We woke up, for the last time, to the bells of St Peter’s. We had an hour or two before the taxi arrived and decided to go for a walk around the Vatican walls. It’s a decent walk, with 20 metre high very imposing walls all around. A few days prior, I had seen a lovely little Nativity scene in the Vatican book shop and had decided to purchase it and, after the walk, forced my way through the thronging crowds in the Square to the shop in the colonnade. The “Boulangerie Theory” proven yet again. The “Boulangerie Theory” is: if you want to buy a baguette in France, don’t wait until later, the boulangerie will be closed. This theory has proven to be true, not just for boulangeries, but for petrol, supermercatos, general shops AND the Vatican book shop on a Sunday morning. Thwarted again. Well, that just means I will go back and buy it next time I am in Rome.
We got to the airport, and queued at several locations (still in Rome) and eventually boarded the plane for Dubai.
Dubai airport is enormous and everything looks newer than new. Settled in and went to bed. Off to the souks tomorrow!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Saturday 17th October
St Peter’s Basilica
Although we were in the Basilica a couple of days ago we wanted to see more of it, as well as going into the cupola and into the crypt. We got up bright and early and only needed to queue for a short time. We took the lift up to the 3rd level and from there ascended the narrow, winding staircase which brought us to the lower rim of the cupola. We were able to walk around half of it and look below to the main body of the church. We then went up higher still and were able to go outside to see amazing views of the square and all over Rome. The people below looked very tiny! We were up very, very high.
We descended the staircase and were able to go out onto the roof, behind the statues of Sts Matthew and Thomas and other apostles. The views were incredible.
We then returned to the main body of the church and looked at it all over again. We entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and rested a while, then continued the tour. The statue of St Peter is mediaeval, and one of his feet is almost worn away, as people kiss it or rub it for good luck. Today it was roped off, so we hope our luck from the Trevi Fountain holds out – or is that to return to Rome? Somewhere we have done something for luck! There were a couple of bodies of dead popes (photos of course), amazing sculptures, mosaics, candelabra etc etc. Everything is enormous, but does not look out of place.
The Pieta is simply beautiful. This, and David, are the most beautiful sculptures I have seen. They are “alive”. I must be a Michelangelo fan. I kept being drawn back to the Pieta – there is so much emotion displayed in the Madonna’s face – she looks broken hearted, yet serene and calm. Christ’s lifeless body looks as if it has just flopped across his mother’s lap.
We then went down to the Crypt which houses the bodies of the popes, including John Paul II, which had several floral tributes and several people weeping in front of it. Amazingly St Peter’s body is here also and his tomb is rather dignified.
We spent a couple of hours shopping and sought the advice of our guide book as to where the locals shop. We took the metro out to the ‘burbs, but unfortunately, as it was Saturday afternoon, most of the shops were closed. Thwarted again! We had a final dinner at a local trattoria with Michael and Karol - this is our last day together and they leave for home in the morning. We toasted our travels together and briefly discussed the possibility of “next time....” Who knows?
This is our last full day in Rome as we leave for Dubai tomorrow afternoon. Europe has been wonderful – there hasn’t been a day pass that we haven’t been amazed, astounded, interested, gob smacked or enthralled. How soon will we return?
St Peter’s Basilica
Although we were in the Basilica a couple of days ago we wanted to see more of it, as well as going into the cupola and into the crypt. We got up bright and early and only needed to queue for a short time. We took the lift up to the 3rd level and from there ascended the narrow, winding staircase which brought us to the lower rim of the cupola. We were able to walk around half of it and look below to the main body of the church. We then went up higher still and were able to go outside to see amazing views of the square and all over Rome. The people below looked very tiny! We were up very, very high.
We descended the staircase and were able to go out onto the roof, behind the statues of Sts Matthew and Thomas and other apostles. The views were incredible.
We then returned to the main body of the church and looked at it all over again. We entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and rested a while, then continued the tour. The statue of St Peter is mediaeval, and one of his feet is almost worn away, as people kiss it or rub it for good luck. Today it was roped off, so we hope our luck from the Trevi Fountain holds out – or is that to return to Rome? Somewhere we have done something for luck! There were a couple of bodies of dead popes (photos of course), amazing sculptures, mosaics, candelabra etc etc. Everything is enormous, but does not look out of place.
The Pieta is simply beautiful. This, and David, are the most beautiful sculptures I have seen. They are “alive”. I must be a Michelangelo fan. I kept being drawn back to the Pieta – there is so much emotion displayed in the Madonna’s face – she looks broken hearted, yet serene and calm. Christ’s lifeless body looks as if it has just flopped across his mother’s lap.
We then went down to the Crypt which houses the bodies of the popes, including John Paul II, which had several floral tributes and several people weeping in front of it. Amazingly St Peter’s body is here also and his tomb is rather dignified.
We spent a couple of hours shopping and sought the advice of our guide book as to where the locals shop. We took the metro out to the ‘burbs, but unfortunately, as it was Saturday afternoon, most of the shops were closed. Thwarted again! We had a final dinner at a local trattoria with Michael and Karol - this is our last day together and they leave for home in the morning. We toasted our travels together and briefly discussed the possibility of “next time....” Who knows?
This is our last full day in Rome as we leave for Dubai tomorrow afternoon. Europe has been wonderful – there hasn’t been a day pass that we haven’t been amazed, astounded, interested, gob smacked or enthralled. How soon will we return?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rome Day 4 -
Friday 16 October
Rome
With no great plans for the day, we headed off towards St Peter’s and were deterred by the crowd snaking around the Square, and decided that we would not revisit the Basilica today. We set off towards the Borghese Gardens , across town, to go to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna. This gallery was instituted in 1883 to house contemporary works of art of the recently unified state of Italy. It is a very large (of course, it’s Rome), light and airy building containing works from 1880s to the 1960’s, including Klimt, Modigliani, Pollock, Mondrian, Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and lots of Italian artists. Many of the rooms were arranged thematically, such as Sala de Madre – paintings and sculpture on the theme of “Mother”, the battles prior to the unification, mythology and so on. Very interesting displays.
We walked through the Borghese Gardens, criss crossed by roads and lots of vehicular traffic and reached the centre of the city. We consulted our maps and guides and decided we should make for the Pantheon, and with numerous detours into stylish boutiques and interesting shops we arrived at the Pantheon.
A WOW! moment! This is one of the most beautiful ancient buildings we have seen. It was originally a pagan temple, but was given to the Pope by Emporer Phocus in 608 AD and then became a Christian church. Today it is Santa Maria ad Martyres. The dome is huge and is the largest masonry dome in Europe, and the “ocleus” is open to the sky. When it rains the water drains away over the multicoloured marbled concave and convex floor. There are the tombs of Victor Emmanule, his wife Margaretta and son, Umberto. Raphael’s tomb is also there. Raphael has a very moving tribute: Here lies Raphael, whom Nature feared would outdo her while alive, but now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die.Most of the walls are lined with marble, but there are some sections that are uncovered and you can see the ancient roman walls. It is a very beautiful place.
We dropped in at the church of S. Maria Maddalena (just for Mads), found a nice little trattoria for dinner and then made our way home. Ten hours out and about. We are certainly building up the stamina required for a full day on our feet!
Rome
With no great plans for the day, we headed off towards St Peter’s and were deterred by the crowd snaking around the Square, and decided that we would not revisit the Basilica today. We set off towards the Borghese Gardens , across town, to go to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna. This gallery was instituted in 1883 to house contemporary works of art of the recently unified state of Italy. It is a very large (of course, it’s Rome), light and airy building containing works from 1880s to the 1960’s, including Klimt, Modigliani, Pollock, Mondrian, Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and lots of Italian artists. Many of the rooms were arranged thematically, such as Sala de Madre – paintings and sculpture on the theme of “Mother”, the battles prior to the unification, mythology and so on. Very interesting displays.
We walked through the Borghese Gardens, criss crossed by roads and lots of vehicular traffic and reached the centre of the city. We consulted our maps and guides and decided we should make for the Pantheon, and with numerous detours into stylish boutiques and interesting shops we arrived at the Pantheon.
A WOW! moment! This is one of the most beautiful ancient buildings we have seen. It was originally a pagan temple, but was given to the Pope by Emporer Phocus in 608 AD and then became a Christian church. Today it is Santa Maria ad Martyres. The dome is huge and is the largest masonry dome in Europe, and the “ocleus” is open to the sky. When it rains the water drains away over the multicoloured marbled concave and convex floor. There are the tombs of Victor Emmanule, his wife Margaretta and son, Umberto. Raphael’s tomb is also there. Raphael has a very moving tribute: Here lies Raphael, whom Nature feared would outdo her while alive, but now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die.Most of the walls are lined with marble, but there are some sections that are uncovered and you can see the ancient roman walls. It is a very beautiful place.
We dropped in at the church of S. Maria Maddalena (just for Mads), found a nice little trattoria for dinner and then made our way home. Ten hours out and about. We are certainly building up the stamina required for a full day on our feet!
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Vatican
Thursday 15 October
The Vatican
Today was going to be big - yep really big – St Peter’s Basilica tour and Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. And the bells are ringing.
Penny, our tour guide, originally hailed from England, has lived in Rome 45 years, worked as a Vatican tour guide for the past 20 years and was very polished and entertaining. As she told stories about secret passage-ways, where the pope sleeps and meets, the Swiss-guard and the histories behind many of the carvings, sculptures, images and fixtures. She could have been a resource for the Da Vinci code – umm.. probably not - just a tad too sweet & very catholic/ possibly nun-like . We were lucky for 2 reasons: the tour is free and only runs at 9.45am Tuesday and Thursday. The St Peter’s Basilica is the biggest church/cathedral/basilica/ whatever in the world but I did not ask if it could contain the La Famiglia Sagreda. Inside St Peter’s everything was enormous. Some statues were seven metres high, but they were 20 metres up, so that they did not look so enormous from the floor. Genius.
Unfortunately we had to leave about 15minutes before the end, as our reservation for the Sistine chapel - about a kilometre away, was for 12noon. And we were not at all prepared for the 45 minute labyrinthine trek once inside the Vatican Museums’ walls to get to the Sistine chapel – past a 50metre corridor called the map museum, or the 100 metres of tapestries (which were copies of famous paintings including scenes from the Sistine chapel). But the last 10 gallery spaces of modern art (say 60 years from 1930 – 1990s) was fascinating and totally unexpected – with a good representation of the big names (of course) , including Dali and Bacon. I was happy to see a Morandi still life – first one, just beautiful – made from unusual colours in strange darkly glowing soft tones. But when we finally entered the Chapel it was all worth it. As soon as I looked up I saw The Creation and for the next 40 minutes or so was fascinated and over awed about how complex the pattern and variations and skilful the tricks of perspective and colour and architectural paintings : layer on layer, paintings within paintings, meaning on top of meaning. And it dawned on me that Michelangelo is more modern and contemporary than all the artists’ works we had just seen – his creations and masterpieces should survive and retain their power and beauty in / as / all ways. It would have been easy to spend a few hours there just gradually shifting around the walls in order to see the work from the best possible angle and vantage point.
I did get close enough to touch a part of the Last Judgement(but didn’t) which was a good feeling but the milling crowds had to keep moving and we eventually got pulled along down through hundreds of metres of the Vatican’s collection of artifacts: going back to the first century – and it was interesting to note that many of the signs and symbols are still in use today. It made me think that maybe the Vatican has discovered the secret of perpetual energy – the circle of life which will ensure its existence forever – i.e., the words of God are timeless – the church says the power of the word of God to inspire great deeds out of love by people for the betterment of humanity is proven by the Vatican’s existence – and therefore because something as incredible as the Vatican does exist (and has for 2000 years) then – it must be because it has God’s blessing. And because it has God’s blessing then we must continue to live according to the church’s teachings. And if we continue to live according to the church’s teachings then the Vatican must continue to exist etc, etc – yep a round about long winded way of saying that the Vatican is a self perpetuating myth/reality. What was most amazing, though, was that Mary did not realise that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is flat and it was Michelangelo’s genius that made it look curved and vaulted.
Then we enjoyed a short sustenance stop and shop before hitting the Pinacoteca to see what other paintings the Vatican had on display including: Raphael, Caraveggio, Titian, Veronese, Bellini, etc. Before finally exiting up and down corridors, spiral staircases , lifts, backwards and forwards, up and down, returning audio guides , recovering slips of identification, etc. in the funny Roman designed exit strategy which we are becoming used to now.
We are now looking forward to dinner and tomorrow we will go back to St Peter’s (and find out if the La Famiglia Sagreda will be bigger - that is if it ever gets finished) and the modern art galleries at the Villa Borghese.
The Vatican
Today was going to be big - yep really big – St Peter’s Basilica tour and Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. And the bells are ringing.
Penny, our tour guide, originally hailed from England, has lived in Rome 45 years, worked as a Vatican tour guide for the past 20 years and was very polished and entertaining. As she told stories about secret passage-ways, where the pope sleeps and meets, the Swiss-guard and the histories behind many of the carvings, sculptures, images and fixtures. She could have been a resource for the Da Vinci code – umm.. probably not - just a tad too sweet & very catholic/ possibly nun-like . We were lucky for 2 reasons: the tour is free and only runs at 9.45am Tuesday and Thursday. The St Peter’s Basilica is the biggest church/cathedral/basilica/ whatever in the world but I did not ask if it could contain the La Famiglia Sagreda. Inside St Peter’s everything was enormous. Some statues were seven metres high, but they were 20 metres up, so that they did not look so enormous from the floor. Genius.
Unfortunately we had to leave about 15minutes before the end, as our reservation for the Sistine chapel - about a kilometre away, was for 12noon. And we were not at all prepared for the 45 minute labyrinthine trek once inside the Vatican Museums’ walls to get to the Sistine chapel – past a 50metre corridor called the map museum, or the 100 metres of tapestries (which were copies of famous paintings including scenes from the Sistine chapel). But the last 10 gallery spaces of modern art (say 60 years from 1930 – 1990s) was fascinating and totally unexpected – with a good representation of the big names (of course) , including Dali and Bacon. I was happy to see a Morandi still life – first one, just beautiful – made from unusual colours in strange darkly glowing soft tones. But when we finally entered the Chapel it was all worth it. As soon as I looked up I saw The Creation and for the next 40 minutes or so was fascinated and over awed about how complex the pattern and variations and skilful the tricks of perspective and colour and architectural paintings : layer on layer, paintings within paintings, meaning on top of meaning. And it dawned on me that Michelangelo is more modern and contemporary than all the artists’ works we had just seen – his creations and masterpieces should survive and retain their power and beauty in / as / all ways. It would have been easy to spend a few hours there just gradually shifting around the walls in order to see the work from the best possible angle and vantage point.
I did get close enough to touch a part of the Last Judgement(but didn’t) which was a good feeling but the milling crowds had to keep moving and we eventually got pulled along down through hundreds of metres of the Vatican’s collection of artifacts: going back to the first century – and it was interesting to note that many of the signs and symbols are still in use today. It made me think that maybe the Vatican has discovered the secret of perpetual energy – the circle of life which will ensure its existence forever – i.e., the words of God are timeless – the church says the power of the word of God to inspire great deeds out of love by people for the betterment of humanity is proven by the Vatican’s existence – and therefore because something as incredible as the Vatican does exist (and has for 2000 years) then – it must be because it has God’s blessing. And because it has God’s blessing then we must continue to live according to the church’s teachings. And if we continue to live according to the church’s teachings then the Vatican must continue to exist etc, etc – yep a round about long winded way of saying that the Vatican is a self perpetuating myth/reality. What was most amazing, though, was that Mary did not realise that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is flat and it was Michelangelo’s genius that made it look curved and vaulted.
Then we enjoyed a short sustenance stop and shop before hitting the Pinacoteca to see what other paintings the Vatican had on display including: Raphael, Caraveggio, Titian, Veronese, Bellini, etc. Before finally exiting up and down corridors, spiral staircases , lifts, backwards and forwards, up and down, returning audio guides , recovering slips of identification, etc. in the funny Roman designed exit strategy which we are becoming used to now.
We are now looking forward to dinner and tomorrow we will go back to St Peter’s (and find out if the La Famiglia Sagreda will be bigger - that is if it ever gets finished) and the modern art galleries at the Villa Borghese.
Wednesday 14 October
Roma
Woke up to the sounds of St Peter’s bells – very close and very melodious (trust me, these bells are very good , yep really very good and i should know - as i have become an expert in my travels in the sound of ringing bells). Nothing planned as we headed out the door – other than to do in Rome as the Romans do and that is, roam. As we walked through St Peter’s Square which was packed with thousands of people who were attending the Wednesday papal mass (after passing through metal detectors and other security arrangements) we thought about trying out the bus system. In no time at all we disembarked at the site of the memorial to the Unknown Soldier and to Victor Emmanuel the man who, with Garibaldi, unified all the regions into one Italy. The memorial was built in 1911 and is entirely gobsmacking – as everything about Rome is – I guess it all started with Michelangelo’s David and it has just got bigger and bigger ever since. In London we saw a winged Victory in her chariot drawn by 4 steeds on top of the arch entrance to Green Park (and war memorial) next to Buckingham Palace, we saw the same magnificent sculpture in Paris (on top of the Arc de Triomphe maybe). But here in Rome i have already seen this same statue 3 times – it features at two ends of the roof on the building behind and above Victor Emmanual – the biggest man on horse sculpture I have seen. Furthermore I have also seen 3 arches probably each one as big as the Arc de Triomphe and half a dozen columns – some dating from the first century AD with carved figures – thousands of men and women going about their lives spiralling to the top where a statue of an emperor or apostle holds forth - all bigger than the columns seen in London and Paris. And all this before we have reached the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is the archetype all sports stadiums have been based on ever since – designed to hold 40,000 – 70,000 with easy and quick access. Unfortunately , it appears Rome has lost the secret of how to move large numbers of people quickly and efficiently, as we had to queue to get in, queue to get our audio guide , queue to get into toilets, queue to return audio guides, queue to ask man how to get out, which all took a bit of the gloss off.
But we recovered our equanimity as we walked to the Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps, window shopping along the way. With the added excitement of watching a magnificent motor cycle cop in full regalia of dark blue with gold trim and air force pilot cap leading a cavalcade of 3 big black limousines charging down the Via del Corso, with both arms waving to traffic policemen to clear the way, sirens blaring – everybody on the pavements just stopped and staring – the American Tourist behind us asking, “ I wonder how much are they going to charge us for seeing that bit of entertainment”. Mary suggested that the Police Commissioner was late for lunch, haha. We sun bathed on the Spanish Steps and soaked up the happy, relaxed atmosphere even though there were 1,000 other tourists with the same idea and turned into the Via de Condotti - lined with Dior, Cartier, Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragano, Chanel, Bulgari (twice) jimmy Choo (shoes) – you name it and the boutique is there – yep we had definitely arrived in Rome – And it is a most spectacular city.
On the way home I enquired about a couple of galleries on the Villa Borghese which house modern and contemporary art (mostly Italian artists and art movements – are there any other? haha) and booked a tour for St Peter’s Basilica and made reservations to see the Sistine Chapel tomorrow (Thursday). Tomorrow is also Karol’s 50th birthday and the owner of the apartment has recommended and booked us into one of Rome’s best restaurants which specialise in Roman Regional dishes, for dinner to cap off another big day – never a dull moment.
Roma
Woke up to the sounds of St Peter’s bells – very close and very melodious (trust me, these bells are very good , yep really very good and i should know - as i have become an expert in my travels in the sound of ringing bells). Nothing planned as we headed out the door – other than to do in Rome as the Romans do and that is, roam. As we walked through St Peter’s Square which was packed with thousands of people who were attending the Wednesday papal mass (after passing through metal detectors and other security arrangements) we thought about trying out the bus system. In no time at all we disembarked at the site of the memorial to the Unknown Soldier and to Victor Emmanuel the man who, with Garibaldi, unified all the regions into one Italy. The memorial was built in 1911 and is entirely gobsmacking – as everything about Rome is – I guess it all started with Michelangelo’s David and it has just got bigger and bigger ever since. In London we saw a winged Victory in her chariot drawn by 4 steeds on top of the arch entrance to Green Park (and war memorial) next to Buckingham Palace, we saw the same magnificent sculpture in Paris (on top of the Arc de Triomphe maybe). But here in Rome i have already seen this same statue 3 times – it features at two ends of the roof on the building behind and above Victor Emmanual – the biggest man on horse sculpture I have seen. Furthermore I have also seen 3 arches probably each one as big as the Arc de Triomphe and half a dozen columns – some dating from the first century AD with carved figures – thousands of men and women going about their lives spiralling to the top where a statue of an emperor or apostle holds forth - all bigger than the columns seen in London and Paris. And all this before we have reached the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is the archetype all sports stadiums have been based on ever since – designed to hold 40,000 – 70,000 with easy and quick access. Unfortunately , it appears Rome has lost the secret of how to move large numbers of people quickly and efficiently, as we had to queue to get in, queue to get our audio guide , queue to get into toilets, queue to return audio guides, queue to ask man how to get out, which all took a bit of the gloss off.
But we recovered our equanimity as we walked to the Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps, window shopping along the way. With the added excitement of watching a magnificent motor cycle cop in full regalia of dark blue with gold trim and air force pilot cap leading a cavalcade of 3 big black limousines charging down the Via del Corso, with both arms waving to traffic policemen to clear the way, sirens blaring – everybody on the pavements just stopped and staring – the American Tourist behind us asking, “ I wonder how much are they going to charge us for seeing that bit of entertainment”. Mary suggested that the Police Commissioner was late for lunch, haha. We sun bathed on the Spanish Steps and soaked up the happy, relaxed atmosphere even though there were 1,000 other tourists with the same idea and turned into the Via de Condotti - lined with Dior, Cartier, Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragano, Chanel, Bulgari (twice) jimmy Choo (shoes) – you name it and the boutique is there – yep we had definitely arrived in Rome – And it is a most spectacular city.
On the way home I enquired about a couple of galleries on the Villa Borghese which house modern and contemporary art (mostly Italian artists and art movements – are there any other? haha) and booked a tour for St Peter’s Basilica and made reservations to see the Sistine Chapel tomorrow (Thursday). Tomorrow is also Karol’s 50th birthday and the owner of the apartment has recommended and booked us into one of Rome’s best restaurants which specialise in Roman Regional dishes, for dinner to cap off another big day – never a dull moment.
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