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.