A - Z Challenge - R is for ROMA (ROME)

I love Italy nearly as much as I love France so I got to thinking, woh, you'd better do at least one post on the glorious, chaotic country, so I saved R for Roma.

Rome (hereafter called by its proper name, Roma, to get me in the vibe)  you either love or hate. I'm somewhere in between. It's Italy's madness encapsulated in a central position. When I first visited Italy in 2004 I drove down from Paris through various tunnels. I can still remember driving through Tuscany and just about pinching myself - boy, it was just like in the films and books. What glory! What majesty! I was transported.

The first book (but certainly not the last) I'd ever read on Tuscany was by Feranc Mate, who with his wife Catherine, an artist, travelled the world looking for their Utopia. They found it in Montepulciano, a medieval hill town in Tuscany. Their trip set me off on a wild Tuscan chase, where I inhaled the rich red wines of the region - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ...oh, but that's another story. Like Hannibal, let's get to Roma!

Being warned of the dire consequences of driving in Roma, we perched the hire car on a little precipice in a gorgeous medieval hill town, Soriano nel Cimino, 70 ks north of Roma. We were staying in a Palazzo once belonging to an ancient king, so we banded together with some friends we'd just met from Fort Lauderdale Florida and took the train to Roma. Now we'd been told to look out for pickpockets on the metro. Sure enough, one of our party got robbed of her wallet.

Chugging into Roma we had our faces out the window rhapsodising over all the old bits and pieces of bricks and aquaducts and ancient tunnels the Italians casually ignore, and stood up ready to hit Roma's soil, well, as soon as we could escape StazioneTermini. What a place!

'Do you wanna buy?' 'Here! Here!' For a quiet Aussie this was a bit of culture shock. How do you get rid of the pesky hawkers shoving cheap tacky Colosseums in your face?

'Buya this elephant and you'll have besta luck for many many year,' cried one. 'Buy or I'll set the Mafia onta you,' was the subtext.

Swatting hawkers like flies, we finally emerged into the ancient city and hit the tourist spots - The Spanish Steps, Victor Emmaneul monument, the Pantheon...All were amazing. (See at the end of post for the tourist trail.) Then we had to try the tucker, which wasn't half bad. Everything was loads of yeasty bread, thick melted cheese and tangy tomato paste/sauce/puree.

Victor Emmanuel Monument

Vatican City, St Peter's, (I never want to leave that St Pieta), buy a few Michaelangelo prints, more tucker. The piazzas, which one is this? Oh, this is where my Pat Conroy favourite novel Beach Music is set - Piazza Farnese - what are all these torched vespas doing here? When did that happen? Let's follow the da Vinci Code trail..,

Piazza Farnese, bathtub fountain (one of two)

The Trevi Fountain - 'Canna I taka your pitcher miss?' the urchin asks trying to snatch my camera from around my throat. 'Urk. Uhk. Lemme go little fella or I'll point the bone at ya,' I hiss. 'Here, I taka you pitcher with my camera. Then you can buy,' he says, trying to distract me while he tugged my trusty camera strap as hard as he could. 'Bugger off,' I say. 'Lemme go throw a coin in the fountain so I can come back one day.'  Give me the peace and quiet of the Australian Outback, I'm thinking...

Stazione Termini

(Rome's main railway station)

This is the center of railway system of Roma, as well as the cross roads of all public transportation in the city. The name ‘termini’ comes from the popular denomination of the word ‘terme’ meaning ‘baths’, from the nearest Baths of Diocletian. The architecture is characterized by the extremely long, modernist facade in travertine stone, and by the gravity-defying double curve of the roof. There is a Non-Stop train Service for the transport from the Fiumicino Airport to the Roma Termini and back. Located in the center of Italian peninsular, the Roman railway station was conceived as the center of all the railway junctions coming from north and south.

Spanish Steps

Designed between 1723-1726, these magnificent double steps combine straight lines, curves and terraces creating one of Rome's most distinctive landmarks. The steps lead up to the 16th-century church of Trinita dei Monti. Spectacular views over the city rooftops opening in front of your eyes more than warrant the steep climb (steep climb? Ever done the Cinque Terre?) The Spanish Steps acquired their name from the neighbouring Spanish Embassy. At the foot of the steps lies the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain, designed in 1627 by Bernini.
 
Pantheon

The best-preserved ancient Roman structure in the city, built as a temple to the gods around 125AD and converted to a Christian church in AD608. It is marvelled at its domed interior with the oculus (9 meter hole in the center of the dome) which allows light and rain into the building. Inside you will find the tomb of the world-famous artist Raphael.
 
Colosseo (Colosseum)
 

Commissioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian the Colosseum is the most impressive and majestic amphitheater of Roman times. It was the scene for the Emperor and wealthy citizens entertainment where gladiatorial conquests between men (specially trained soldiers, slaves and prisoners), lions and wild beasts were held till the fifth century. The stadium has been pillaged over the centuries. Its rich marble facing stripped away to build palaces and churches and finaly it was rocked by an earthquakes. Now a mere skeletal framework of the former grandeur return us in time of ancient civilisations.
 
Trevi Fountain
 

Magnificent, mellifluous fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi and Leon Battista Alberti. In the middle of the scene is Neptune flanking by two tritons; one trying to tame an unruly seahorse and the other leads a docile animal, thus depicting the two contrasting moods of the sea. It’s said that if you throw a coin and make a wish, it will be fulfilled. It looks beautiful day or night.
 
Vatican City - oh my, why is there poverty in the world?
 
 

The Vatican is much more than the sum of its parts: It’s an organism that inspires and produces the very art and faith that then enrich it further—like a circular galaxy in a process of continuous expansion. —Gianluigi Colalucci

 
 
Well, I repeated the experience in Roma in 2008 and nothing much had changed. This time we travelled by train and organised a hotel behind a massive steel studded door 7 feet high and thick about 5 minutes from the craziness of StazioneTermini.  'Here, miss, buy this. Buy that!' They'd been waiting for me for 3 years! Why oh why did I throw that coin in Trevi Fountain?