SPQR !!!!!! Our Roman Holiday at Easter.

After seeing so many Roman things here in England we had to go to see where it all started. As interested as Aisha is in British history, especially the monarchy, William is interested in Roman history. 

In early January, Mark, in his alter ego of travel agent to the masses, booked flights for the family to Italy, flying into Pisa then out of Rome. In between, our 11 day trip also took us to Florence and Naples. While originally thinking it would be best to avoid Rome over Easter, we ended up having our last five days there over the Easter weekend.

The last time Mark was in Rome was back in 1990. He had just about finished 12 months backpacking around Africa and The Middle East. His mum, Elizabeth, had flown up from Sydney to meet him for her first return trip to the Europe and then the UK since emigrating to Australia in 1956. Walking outside the Forum with his mum, Mark was pick-pocketed by a couple of gypsy girls. They walked past him, didn't bump into him or thrust anything into his face but, as pickpockets do, they managed to get his wallet without him feeling or seeing a thing. Having not lost anything in the developing world and experienced great generosity and honesty, especially in Uganda and Iraq, Mark was incensed that he was robbed in the home of the Holy Roman Catholic Church! After realising what had happened he ran after the girls (this was over 25 years ago), grabbed one and proceeded to slap her around the face while also whacking her against a brick wall, all the while demanding his wallet back. The other girl, who had the wallet and had run faster, was so suitably impressed that she returned the wallet, minus several thousand Italian lira, about $20 worth, but with everything else intact.

Mark's mum was stunned, as was Mark who is usually not given to bashing teenage girls! Later he sat on the Spanish steps and watched other groups of kids targeting tourists in similar ways. 

With that experience in mind, we went to Italy fully expecting to have to swat away hordes of pickpockets wherever we went.  Not only did we come away from Italy with all our possessions, we saw no evidence of the mobs of kids that were so common back then. As with our trip to Brugges a few weeks earlier, the weather gods smiled upon us and the rain that was forecast for the entire five days we were in Rome held off till the week after for Sally's boss! 

Pisa by night.

We only spent one night and a day in Pisa and in hindsight wished we had spent longer. The hotel was great, although we are not sure why they had two London public phone boxes in their foyer! Although we arrived after 10 pm we decided not to waste any time and went for a walk around town after eating at a restaurant the hotel had recommended. The meal we had at 'Lo Schiaccianoci' ended up being the best we had in Italy. It was a pleasant surprise when the owner brought out an Australian boomerang to show us. Australia has had a very large Italian community since the early post war years.

The yummiest meal was our first.

                                    The tower was very leaning and gave a great view of the town.

It really does lean a lot.

The nearby 12th century Baptistery and 11th century Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption were also impressive. The Baptistery is the largest in Italy and is apparently taller than the Leaning Tower. The tower is actually a bell tower which was started in 1173. It soon started to lean and construction was halted for the next 100 years to allow the sandy soil it was built on to settle. When it resumed the remaining levels were built with one side taller than the other to attempt to compensate for the lean. This gives the tower a slight bend at the middle.

The coffered ceiling of the Pisa Duomo.

What centuries of feet can do.

  

From Pisa we caught a train to Florence. Famed for its bridges, artwork, gelatti and David, we had three nights here. Aisha was impressed by all the big name fashion houses that had shop fronts on and near the street where we were staying.  

Our hotel was well located just a few minutes walk from Ponte Santa Trinita, the next bridge along from the Ponte Vecchio.  As we walked across the Ponte Vecchio we tried to imagine the same scene in London when the medieval London bridge was similarly crowded with up to 200 shops and homes, some up to seven storeys high. 

On the Ponte Vecchio.

Florence is filled with fabulous artworks of all kinds. We spent a whole day in the Uffizi Galleries, enough to see only a relatively small amount of the artwork held there. It became quite mind numbing looking at so many instantly recognisable works by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Giotto, Titan, Raphael and many more. The galleries were quite crowded and we were amazed by the number of gallery guards who seemed more interested in their iPhones or chatting to each other rather than actually paying attention to the crowds, many of whom were surreptitiously trying to take photos, supposedly not allowed. 

It became a bit of a family joke that so much of the art we saw was of people who seemed to have forgotten to put their clothes on. It can, of course, happen so easily!

 

The Uffizi was a bit overwhelming. William found an exhibit that was not only 'hands on' but noisy too. He spent over 40 minutes on it and soon became the master instructor for all those people who were unable to make the noise. He ended up with blisters on his palms from all the rubbing. Have a look at the video and hear the guard at the end commenting on Mark's videoing of the non-copyright William.

Outside the Uffizi were an array of pavement sellers offering all sorts of souvenirs. We met one of the ubiquitous characturists, this one from Algeria, who did a portrait for William and then one for Mark. Sally looked slightly concerned as Mark's was done.

The Duomo was amazing, both inside and out. Part of a world heritage site, the 'Basilica of St Mary of the Flower ' was begun in 1296 on the site of an earlier 5th century church which was crumbling with age. The new basilica took some 130 years to complete with work being interrupted by the deaths of several of its architects. Alfonso Cambio, the original architect, died in 1302 and was replaced by Giotto in 1334 who was to die just 3 years later. The Black Death put a halt to further work in 1348. A series of architects followed until the nave was completed in 1380. By 14l8 only the dome remained to be built. A competition was held to find a designer, which was ultimately won by Filippo Brunelleschi.

Aisha was excited to see the tomb of Brunelleschi in the crypt of the Duomo as she had recently studied his work on linear perspective as part of learning about renaissance art at school.

Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. It was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance. It was the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without temporary wooden supports. The circular dome in the Roman Pantheon was built in 117–128 but included wooden supports.

The doors of the baptistery directly opposite the duomo are astounding. It is pointless trying to describe them other than to mention that Michelangelo once described the east doors as being fit to be the gates to paradise. The gilded bronze relief sculpted panels of the east and north doors took Lorenzo Ghiberti 21 and 27 years respectively to create.

It was fairly common with many public works of art for the artist to include an image of themselves somewhere in the work. This is a self portrait of Ghiberti in bronze on one of the panels. 

       The view over Florence from the top of the dome was also well worth the wait and the climb.

We also walked up to the top of the Boboli gardens to take the corresponding view looking back over the city and the Duomo. This view gave us an idea of the scale of the basilica in relation to the rest of the city. On the way back down we came across a procession re-enacting the stations of the cross.

Although we doubted we would find a pizza place in Italy that could match the quality of 'Daddio's Pizza', we tried our best.

Porta Romana (Roman Gate) is the best preserved of the old gates of Florence (Firenze). It was part of the southern walls around the city and through it passes the Via Romana which leads south to Rome. The gatehouse was built in 1326.

The gates are pretty big.

From Florence we took a train 3 hours south to Naples. Of course we had come to Naples to see Pompeii, Herculaneum and to climb Vesuvius. As mentioned earlier, Mark had expectations of problems in Italy which, thus far, had been proved unfounded. Nonetheless Naples has a challenging reputation and we all prepared ourselves for trouble. It certainly is polluted, crowded and noisy and has a definite 'edgy' vibe. Mark & Sally thought it had a bit of a  Cairo/ New Delhi feel to it. Apart from some cursory arguing with a taxi driver over fares, we loved Naples - even the kids said they wished we could have stayed longer than the two nights we did. We mastered the quite efficient Naples metro and reached all our sites by public transport or by foot.

Pompeii is huge! Mark had been there in 1983 but did not remember it being so sprawling. As with many places in Italy we found Pompeii very popular with large groups of French teenagers who seemed very disinterested in the sites. They were everywhere, at least the ones below look interested.

As part of a girl guide challenge Aisha bought and prepared provisions for a picnic lunch. She enjoyed buying the ingredients in a back alley delicatessen.

It was Amazing to see just how close Vesuvius is to the old city. The level of preservation in some parts was extraordinary, with the colour left in the frescoes and mosaics hinting at what a riot of colour must have filled the ancient houses. William found a novel way of  managing his audio guide.

A possible 'Colosseum' scene
of wild dogs attacking a slave.

At the Pompeii amphitheatre the kids did their best to make sure the question 'Are you not entertained?' could not be asked of the crowd.

Having been to both Herculaneum and Pompeii, if we were to recommend one over the other we would opt for Herculaneum. It is much smaller and many of the rooms are far better preserved and much more accessible. In Pompeii we found that many of the best houses were roped off.

At Herculaneum we found a couple of houses that still showed burnt wooden beams from the ash flow of the eruption. The charred doors were particularly evocative of just what the people once had and then lost so dramatically.

We also went thorough the National Archeological Museum in Naples. We had not realised that most, if not all, of the mosaics at Pompeii are now in the museum, with replicas in place at the site. The best mosaics held at the museum look almost like paintings, so fine is the work in them. The museum is fabulous and well worth a prolonged visit.

The coloured render that
covered the brick columns.

To finish off our stay in Naples we went out for dinner to a recommended Pizzeria - the best we'd had in Italy, but still not as good as Daddio's!

Having climbed 'Anak Krakatoa' (child of Krakatoa) in Indonesia in 1998 (sans babies) we decided we wanted to have a go at Vesuvius. In 1998 we had to hire a boat and travel a couple of hours out to sea before we reached the volcano re-emerging from the ocean. The island that has grown along with the volcano is an amazing study of how life can colonise a hostile environment with the shores beyond the beach filling with vegetation. Since emerging in 1926, the volcano has grown 5 metres per year. It erupts fairly often and, while it smoked during our climb, it remained quiet for our visit.

Krakatoa was a difficult climb. Although not overly high, the volcano is very steep and its sides are an unstable scree slope where every step up usually involves a big slide backwards. On top of that, the higher we got the hotter the rock beneath our feet became. These pictures are not ours but are from various internet sites.

2009

Why on earth are we writing about something we did 13 years ago in Indonesia ?!?

Well, we sort of had all this in mind when we decided to climb Vesuvius. We realised it would not be as hard and assumed we would not need a boat to get there but imagined it would be challenging.

Well - the mini bus that took us up most of the way up the volcano was a bit dodgy. The hairpin turns were certainly quite sick making. We were lucky to get to the start of the climb relatively early as the number of full sized tourist coaches that were lining the road when we headed back down would have meant a long walk from the carpark.

There were a few whisps of steam coming the crater, but the only real threats came from a near trampling by the hordes of disinterested French teenagers too busy texting to look where they were going!

After two nights in Naples we headed back north towards Rome with weather forecasts still predicting rain for the whole of our stay. In the end it rained only once and that was overnight.

We had decided to book an apartment as the cost of hotels was in many cases higher and we felt we'd be tired of hotels and chocolate breakfasts. Mark found a reasonable apartment 5 minutes walk from the Colosseum so, after arriving in Rome around 6 pm, the kids were keen to head straight down to see this legendary building.

Before leaving for the trip to Italy we had been showing the kids a Discovery channel series on the Roman Empire and decided to show them the Russel Crowe movie 'Gladiator'. While we knew the movie was not historically accurate, we felt that it would give the kids an idea of some of the glory of ancient Rome and the role the various colosseums and the associated games played throughout the Roman Empire. With the roar of the crowds in their heads, the kids were thrilled to see this iconic structure!

We also walked around The Forum and Palatine Hill.

In the museum on Palatine Hill there were endless numbers of statues of the great and the good (or maybe not so good) from thousands of years ago. We thought this bust of a young girl was quite poignant.

We did a lot of the usual tourist sites. As did half the world too - or so it seemed.

The Trevi Fountain.

The Spanish Steps.

The crowds at the foot of
the Spanish Steps.

We found a few interesting places as we wandered around Rome. Will found a shop selling his idea of food heaven - a chip pizza. Aisha found a shop selling Ayshas.

The Pantheon was incredible. We were lucky enough to be there when a small orchestra and a couple of soloists were performing inside, whilst outside there was a great busker to listen to.

One of the columns outside the Pantheon.

As mentioned before, we had originally planned to avoid Rome over the Easter weekend but eventually decided it would perhaps be a lost opportunity not to be in Rome at such a time. On Easter Saturday we went along to the Vatican museum. The line to buy tickets stretched around several blocks - easily a kilometre long. Mark had bought tickets on-line allowing us to essentially walk through a separate door with just a few minutes wait. 

We did not wait in this line.

Like the Uffizi in Florence, the Vatican museums, founded in the 16th century, hold ridiculous amounts of amazing, priceless world famous art. In 2011 an estimated 5 million people visited. It seemed as if many of them were there on the day we visited! While waiting for audio guides, Mark watched what seemed to him to be an endless flow of people being 'vomited' off the escalators from the ground floor. It just never let up.

The main attraction of course is the Sistine Chapel. Once inside the museum complex there was a long wait to join the slowly snaking queue through the other galleries to get to the chapel. Along the way we saw lots of quite good stuff.

The transfiguration by Raphael.

The Death Star from Star Wars ?

A ceiling.

Too many statues!

The last part of the crawl to the Sistine Chapel takes people through several small galleries displaying modern art. We pitied those artists whose work was kept here as most people paid little attention to them as they shuffled along to their ultimate goal - The Sistine Chapel.

Whilst shuffling along to our ultimate goal, Mark noticed a couple of familiar pieces in one of the last galleries before the chapel. Two original Salvador Dali's - one of which he'd had as a poster when he was a teenager.

A sculpture.
Not a Dali, but we liked it.

Mark had read how the guards in the Sistine Chapel were so strict on the Shhhhh policy that their loud and frequent 'Shhhing' of visitors detracted from the whole experience. As we approached the final steps we packed our cameras away and made sure we were dressed appropriately and reminded the kids to be respectful. 

We were amazed then when we entered the hallowed chapel to find it more like a railway station in the amount of people crushing in, the amount of noise and photo taking. There was not a Shhh to be heard above the din. 

Once we got past the shock we focussed on the artwork. Mark had seen the Chapel back in 1983 and again in 1990. Since then the chapel has been cleaned and the contrast was amazing. In the photo above you can see the red arrow near the top right hand corner pointing out one of two sections that were deliberately left uncleaned.

Of course it was amazing - even for Mark on his 3rd visit. The ceiling was so inspirational William decided he could do one too. He had finished a 1,000 piece puzzle of London earlier in the year - with a small degree of help from his great Uncle Dick. See the Uncle Dick/ William puzzle post here.

The puzzle of London took a while to do but was finally finished all on his own back in March!

Now where could this last piece go ??

Can you see where it should go ?

That's where it should go !!

Ta da !

With what seemed like the spirit of his uncle Dick whispering in his ear, William decided we should buy a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of the chapel on the way out. It is currently under way on the lounge room floor.

                                                               The real ceiling, not a puzzle !

It was an exhausting day and, as we staggered out down the vast and thankfully almost empty spiral stairs to leave, we overheard a tour guide recommending a gelato shop nearby. We surreptitiously followed them and all had a restorative gelati! We also found an excellent meat/cheese/ wine /chocolate shop and bought the ingredients for our Easter Saturday dinner.

                                       

The next day was Easter Sunday. We woke lateish, had Easter eggs and decided we would see if we could get to the St Peter's Square and the Basilica. We assumed we would get there after the Pope had finished and after the associated crowds had left.

While we would like to say it was through good planning that we arrived at the square just before the Pope had come out to speak, in truth it was by pure chance! We were able to squeeze our way through the 100,000 faithful to get a good view in front of a big screen and a pretty good view of the Pope on the balcony. Mark, as an ardently lapsed Catholic, who had seen the previous pope at the Sydney Opera House in the late 80s when he was an usher there, was quite impressed. Even Sally, as a devout non catholic, was impressed.

Who is that on the balcony ??

Once the show was over we were able to have a look around the square before we had to line up and wait, again, to get into the Basilica.

What have they been up to ??

As with the Sistine Chapel, it filled up very quickly, but at least there was some sense of respect here, which was encouraged by the guards.

Sally & Mark met overseas and have had many adventures together and separately. On our trips with the kids we have made a point to use public transport, to walk, to carry back packs, to stay in varied accommodation and to rely on ourselves as much as possible. Our thinking is that by showing the kids how it is done, we are equipping them to be independent travellers when they inevitably head off on their own adventures. Italy was a good test of this and the kids (and the parents) did really well!

Before leaving for Italy we had received a message from one of Sally's colleagues from Jakarta posting days and dear family friend Narelle. We lived on the same compound in Jakarta as Narelle and her family, all of whom knew Sally and Mark before Aisha was born and were among the first to know of the pregnancy. Narelle was heading to London for work and wanted to come and see us, but the only day that would work was the day we returned from Italy. We assumed we would get back a couple hours before she arrived, but we found Narelle sitting on our doorstep as we walked down our street! We got her inside from the cold, dumped the backpacks, turned on the heating after 11 days away, and had a great time with her catching up on all the news from Canberra!!