Ciao

22/09/14

As is so often the case, we woke up, had breakfast, got packed, went to the airport, waited around for a bit, marvelled at how many spoilt kids have their own iPads/iPods/Kindles/DSLRs, boarded the plane, flew home and went to bed.

Our first holiday as working grown ups was short but definitely worth it. I wasn’t that bothered about coming to Rome, it’s more of a “Rory place” but I’m glad we did. There’s so much to see and so much to do. Plus, I’m pretty sure the Romans did a lot for us, like build straight roads and invent the toilet. (I’m pretty sure I should fact check that last statement but life’s too short to fact check.)

There’s so much more I’d like to see in Italy, so I imagine I’ll be back in the very near future! But until then, arrivederci.

Soft Kitty

21/09/14

On our last full day in Rome we wanted to take it easy so after a leisurely breakfast and a freezing cold shower we were off. We did some people watching at the Piazza del Popolo and then headed to the Villa Borghese, which is really just a big park. We didn’t walk the entire 80 hectares, because I didn’t want to pass out and die, but we had a bit of a dander and a wee ice lolly. You couldn’t beat it.

The rest of the day was spent wandering down side streets and we even ventured in to the Jewish Ghetto. Apparently you can do entire tours of the area but we just had a bit of a look around and to be honest, that was all we needed. The thing about Rome is that there is history everywhere, you don’t even need to go looking for it.

On the way back to our hotel we did a bit of a victory lap, stopping off, one last time, at the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. It was a nice little goodbye but we also stumbled across something new – a cat sanctuary. The Area Sacra is what remains of four Republican-era temples, all built between the 2^nd and 4^th centuries BC and they are among the oldest ruins in the city. The ruins are off limits to humans but not the 250 cats who call these ancient rocks home! It was quite surprising to see so many stray cats, chilling out, without anyone trying to shoo them away! After that little bit of unplanned excitement we headed back to the hotel for our last night in Rome!

An Englishman, a Northern Irish woman and a Priest walk in to the Vatican...

20/09/14

After our busy day we decided to have a bit of a lazy morning and naturally I woke up early... Once again our breakfast was excellent and after some lazing around/refusing to get ready, we made our way to the Vatican! Rory is the first to admit that he doesn't know much about art so we decide that the best way to make the most of our time in the Vatican was to get a tour.

The tour began by going through the Vatican museums. I wasn't sure what to expect, but there's an awful lot inside those museums, so much so that if you spent one minute at each exhibit it would take you twelve years to see everything! I certainly wasn't up for that so we happily meandered through with our tour. I'm not an art officiando so there is very little I can tell you about what I saw. There were some beautiful paintings, tapestries and sculptures. The rooms were impressive and wouldn't look out of place in a royal palace. The buildings and gardens were beautifully designed and I bet the Pope loves walking around all this great stuff that he kind of, sort of, owns.

I quite liked the Stanze di Raffaello, or the Raphael Rooms. In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned a young and unknown Raphael to decorate his private apartment, which the 25 year old did incredibly well and which established him as a rising star. So much so that a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was named after him!

But he's not the only TMNT in the Vatican. There's also Michelangelo whose Sistine Chapel is not only the “jewel in the Vatican crown” but also home to two of the world's most famous works of art - his ceiling frescoes and his Last Judgement. The 800 square metre ceiling took four years to paint which sounds like quite a long time but when you see the detail and realise that Michelangelo was a sculptor, not a painter is seems pretty snappy. Apparently he really didn't want to paint the ceiling but the Pope kept asking and he eventually said yes. He might also have been swayed by the 3,000,000euro pay check but who knows!?

I also feel a bit wick for the other artists who painted the wall frescos, these paintings are pretty great but everyone forgets about them because Michelangelo is such a big deal! We also had a nosey around St Peter’s Basilica which was very impressive, even though we didn’t see Tom Hanks. 

After some selfies (is it bad to take selfies outside churches?) we headed back to the Pantheon and finished the evening with some excellent food.