Day 1/2 - Roma Part 2

So we had lunch at this rustic looking Pizzeria which was packed with the lunch time crowd. A wild chestnut tree stood in front of the restaurant and as we were debating whether or not the chestnuts were edible, Alexis, our Roman guide stepped into the middle of our discourse to tell us that it wasn't. She went on to add that even raw olives were not palatable.

Spaghetti

Pizza

The spaghetti came with nothing in it but tomato puree and cheese. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good either.  A few seconds later, the pizza came in a large plate, with no other toppings except for the tomato puree and cheese. Accustomed as we were to pineapple, chicken/beef, button mushrooms  and bell pepper toppings, this too turned out to be less than appetizing.  I took two slices before pushing my plate away. Mind you, the pizza was bigger than my head, and how do you tuck in something this big without worrying about the weight factor? I looked around at the others and noticed that most of them did not finish their spaghetti and pizza too. The crust was good though, that much I'll say.

It was time for the washroom so we piled into the back of the restaurant to find a long queue already waiting in line. There were only two so it was a long time before I was done, Thereafter, I stepped before the sink. I hate this part of the washroom experience.

Back home, different shopping malls had different sinks in their washrooms. Some are installed with sensors which triggered the water to flow from the faucet, Some came with a little handle which you push to one side to bring forth the water and in others, you push down a knob at the top of the faucet and water started flowing until the knob returned to its original position. Gone are the days when faucets came with a cross at the top which you turn clockwise or anticlockwise whichever the case may be. I'd always hated this part of the washroom experience because I could never remember which faucet is installed at which shopping mall.

So I stepped before the sink, and found nothing that could be pushed either to the side or downwards. I placed my hands below the faucet but there were no sensor anywhere in sight. "Maybe there's a water cut today," I thought as I stepped away from the sink. I found a barrel with an attached spigot outside the restaurant and washed my hands there. I figured that they wouldn't place a wine barrel outside the restaurant so it should contain water. It did.

Later, I discovered that the water in the washroom sink were operated by foot-pumps below the sink, like the picture below. This was something I hadn't seen before so I whipped out my camera for the shot.

Oh, by the by, unlike Austria, there were few public drinking fountains in Italy although tap water is safe to drink.

With Alexis, our Roman guide, explaining away the wild chestnuts and olives, we embarked on the CITY TOUR

Central hub of Rome

Also known as
Wedding Cake /Giant Typewriter
Built as tribute to the first king of united Italy

Rome is scattered with ancient ruins. We listened politely as Alexis told us who died where. The spot where Brutus killed Caesar is now a depression by the side of the road.

If you looked at the parked car in the picture above, you should have some idea how colossal these ruins were.

The basilica was a Roman public building, which in Greek meant "regal" or "kingly". In the centuries after the Roman Empire, basilicas started to mean "Big Church" because the first big churches were built in the style of the old Roman basilicas

Houses the relics belonging to St Helena (mother of Emperor Constantine)

COLOSSEUM

According to Roman mythology, the Palatine was the birth-place of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers suckled and raised by a she-wolf. They became the founders of Rome. Palatine is one of the seven hills of Rome. It is now an open-air museum. Inside are the ruins of the ancient abodes of imperial rulers and their beautiful gardens.

Entrance to Palatine Hill

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)

Arch of Constantine (largest surviving Roman triumphal arch) commemorate Emperor Constantine's victory over the Roman tyrant Maxentius (Situated between Colosseum and Palatine Hill)

The tour did not include tickets to enter the Colosseum so I watched ruefully at the long queue waiting patiently to purchase said tickets. Up the Colosseum, little specks of moving objects (visitors) gave you a sense of how big the Colosseum truly is.

As a gentle breeze embraced us in the shade of the dying sun, I allowed my mind to drift into the Colosseum. I saw myself walking upon the travertine stone, alone and unencumbered, looking up at the blue sky and marveling at the vastness of the place and it's deafening silence. No chirping birds, no human murmurs, no evidence of life, only a cajoling breeze on a dubious mission. Suddenly and almost absentmindedly, I stepped over an unseen threshold, a portal of sorts which took me to a different dimension - the past. I was seated with the Roman ladies, clad in fine silk and exotic jewelry, looking in bewilderment at the gore below, gladiators wrestling with hungry lions. An unpleasant sight, I thought and as if in retrospect, a shift in the imagination found me now one of the gladiator facing certain death in the eye. "Not cool!" I thought, as I snapped myself out of this reverie and gazed at Alexis (our Roman guide) who showed us the spot where Nero once stood and fiddled while Rome burned. I did not ask her if that was a historical fact for she followed this with another revelation. Nero's statue which once stood at the spot overlooking the Colosseum was pulled down by angry Romans for some reason or the other. Overlooking the spot where Nero's statue once stood, was an ancient temple on Palatine Hill. A colossal statue of Venus occupied this temple. And with that, Alexis grew silent as her eyes searched the sea of faces, looking probably for someone she knew. 

Seeing that each of us were done encapsulated in our various thoughts, Mr C said that it was time to go.

VATICAN CITY

Bernini's Square
(St Peter's Square)
Built by Bernini

Marble columns and statues of saints and popes

First picture above showed a group carrying a huge cross, singing as they entered the church, pausing to kiss the door. This was a special period in the Vatican when whoever enters the church through this door would have all their sins forgiven.

There were three mummies on display inside the church but I gave them a wide berth

Maybe a manhole or a secret passage to underground tunnels?

The Confessional?

ceiling

A storm was brewing outside the church so we were trapped in St Peter's Basilica. There was no time to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican chimney many of us have seen in the news. By the time the rain subsided, we had to circumvent the underground bus parking lot because the closest entrance was flooded. The day's tour had come to a conclusion and after a comfortable dinner, we checked into the hotel.

By the way, bottles of mineral water were provided at the hotel but they were not complementary. There were no complementary coffee or tea and no kettle.