The Last Post

The Last Post

This last post comes to you from high above the earth’s surface as we are speeding in a south-easterly direction towards home. For our last day in Rome Mick and I got up early and managed to catch the tram and bus over to the Colosseum to watch the sunrise and to see it without thousands of other visitors inevitably present later in the day. 

Then it was back to pack and wait for our driver to take us to the airport. Worries about overweight baggage came to nought and we joined the rest of the herd stampeding out of Rome for Dubai and beyond.

Actually this blog comes to you from home, as I did not get around to finishing it mid-air. I hope you enjoyed reading about our exploits as we retraced, somewhat loosely, Hannibal’s epic march toward Rome. No doubt, if he had actually made it he might have found the Colosseum in slightly better shape than what you see in the pics below.

Arch of Constantine. The same chappie who gave his name to Constantinople aka Istanbul

No crowds, no selfies.

Trip done. Home safe and sound. You can’t hope for better than that. Look forward to catching you all up at some stage.

I wonder where to next?

Rome: back on two wheels

Day three in Rome and it's time for some Segway fun. Two wheels, but side by side, not one in front of the other. These things are great fun. I last rode one in paris with Sue and Robbie in about 2004 so I was hoping the skills would not be forgotten. The newer ones are in fact easier to ride. Very stable and can turn on a sixpence. You can corner easily and the handles operate like a joystick in an old aeroplane. Very intuitive. We were soon speeding around the cobbles, trying to see how fast they would go. Trouble is, once you get up a bit of speed the gyroscope takes over and you start to decelerate.

For three hours we toured around many of the major sites again, but this time enjoying a potted history of Rome from the guide, a delightful girl by the name of Anastasia, in heavily Russian accented English. Here are some of the sights.

The Trevi Fountain is a sad sight at present with no water and scaffolding everywhere. Closed indefinitely whilst repairs are undertaken. A large perspex fence around the perimeter and huge crowds, notwithstanding its closure, made for difficult photography.

Trajan's Column, adjacent to Trajan's markets. The spiral pictogram details the history of his various conquests.

The selfie-brigade were out in force today. 

One without the selfie and with minimal scaffolding and repair work evident

Mick does some on-board Segway iPhonography

The forum as seen from the opposite end to the Colosseum. It is a magnificent sight. More than just a pile of rubble. Rome must have been quite a spectacle in its heyday.

Looking back towards to Colosseum

Arch of Septimus Severus

We could resist the prosciutteria no longer. A fabulous lunch platter of ham and cheese.

So, if we can get our act together, we plan to make a pre-dawn start to catch the Colosseum at sunrise, then return for a final pack up and head to the airport.

Romeing Around

I returned to the apartment following my foray on public transport. Not all smooth sailing. I accidentally took a tram in the wrong direction before a lengthy wait for a bus back at the main station. Mick was sound asleep following his 130km ride. The bike path along the river got quite rough and he abandoned that idea after about 5km in favour of a road out of the city. Quite easy apparently as long as he kept the whereabouts of the river in mind. His route took him out to some foothills and through towns obviously similar to what we had earlier cycled through on the Hannibal tour.

After a recovery kip it was out for a beer and some dinner.

Nice Colnago

Many street vendors in Trastevere

Typical small residential alley in Trastevere

A couple of local lads seemed quite animated over their beers. Seems they were fantasising over some of the young senoras as they passed by

Street theatre in Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere

It's busy, busy, busy at night in Trastevere as people come from all over to eat at the hundreds, no thousands of restaurants

Happy to pose for a photo but we could not buy that singing cat. Reckons he sells about 10 per day! Can you believe that?

Inside a fabulous prosciutteria. I think lunch there could be the go today.

More to come...

Rome: Bipedal part two

Another day in the Eternal City. Everyone else is gone and, for the moment so has Mick. He wanted to go ride the bike path along the Tiber. Apparently it's known locally as the white river because of the colour of clay found underneath it. Definitely does not reflect the colour of the water! While he was gone I thought I would go exploring by public transport.

First stop was San Pietro where, being a Sunday morning, the Romans were en masse for mass. Not sure if it was the Pontiff himself doing the business but he was definitely more popular than Brian of Nazareth. Still, not everybody was totally absorbed in the main event. The selfie-stick brigade was out in force and there were quite a few who just thought it would be a great place to sit down for a quiet drink and a bite to eat.

Three suspicious looking characters leave "The Penitentiary" wine bar, conveniently located next door to the Vatican

Selfie-stick Sally

This spot'll do for a picnic eh love?

Part of the crowd at Sunday Mass

A big crowd in fact.

In case you just can't get enough of the Basilica. By the way it was closed today

A large Police presence at the Sunday Mass. Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

These guys (The Swiss Guards) are especially trained not to laugh and definitely not to look in the mirror

From there I found the metro over to the Piazza del Pololo, quite a cool place for everybody not straining an ear to the Pope. In the square was the Leonardo da Vinci museum. Now that's worth a visit I thought. What a genius was Leo. All kinds of machines for: making screws, ball bearings, war machines including tanks and machine guns, walking on water, breathing underwater, flying, drilling, hammering and even cycling! Of course he also painted the Mona Lisa and drew the Vitruvian Man, based on his study of the relationship between nature, aesthetics and mathematics. I was soon mentally exhausted!

Over at the Piazza del Popolo entrance

Rome is for lovers

The Piazza del Popolo is the meeting points of the major roads of Rome

and is a great spot for a stroll, a coffee and a spot of people watching

Apparently, Leonardo da Vinci invented the bicycle

or pehaps not, if you read the last sentence.

On to the Spanish Steps at the Piazza di Spagna for a spot of people (and horse) watching, then finally back to base for a snooze and to see if Mick had returned. After an interminable wait the correct bus eventually arrived to bring me back the Trastevere.

This map is a horse's...

These two must have consulted their map for at least 10 minutes, totally oblivious to everything. Well, for a start, you're at the Spanish Steps

More to come later...

Rome: Bipedal, not by pedal

This walking caper is taking some getting used to. My feet have been going round in circles for so long now it's hard to put one in front of the other and then repeat that process ad nauseam. Actually it might not be so bad if Rome was flat, but for some reason it's anything but. We started out this morning by rounding up Harold from his hotel and taking him on a walking tour of the old city. Given limited time we wanted to get to the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona as they were the closest attractions. We modern humans tend to think we're pretty smart these days, but, once again these ancient Roman masterpieces show that we haven't necessarily come as far as we think. Grabbed a coffee at Piazza Navona which was overpriced and under flavoured compared to what we had become used to on our two wheeled wanderings throughout, dare I say, the real Italy, before escorting Harold back to his hotel to catch his flight home. As far as I am aware it's just Mick and me left in Rome from our large cycling group.

Pigeons enjoy early morning sun on the Ponte Sisto over the River Tiber

Gratuitous shot of pigeon taking flight

Interior of the magnificent Pantheon (Pantheon = every god). One of Rome's best known ancient buildings dedicated to all the gods of the pagan era. The building also houses the tomb of the artist Raphael. The oculus or 'eye' in the ceiling is 9 metres in diameter and open to the elements. As the sun rises through the day the bright light descends the wall and crosses the floor.

 The concrete dome is still, after 2000 years, the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. 

Mick chats up a horse outside the Pantheon. The current structure was built over another commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus, the first emperor. Completed by Hadrian in 126 AD. Hadrian retained the original inscription: M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT, which means Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, Consul for the third time, built this

The Fontana del Moro (the Moor fountain) the southernmost of the three fountains in Piazza Navona. From the other side the face of the central figure appears exaggeratedly grotesque and most un-Roman like.

The central Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of four rivers) in Piazza Navona. The obelisk has Egyptian hieroglyphics and is presumably misappropriated from elsewhere. Behind is the church of Sant'Agnes in Agone. Legend has is she was stripped naked but saved from disgrace by an extraordinary growth of hair. Perhaps she could become the Patron Saint of Tasmania!

Cat Central: hundreds of felines roam this archeological site

Nobody seems to mind graffiti in Rome, least of all the various council authorities.

How about a Vespa tour? About 40 scooters on this one

Mick and I then took the hop on / hop off bus around Rome. This promised to be a great way to see the city and spare the feet as I was already beginning to develop a blister or two. We enjoyed bright sunshine as opposed to our bus trip in Barcelona where it rained continuously. Got off at the Colosseum to walk back through he Forum but the queues for tickets to access the shortcut through the Forum were prohibitive as we were hungry and thirsty. We decided to leg it all the way back to Trastevere, a couple of kilometres I suppose. Found great little restaurant/bar with Belgian beer, fabulous bruschetta and the best home-made spaghetti with cheese and pecorino. Heaven! Might be forced to return this evening.

Titus' Arch at the entrance to the Forum. His dad, Vespasian built the Colosseum

This guy was making some sort of rude gesture to his mate on the left

Unmistakably the Colosseum but very hard to find an angle without masses of scaffolding or repair work

Aah, Kwak beer and bruschetta.