One of the two excursions I opted for on our recent
Mediterranean
cruise, was the
9½ hour “Introduction to Rome” tour. This was marketed as a
high activity (lots of walking), excursion around the main sights of the
eternal city. Despite not being on my all-time
“bucket list”, Rome was still a place
I didn’t want to miss, especially given our proximity moored up in the port of
Civitavecchia.
The tour of Rome involved an early morning start, so despite
doing my utmost not to wake her ladyship, I apparently still made too much
noise, as I left the cabin and headed off to the disembarkation point and the
waiting coach. Acting as our guide, was the knowledgeable Elvira, a bubbly
young lady who was keen to show off the Italian capital to myself and the other
34 passengers on the tour.
After leaving
Civitavecchia our comfortable, air-conditioned
coach headed up into the surrounding hills, and onto the
Autostrada. From there
we had a fast and scenic journey towards
Rome. Lining many of the roads were
some attractive and colourful flowering shrubs which, according to
Mrs PBT’s
were
Bougainvillea.
It was noticeable that much of the grain harvest had already been
gathered in, and some of the fields had also been ploughed, ready for next
year’s crop. Interspersed amongst the fields, were groves of olive trees, plus
some tall, spikey looking plants which turned out to be
bamboo. Whether this
had been planted deliberately, or was an escapee is open to question, but
whatever the reason it did look rather out of place.
The traffic was lighter than I thought it would be, and it
wasn’t long before we were entering the suburbs of
Rome, characterised by low-rise
apartment blocks, disfigured unfortunately by some unsightly graffiti. The
streets reminded me of
Munich, a city which, despite being north of the Alps,
has a distinct Italian feel to it. As we drove into the city centre,
Rome’s
famous chariot racing arena, the
Circus Maximus, became visible. This was the
first of the many legacy monuments from ancient
Rome, that we were to see
during our visit.
A little further on was the
Colosseum, almost certainly the
most famous monument in ancient Rome. A short distance away, our coach driver
parked up, and we filed out, ready to follow
Elvira, who had been joined by a second
guide whose name escapes me We were kitted out with the almost obligatory,
blue-tooth headsets, which proved useful, not just for being able to hear what
the guide was saying, but also for staying close to her.
As expected, the area around this aptly name, colossal
monument was packed, with crowds of visitors, all eager to see this impressive
structure for themselves. There were plenty of school parties, but also groups
of older visitors, seemingly from all over the world. In view of the number of visitors,
as well as an article I’d read about phone snatching, I used my camera rather than
my
Smart Phone, in order to take photos. My compact
Nikon Coolpix has a wrist
strap, which makes forced theft far more difficult, although not totally
impossible. Although I took these precautions, the area didn’t strike me as
unsafe, just crowded and more likely to attract pickpockets rather than phone
snatchers.
The guide explained the reason behind the numerous holes in
the side of the
Colosseum, which result from the removal of many of the large
iron reinforcing bars, used during construction of the building. The bars
helped hold the stonework together, but following the collapse of the
Roman Empire, the
Colosseum fell into disuse, and many of the reinforcing bars were
removed and melted down for other purposes. Iron of course, was a valuable
commodity, and the bars provided a source of ready smelted metal, but unfortunately,
the removal of the reinforcements caused the walls in several parts of the
Colosseum
to collapse. Consequently today, parts of the structure are held up, by some
relatively recent brick walls.
We walked around the road-facing perimeter of the
Colosseum,
before heading off towards the
Forum, the area that was at the heart of
ancient
Rome, the site of triumphal processions, elections, and the nucleus of
commercial activity within the city. Public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial
matches, took place here, as evidenced by the statues and monuments commemorating
the city's leaders. If I’m brutally honest, the
Forum seemed an odd-ball mix of
columns, walls and arches, most of which were in various stages of preservation,
but as we only viewed the periphery, perhaps there was something more impressive
that we missed.
After leaving the
Forum, we rounded a corner and right in front of us was
a large, and much more modern, colonnaded building, with several, sweeping
flights of steps leading up to it. The
Victor Emmanuel
II Monument is a large national monument built between
1885 and
1935, to
honour
Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a
unified Italy. Constructed in the style
of ancient Rome and obviously designed to impress,
Italy’s fascist dictator,
Benito Mussolini made several of his rousing and impassioned speeches from the
balcony of this building.
We continued on our way through the intense mid-morning heat
of
Rome and passed the
Victor Emmanuel II Monument. We then climbed a hill, up
to where the waiting coach was parked, and after filing back on board for a
short trip across the
River Tiber, we were taken to the
Vatican. The coach deposited
us in a large underground car park underneath the
Vatican, and after descending
on a couple of escalators, we reached a wide passageway which took us straight
into
St Peter's Square.
We’d reached the headquarters of the
Catholic church, and the
residence of
His Holiness, the
Bishop of Rome, with
St Peter’s Basilica forming
an impressive backdrop to the square along with the wide avenue, leading into it. The
square was hot and very crowded, in equal measure, but after a welcome comfort
break, as the
Americans would say, at a nearby gift shop, we parted company with
our guide, although not before she had told us all about the
Vatican, the
Sistine Chapel, and the two statues standing guard over the place –
St Peter
and
St Paul. Elvira then left us to our own devices, with strict instructions to meet
back outside the gift shop at
4:00 PM.
My first purchase was a much-needed bottle of water, mainly
because I’d left my
Chili Bottle on the coach, primarily for something to drink
on the return journey. After that I headed off to find somewhere to eat and a place
where I could find it welcoming, cold beer. The guide directed a group to a
couple of adjoining restaurants, but faced with such a sudden influx of customers,
I decided I'd be better off finding somewhere less crowded, and away from the
thronging masses.
It didn’t take much effort to stumble upon a little, local cafĂ©
that opened straight out onto the pavement, and with some tables set out on the
cobbled street itself. The main thing was, it was shady, and out of the fierce midday
sun. It didn’t take long for the waiter to come over and take my order which consisted
of a rather nice,
grilled sole with some artisan bread. The most welcome
item, of course, was a large mug of nice cool beer. Only
Birra Moretti, mind
you, but any port in a storm! It was very pleasant, just sitting there watching
the world go by, and the comings and goings of this pleasant, but compact back-street
restaurant.
Afterwards I had a wander around, following the streets back
into
St Peters Square. I took quite a few photos and toyed with the idea of joining
one of the queues at the entrance to
St Peter's Basilica. Instead, I decided
against it, especially as looted gold and other treasures offer little appeal
to me. Staying in the shade, keeping cool and enjoying an ice cream, seemed the
far better option. Foolishly I'd left my map on the coach and despite all the
shops selling
Vatican tat, and photos of the
Pope I was unable to locate a
tourist information office where I could obtain a free street guide or even purchase
one.
Before asking why I didn’t use my phone? I think you know the
answer, as nothing points to the fact that you are a lost, "dumb-arse" tourist,
than trying to follow directions on your phone whilst all the while appearing
an easy target to someone out to rob you. I also didn’t want to get lost and
end up missing the coach back to the ship. This did mean missing out on a
couple of Rome’s other star attractions, namely the Spanish Steps and the Trevi
Fountain, even though, as I later discovered they were just a short hop away,
on the other side of the River Tiber. If it hadn’t been for the heat, would
have trudged across, for a look, but as I said to some of my fellow passengers,
when I arrived back at the ship, what’s so special about a flight of steps and a
fountain which people chuck coins into?
There was one
Roman monument that would definitely have been
worth seeing. The
Pantheon has the largest unsupported concrete dome of any
structure in the world, which is a real tribute to the ingenuity of its builders.
Those
Romans certainly knew a thing or two about
concrete, and if further proof
was needed, the
Pantheon is the best-preserved ancient building in the city. This
might have been due to it being converted into a church, but I was built by the
Emperor Hadrian in
AD 119-128. Hadrian, of course, also constructed an equally
famous wall in this part of the world, although that particular structure is far less well preserved.
For those who care about such things, the diameter of the
hemispherical dome is equal to the height of the whole building, meaning the structure
could potentially accommodate a perfect sphere. Anyway, the
Pantheon will have
to wait for a future visit, if there is one, but now I know the lay of the land,
a return visit to
Rome, should be that little bit easier. I dozed off on the journey
back to the ship, but I can now take
Rome off my list of capital cities to
visit, and
“must see” sights.