Friday, June 09, 2006
Journal of Italy - Rome - Parade
Rome - May 20, 2006
Woke up with a full blown head cold. No! No! (yes.) Forced myself out on the
street, determined to stand in line at the Vatican Museum. I got there at 8:30 am and the line was all the way around the block. I lasted about 30 minutes, chatting with an American couple ahead of me. Then I was hit with waves of nausea and had to leave. Home to bed.
There were elections going on in Rome, and right beneath my hotel window, a big parade was in process. Between naps and aspirin, I took a few shots:
Carol Peters, my traveling companion, was arriving that night, and there I was, sick in bed. I couldn't have felt more rotten, but determined to get well and not ruin my trip. I slept on and off, and had lots of time to contemplate Rome. I had been so busy seeing the sights that I hadn't taken time to digest any of them.
I was overwhelmed with the ruins of Rome. The very notion that I had seen buildings that stood there 2,000 years ago was profoundly moving. Luigi, our tour guide, blamed Attila the Hun for the plunder of Rome. (The goldleaf and marble on buildings was stolen. In the photos of the ruins, the "holes" you see in a regular pattern are the former fastener-holes where marble slabs were attached.) However it doesn't take a lot of research to find out that the Scandinavians and Hungarians were also among the plunderers and attackers of Roma's dynasty. The reasons for Rome's "fall" are a matter of theory, historians being in disagreement about the reasons for Rome's decline, but decline she did for about 1,000 years before she 'rose' again. When you see the new Rome grown up right on the same hills as the old Rome, (the ruins standing right in the middle of the city!) it gives you an odd feeling, a different perspective on history itself. We live in such a new country that we have no sense of history, but in Rome it sort of hits you right between the eyes.
A word about the food. The vegetables (especially tomatoes) taste better than anything in the states. Their excellent virgin olive oil is another joy to the palate. They don't put salt in their bread because the olive oil (which is used like butter) and the wonderful cheese that is devoured with bread is so rich in taste and salt. The food I had in Rome was inferior to what I ate in other cities,
but I didn't get too far off the tourist path, so I blame myself for that.
I lived in New York City for 25 years and in Los Angeles for another 20 years, so I knew that I was tired of big cities. But Rome was the cincher. With the masses of cars and scooters, the hordes of tourists and milling pedestrians, I once again affirmed my distaste for city living. I have been a city girl all my life, and
I was quite certain that even Italian cities wouldn't change my preferences for a quieter life.
Carol arrived, and we had dinner right across the street from the hotel on Varrone Street. It was so wonderful to see her again. (she had visited me once in California when she was living in Hawaii). She had been on a jet for hours, so she didn't mind that I was ready to go straight to bed after dinner, aspirin in hand.
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Next
Home
Woke up with a full blown head cold. No! No! (yes.) Forced myself out on the
street, determined to stand in line at the Vatican Museum. I got there at 8:30 am and the line was all the way around the block. I lasted about 30 minutes, chatting with an American couple ahead of me. Then I was hit with waves of nausea and had to leave. Home to bed.
There were elections going on in Rome, and right beneath my hotel window, a big parade was in process. Between naps and aspirin, I took a few shots:
Carol Peters, my traveling companion, was arriving that night, and there I was, sick in bed. I couldn't have felt more rotten, but determined to get well and not ruin my trip. I slept on and off, and had lots of time to contemplate Rome. I had been so busy seeing the sights that I hadn't taken time to digest any of them.
I was overwhelmed with the ruins of Rome. The very notion that I had seen buildings that stood there 2,000 years ago was profoundly moving. Luigi, our tour guide, blamed Attila the Hun for the plunder of Rome. (The goldleaf and marble on buildings was stolen. In the photos of the ruins, the "holes" you see in a regular pattern are the former fastener-holes where marble slabs were attached.) However it doesn't take a lot of research to find out that the Scandinavians and Hungarians were also among the plunderers and attackers of Roma's dynasty. The reasons for Rome's "fall" are a matter of theory, historians being in disagreement about the reasons for Rome's decline, but decline she did for about 1,000 years before she 'rose' again. When you see the new Rome grown up right on the same hills as the old Rome, (the ruins standing right in the middle of the city!) it gives you an odd feeling, a different perspective on history itself. We live in such a new country that we have no sense of history, but in Rome it sort of hits you right between the eyes.
A word about the food. The vegetables (especially tomatoes) taste better than anything in the states. Their excellent virgin olive oil is another joy to the palate. They don't put salt in their bread because the olive oil (which is used like butter) and the wonderful cheese that is devoured with bread is so rich in taste and salt. The food I had in Rome was inferior to what I ate in other cities,
but I didn't get too far off the tourist path, so I blame myself for that.
I lived in New York City for 25 years and in Los Angeles for another 20 years, so I knew that I was tired of big cities. But Rome was the cincher. With the masses of cars and scooters, the hordes of tourists and milling pedestrians, I once again affirmed my distaste for city living. I have been a city girl all my life, and
I was quite certain that even Italian cities wouldn't change my preferences for a quieter life.
Carol arrived, and we had dinner right across the street from the hotel on Varrone Street. It was so wonderful to see her again. (she had visited me once in California when she was living in Hawaii). She had been on a jet for hours, so she didn't mind that I was ready to go straight to bed after dinner, aspirin in hand.
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