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Kalokagathia
Nov. 18th, 2014 12:23 amWe arrived in Rome in the midst of a thunderstorm, naively believing that the weather in this part of Italy at this time of year would be better than that in Leeds. It may have been slightly warmer but flying into a storm with lightning flashes all around you does make you rethink things. We landed fine though and after the easiest passage through customs I have ever experienced - hooray for biometric passports - I was waiting for a train to the city centre before I knew it. I didn't realise that Fiumicino Airport was so far away from the city centre or so close to the sea but apparently it is. We could see the sea when coming into land but the waves were ominously not moving. It was a little surreal amidst the storm. Anyway, we negotiated the ticket pricing structures at the train station and were soon on the platform waiting for our Tren Italia, which turned out to be a surprisingly long wait. While we were waiting, it was difficult to ignore the large number of courting couples who were swapping saliva on the platform. Indeed the Italian lethario stereotype does seem to be true as they are all at it, rather distastefully in my view but then I have never enjoyed PDA. The best I got out of Wolfie was holding paws, which is pretty standard really. Jealous? Me?!
The train, the Leonardo Express, arrived an eon later, disgorged people onto one platform and invited us on on the other. We then sat there for 15 minutes as the staff cleaned the train and the driver fannied about before we trundled our way through suburbia and into the heart of the city, with Termini main railway station being our one and only calling point some half hour later. The flight had somewhat drained me of energy and I had a little snooze on this service while Wolfie read. At Termini station, we got off and headed into the metro system where we were bound for Policlinico (from hereonin redefined as Puppyclinico) which is where we thought our hotel was. In reality, it was two stops further down the line but the city centre map which I had bought for €1,50 at the airport's tourist information didn't stretch that far so we had to walk around 20 minutes in the pissing rain, at one point using Wolfie's 3G signal (which with 3 is now more than UK rate) to find the suburban back street upon which our hotel was situated. It didn't help that the name of the hotel was the same as a large street in the city and we were initially directed there to find out that it isn't actually on that street. Anyway, with the help of Google we found it quickly enough and we were soon settled into the rather nice Mercure with complementary tea/coffee making facilities, a gym and a solarium.
After drying off, we walked to the considerably closer metro station, one of the new ones on line B1. It's a bit strange really as it's set in a park and the main concourse with the two escalators going down into it are all set outside, with only the vending and ticket machines undercover. I quite like it myself, an interesting architectural style, but the sloping lights are deceptive as it does give the impression of walkways being where there are none. The advantage of the park is that you also get to see dogs frolicking, this time a playful puppy being introduced to a more wizened older dog. I'm a playful puppy too! Conveniently, there is an old McDonald's as you walk down the road towards the station, a good sign you have taken a right turning (and a bad sign for indigestion). If the station appears modern, the trains are anything but, with older units predominantly being used. These are adorned with graffiti both inside and out, resulting in a tatty and intimadating feel. Assumedly kids break into the trains at poorly monitored depots and scrawl all over them, more often that not on the whole lower half of the train not to mention the interior walls and seats. On the A line, they do have some new trains but even these have been defaced, albeit on the outside only. No one particularly seems to care but it does denigrate from the whole city experience, it looks ugly and hardly promotes a safe atmosphere.
Neither, by the way, does the Italian habit of barging onto trains before anyone has even alighted and the pedestrian crossings where you really do take your life into your own hands. Our first real experience of this was outside the Colleseum, which we opted to visit as it was a direct metro line away from the stop next to our hotel. Upon emerging from the metro station, you see the imperiud building rising above you and it is one of the true wonders of the world. Sadly one of the old roads leading up to it had to be destroyed to make way for the metro but the fact that so much of this magnificent building remains after nearly 2000 years of standing there is truly remarkable. Granted there have been some later alterations - most of the south side was plundered for brick and a few subsequent popes restored some sections - while the tallest northern area, of which the most remains, has had to be buttressed by modern brick triangles to prevent the archways from collapsing in on themselves. As with most old structures, there is scaffolding holding it up in places but this didn't detract from the awesome, in the true sense of the word, building that this is. It is one of those places, like Red Square in Moscow, that is an exhalted joy to behold and we walked around its perimeter revelling in its glory and trying to steal a peek at the architecture inside.
While walking around the Colisseum - it being called so due to the statue of Colossus which stood next to it, the actual name of the Colisseum being the Flavian Amptitheatre - we spied the Arco di Constantine, a huge arch celebrating the victory of Constantine over his imperial rival Maxentius at Saxa Rubra. It is a very intricate archway and designed up demonstrate the power and prestige of the new emporer, who united Rome after a series of civil wars. As detailed as it is, with its Latin inscriptions at the top and scenes from the battle cut into the stone, interestingly a lot of the imagery and stone here was recycled from earlier monuments dedicated to earlier rulers, such was the cash-strapped nature of the Senate at the time. Behind this lies the remains of the Domus Aurea, which is currently undergoing restoration. Built by Nero in AD64 after a great fire ravaged the city, this 250-room villa with massive gardens was reused after his death in AD68. Much of it was demolished to make way for the Colesseum, with the centre of the structure an artificial lake which had initially been part of Nero's gardens. The Colesseum was built after AD68 and opened in AD80 as a sign of an emporer giving back to the people after Nero had taken so much. I find Ancient Roman history fascinating but I'll save you the lecture there for fear of losing your interest.
The darkness merely added to the gravitas of these structures but craving food we opted to go towards the centre of the city down Via dei Fori Imperealii. Little did we realise, due to the dark, that to our left lay the very heart of Ancient Rome, Foro Romana, which we were to discover, along with the interior of the Colusseum on Monday. It just lay there silently as we walked past, refusing to yield its last secrets due to a lack of illumination. You could see a very small handful of buildings but not until daylight was revealed the huge monumental size of this area and we had a lot of fun exploring it. On the way towards food we also saw some posters detailing Linea C, the third underground line they see building in Rome which will have 24 stations. The underground here is great but not much goes near the heart of the city and, being a railway freak that I am, I was very absorbed with the proposals for this new line. I do hope it's finished soon.
At the end of the street there sits two domed churches and to the left, another grandiose building, the Vittoriano on the Plaza Venezia. It gleams white in the sun and is the seat of the Italian eternal flame. It's enormous and commands itself over the city even more than the Collesseum does, largely because the formerly perched on a hill (one of seven that Rome is built upon) whereas the Colesseum was built in a valley. Built between 1885 and 1911 to celebrate the reunification of Italy, the building is the object of much opprobrium for locals, who call it Rome's False Teeth and the Wedding Cake. The building contains the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI and is dedicated to Italy's first king. The horses adorning the columns to the far right and left of the building make for an imposing edifice, which is enhanced by the massive single horse standing in the middle. Large Italian flags fly either side adding to the regal feel of the building. As we tried to take a picture, as is so often the case around the tourist sites of Rome, hawkers tried to sell us umbrellas and sticks to which you could attach an iPhone to get a better photograph. We politely declined all requests but it was annoying, as were the canoodling couples who seemed to follow us everywhere.
Feeling hungry and sensing that at 9pm on a Sunday, we should be getting food sooner rather than later we resolved to stop at the first decent pizza restaurant we saw. The first looked a little touristy but the second had a fair few Italians in - it's always a good sign when locals - and a huge tray of antipasti on the counter, which is something the guidebook said marked a good Italian place. It was called the Pizzeria Caesar and we soon ordered a ciraffe of the exceptionally drinkable semi-dry house red and a meat and cheese platter displaying the finest the region had to offer. The mozerella was particularly fresh while the blue cheese was so creamy and exquisite to almost be divine. Served with bread, oil and balsamic vinegar, it made me wonder why I don't indulge in the Mediterranean diet more back at home as the food is always so tasty. The same could be said for the Serrano ham and the other sausage available, while the pizzas themselves were a step above the ones you get back home. Primarily this is because the bread was properly baked and not greasy, like so many takeaways back home. I have no idea why a pizza base should be greasy - it really shouldn't - and the high quality pizzas here have proven that. In addition, I have also started to enjoy thinner crusts rather than pan, as here there is enough doughyness in them to make them work. I don't really like crispy pizza. As we ate, we watched the Euro 2016 qualifier between Italy and Croatia, which had to be stopped due to some idiots throwing flares onto the pitch and setting fireworks off in the stands, wchcg resulted in isolated fires. It would never happen in England. The waitress in the pizzeria was really friendly and we chatted about a fair few things before we headed off on our way, full but completely satisfied.
She told us that we had about an hour until the last underground train and needing to change at Termini, the only place where lines A and B cross, we thought it would be best to head straight back to the nearest station. This turned out to be Flaminio, straight up Via del Corso, one of the main thoroughfares and home to many top-end brands such as Gucci and Zara. This was particularly at the top end where the swankier neighborhoods are while towards the bottom and the Vittoriano, where the main roads converge, it's more top hotels and department stores. Along the way up Via del Corso, we saw a range of churches, demonstrating that Rome is one of those cities that keeps on giving. Indeed there is magic around every corner here but it's also a tatty mess, with the graffiti and the underground trains demonstrating that nicely. The toilets are generally poor - at least those anywhere public - and yet there is breathtaking architecture both extant and extinct absolutely everywhere. It's a special place and no place demonstrated that more than a church we happened to walk past that was still beautiful and yet too insignificant to even be included on my map. The Church of St Marcellus was initially destroyed in 1519 and rebuilt in the 1530, with a major restoration taking place in the nineteenth century. The inside is adorned with gold stars set on a dark blue background, with frescos lining the walls from the seventeenth century. Exteriorly, the church is plain white but there are sims beautiful statues set inside the masonry at various points while the large wooden door is crowded either side by Greek style pillars which I think are in the Corinthian style. Inside, the church was so peaceful, even when an ambulance with their funny sirens here sped down the road outside. There were a handful of people in the church, it being 10:45pm by this point, including one gentleman sat at an electrical piano, playing and singing (either that or he was pretending and it was just a tape). The sound of this music was so soothing, mixed with the grandiose yet quiescent nature of the building becoming almost angelic and I felt a deep peace residing through me. A lot of furs dismiss religion entirely, focusing on scientific facts and logic above everything else, but religion has given an awful lot into the world too and if I can feel like that, despite being agnostic myself, inside a church then there must be some value to expressing spirituality in this way. I was genuinely moved, dumbfounded even by the sensory experience, and if religion can do that then perhaps I should attend church more regularly.
Our final stop of the day before heading home was the Baroque Trevi Fountain, which sadly was somewhat obscured from view due to an ongoing restoration project. Scaffolding has been erected in front of the two winged seahorses so you struggle to see them carrying the seashell upon which Neptune rides over the sea. The rearing horse represents the turmoil of the sea, the calm one its tranquility. There has been a walkway erected which was closed on Sunday evening but opened on Monday, which allowed us a slightly closer yet still obscured view of this masterpiece which transformed a largely non-descript square into a massive tourist site in the eighteen century. The walkway is quite narrow so you largely just trudge past the fountain, barely getting time to stop and look let alone take photographs (although that didn't stop the Chinese couple in front of us). Legend has it that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand into the fountain, you'll return to Rome but we couldn't even do that as workmen didn't want the coins to hit their walkway which was being supported by the scaffolding. The famed nighttime illumination which brings to life the mythical creatures and tritons amidst the pools, rocks and fountains wasn't working either - I guess that's the danger of touring off-season in November. With time running out, we opted to rejoin Via dei Corso, where we soon bumped into one of the many obelisks here with Egyptian hyroglyphs on them. I don't know why yet but with time running out, we headed northwards before having to navigate our way through the large open space that is the Plaza del Popolo, which has another nice archway, and to the underground where we caught another graffiti strewn mess of a train back to Termini and changed onto another carriage to take us back to our hotel.
The train, the Leonardo Express, arrived an eon later, disgorged people onto one platform and invited us on on the other. We then sat there for 15 minutes as the staff cleaned the train and the driver fannied about before we trundled our way through suburbia and into the heart of the city, with Termini main railway station being our one and only calling point some half hour later. The flight had somewhat drained me of energy and I had a little snooze on this service while Wolfie read. At Termini station, we got off and headed into the metro system where we were bound for Policlinico (from hereonin redefined as Puppyclinico) which is where we thought our hotel was. In reality, it was two stops further down the line but the city centre map which I had bought for €1,50 at the airport's tourist information didn't stretch that far so we had to walk around 20 minutes in the pissing rain, at one point using Wolfie's 3G signal (which with 3 is now more than UK rate) to find the suburban back street upon which our hotel was situated. It didn't help that the name of the hotel was the same as a large street in the city and we were initially directed there to find out that it isn't actually on that street. Anyway, with the help of Google we found it quickly enough and we were soon settled into the rather nice Mercure with complementary tea/coffee making facilities, a gym and a solarium.
After drying off, we walked to the considerably closer metro station, one of the new ones on line B1. It's a bit strange really as it's set in a park and the main concourse with the two escalators going down into it are all set outside, with only the vending and ticket machines undercover. I quite like it myself, an interesting architectural style, but the sloping lights are deceptive as it does give the impression of walkways being where there are none. The advantage of the park is that you also get to see dogs frolicking, this time a playful puppy being introduced to a more wizened older dog. I'm a playful puppy too! Conveniently, there is an old McDonald's as you walk down the road towards the station, a good sign you have taken a right turning (and a bad sign for indigestion). If the station appears modern, the trains are anything but, with older units predominantly being used. These are adorned with graffiti both inside and out, resulting in a tatty and intimadating feel. Assumedly kids break into the trains at poorly monitored depots and scrawl all over them, more often that not on the whole lower half of the train not to mention the interior walls and seats. On the A line, they do have some new trains but even these have been defaced, albeit on the outside only. No one particularly seems to care but it does denigrate from the whole city experience, it looks ugly and hardly promotes a safe atmosphere.
Neither, by the way, does the Italian habit of barging onto trains before anyone has even alighted and the pedestrian crossings where you really do take your life into your own hands. Our first real experience of this was outside the Colleseum, which we opted to visit as it was a direct metro line away from the stop next to our hotel. Upon emerging from the metro station, you see the imperiud building rising above you and it is one of the true wonders of the world. Sadly one of the old roads leading up to it had to be destroyed to make way for the metro but the fact that so much of this magnificent building remains after nearly 2000 years of standing there is truly remarkable. Granted there have been some later alterations - most of the south side was plundered for brick and a few subsequent popes restored some sections - while the tallest northern area, of which the most remains, has had to be buttressed by modern brick triangles to prevent the archways from collapsing in on themselves. As with most old structures, there is scaffolding holding it up in places but this didn't detract from the awesome, in the true sense of the word, building that this is. It is one of those places, like Red Square in Moscow, that is an exhalted joy to behold and we walked around its perimeter revelling in its glory and trying to steal a peek at the architecture inside.
While walking around the Colisseum - it being called so due to the statue of Colossus which stood next to it, the actual name of the Colisseum being the Flavian Amptitheatre - we spied the Arco di Constantine, a huge arch celebrating the victory of Constantine over his imperial rival Maxentius at Saxa Rubra. It is a very intricate archway and designed up demonstrate the power and prestige of the new emporer, who united Rome after a series of civil wars. As detailed as it is, with its Latin inscriptions at the top and scenes from the battle cut into the stone, interestingly a lot of the imagery and stone here was recycled from earlier monuments dedicated to earlier rulers, such was the cash-strapped nature of the Senate at the time. Behind this lies the remains of the Domus Aurea, which is currently undergoing restoration. Built by Nero in AD64 after a great fire ravaged the city, this 250-room villa with massive gardens was reused after his death in AD68. Much of it was demolished to make way for the Colesseum, with the centre of the structure an artificial lake which had initially been part of Nero's gardens. The Colesseum was built after AD68 and opened in AD80 as a sign of an emporer giving back to the people after Nero had taken so much. I find Ancient Roman history fascinating but I'll save you the lecture there for fear of losing your interest.
The darkness merely added to the gravitas of these structures but craving food we opted to go towards the centre of the city down Via dei Fori Imperealii. Little did we realise, due to the dark, that to our left lay the very heart of Ancient Rome, Foro Romana, which we were to discover, along with the interior of the Colusseum on Monday. It just lay there silently as we walked past, refusing to yield its last secrets due to a lack of illumination. You could see a very small handful of buildings but not until daylight was revealed the huge monumental size of this area and we had a lot of fun exploring it. On the way towards food we also saw some posters detailing Linea C, the third underground line they see building in Rome which will have 24 stations. The underground here is great but not much goes near the heart of the city and, being a railway freak that I am, I was very absorbed with the proposals for this new line. I do hope it's finished soon.
At the end of the street there sits two domed churches and to the left, another grandiose building, the Vittoriano on the Plaza Venezia. It gleams white in the sun and is the seat of the Italian eternal flame. It's enormous and commands itself over the city even more than the Collesseum does, largely because the formerly perched on a hill (one of seven that Rome is built upon) whereas the Colesseum was built in a valley. Built between 1885 and 1911 to celebrate the reunification of Italy, the building is the object of much opprobrium for locals, who call it Rome's False Teeth and the Wedding Cake. The building contains the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI and is dedicated to Italy's first king. The horses adorning the columns to the far right and left of the building make for an imposing edifice, which is enhanced by the massive single horse standing in the middle. Large Italian flags fly either side adding to the regal feel of the building. As we tried to take a picture, as is so often the case around the tourist sites of Rome, hawkers tried to sell us umbrellas and sticks to which you could attach an iPhone to get a better photograph. We politely declined all requests but it was annoying, as were the canoodling couples who seemed to follow us everywhere.
Feeling hungry and sensing that at 9pm on a Sunday, we should be getting food sooner rather than later we resolved to stop at the first decent pizza restaurant we saw. The first looked a little touristy but the second had a fair few Italians in - it's always a good sign when locals - and a huge tray of antipasti on the counter, which is something the guidebook said marked a good Italian place. It was called the Pizzeria Caesar and we soon ordered a ciraffe of the exceptionally drinkable semi-dry house red and a meat and cheese platter displaying the finest the region had to offer. The mozerella was particularly fresh while the blue cheese was so creamy and exquisite to almost be divine. Served with bread, oil and balsamic vinegar, it made me wonder why I don't indulge in the Mediterranean diet more back at home as the food is always so tasty. The same could be said for the Serrano ham and the other sausage available, while the pizzas themselves were a step above the ones you get back home. Primarily this is because the bread was properly baked and not greasy, like so many takeaways back home. I have no idea why a pizza base should be greasy - it really shouldn't - and the high quality pizzas here have proven that. In addition, I have also started to enjoy thinner crusts rather than pan, as here there is enough doughyness in them to make them work. I don't really like crispy pizza. As we ate, we watched the Euro 2016 qualifier between Italy and Croatia, which had to be stopped due to some idiots throwing flares onto the pitch and setting fireworks off in the stands, wchcg resulted in isolated fires. It would never happen in England. The waitress in the pizzeria was really friendly and we chatted about a fair few things before we headed off on our way, full but completely satisfied.
She told us that we had about an hour until the last underground train and needing to change at Termini, the only place where lines A and B cross, we thought it would be best to head straight back to the nearest station. This turned out to be Flaminio, straight up Via del Corso, one of the main thoroughfares and home to many top-end brands such as Gucci and Zara. This was particularly at the top end where the swankier neighborhoods are while towards the bottom and the Vittoriano, where the main roads converge, it's more top hotels and department stores. Along the way up Via del Corso, we saw a range of churches, demonstrating that Rome is one of those cities that keeps on giving. Indeed there is magic around every corner here but it's also a tatty mess, with the graffiti and the underground trains demonstrating that nicely. The toilets are generally poor - at least those anywhere public - and yet there is breathtaking architecture both extant and extinct absolutely everywhere. It's a special place and no place demonstrated that more than a church we happened to walk past that was still beautiful and yet too insignificant to even be included on my map. The Church of St Marcellus was initially destroyed in 1519 and rebuilt in the 1530, with a major restoration taking place in the nineteenth century. The inside is adorned with gold stars set on a dark blue background, with frescos lining the walls from the seventeenth century. Exteriorly, the church is plain white but there are sims beautiful statues set inside the masonry at various points while the large wooden door is crowded either side by Greek style pillars which I think are in the Corinthian style. Inside, the church was so peaceful, even when an ambulance with their funny sirens here sped down the road outside. There were a handful of people in the church, it being 10:45pm by this point, including one gentleman sat at an electrical piano, playing and singing (either that or he was pretending and it was just a tape). The sound of this music was so soothing, mixed with the grandiose yet quiescent nature of the building becoming almost angelic and I felt a deep peace residing through me. A lot of furs dismiss religion entirely, focusing on scientific facts and logic above everything else, but religion has given an awful lot into the world too and if I can feel like that, despite being agnostic myself, inside a church then there must be some value to expressing spirituality in this way. I was genuinely moved, dumbfounded even by the sensory experience, and if religion can do that then perhaps I should attend church more regularly.
Our final stop of the day before heading home was the Baroque Trevi Fountain, which sadly was somewhat obscured from view due to an ongoing restoration project. Scaffolding has been erected in front of the two winged seahorses so you struggle to see them carrying the seashell upon which Neptune rides over the sea. The rearing horse represents the turmoil of the sea, the calm one its tranquility. There has been a walkway erected which was closed on Sunday evening but opened on Monday, which allowed us a slightly closer yet still obscured view of this masterpiece which transformed a largely non-descript square into a massive tourist site in the eighteen century. The walkway is quite narrow so you largely just trudge past the fountain, barely getting time to stop and look let alone take photographs (although that didn't stop the Chinese couple in front of us). Legend has it that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand into the fountain, you'll return to Rome but we couldn't even do that as workmen didn't want the coins to hit their walkway which was being supported by the scaffolding. The famed nighttime illumination which brings to life the mythical creatures and tritons amidst the pools, rocks and fountains wasn't working either - I guess that's the danger of touring off-season in November. With time running out, we opted to rejoin Via dei Corso, where we soon bumped into one of the many obelisks here with Egyptian hyroglyphs on them. I don't know why yet but with time running out, we headed northwards before having to navigate our way through the large open space that is the Plaza del Popolo, which has another nice archway, and to the underground where we caught another graffiti strewn mess of a train back to Termini and changed onto another carriage to take us back to our hotel.
