Adoration Of The Puppy

The final day about which I need to write concerning our trip to Italy is Tuesday, when we headed to the Vatican, a separate country after Benito Mussolini gave the Pope full control over this small area with the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, creating the smallest country in the world in the process. There's no discernible way of noticing you are in a separate country as none of the signs are in Latin, disappointingly, but the huge fortress wall down the northern edge does at least give you an idea when you have crossed the border. Barely noticeable travertine (the word of the trip by the way) blocks in the ground give next to no clue on the other side around St Peter's Square.

We travelled by metro over to the western part of Rome, over the Tiber to Ottaviano-San Pietro. From here it's straight down a busy street, trying to dodge the myriad of different sellers of guided tours of the Vatican. There were loads - there must have been over 100 around the Vatican perimeter - all promising to beat the queues and allowing tourists to see the sights quicker. Initially we ignored them but standing outside the impressive white concentric columned arches of St Peter's Square, we noticed the lines to see the Sistine Chapel were monumentally long and we couldn't find a place to get tickets. A friendly female tour guide noticed our plight and she convinced us to go on one of her company's tours. Feeling uneasy at first, her friendly nature and her official badge put my mind at ease as we headed back up the street we had just come down, away from the Vatican and towards a backstreet head office of Maya tours. We paid €48 for a guided tour around the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's which turned out to be excellent value for money in the end. Granted, we were told a 15 minute wait that became bearer 35 but once the tour guide appeared, she efficiently directed us to the front entrance of the Museum and over the border of yet another country. No fuss. We were hooked up with crackly radios and an earpiece, from which we could hear her talking more clearly as she guided the ten of us around some of the key features of the museum, including Pope Francis's signed football shirt from the current Argentina football squad. He likes football apparently.

The key memory from this tour was standing in a tranquil garden overlooking the exquisite dome of St Peter's Basilica, with some signs directly in front of us detailing the beautiful artwork inside the Sistine Chapel. As it is forbidden to talk there, our guide had to detail Michaelangelo's Last Judgement and ceiling in the garden, as did the guides of all of the other tours going through. There were seven different stations at least where this was being done. This whetted our appetite to see the real thing and we were not disappointed - The Last Judgement in particular with its deep dark blue is such a powerful and evocative work close up, even to someone who is not religious. The hues invited you into the picture, immersing you in its message, and it must have been powerful for any believer who saw it from the time it was painted. The power of the colours was aided no doubt by a 20-year restoration project which finished in 1994. We were given a good 15 minutes in the Sistine Chapel to soak up the exquisite artwork, with the ceiling another masterpiece which defies description when you see it in the flesh (or should that be the fresco). The history behind both works is interesting in itself - with Michaelangelo's self-portrait said to be in the flayed skin of St Bartholomew and Michaelangelo including the image of a cantankerous bishop being squeezed by a snake in the bottom right as he disparaged the work - and being stood in the very building when the cardinals have their conclave to decide the new Pope was again an incredible delight. The ceiling also contains the much noted outstretched finger in the Creation of Adam but the ceiling, which displays the Biblical story of man, really needs to be taken as a whole rather than by individual panels. The same is true with the rest of the chapel as Michaelangelo's work tends to dominate over that of the other frescos which are equally stunning in their own right and add a significant depth to the whole environ. It was a pleasure being inside the Sistine Chapel aside from the huge number of tourists, with quite a few flagrantly ignoring the no flash photography rule. This made me angry as it has the potential to damage the paintings, but the guards were pretty hot on their tails and Wolfie even reported one tourist to them. He was right to do so.

The Vatican Museums are over 7km long and we got to see just over 2km on a rather whistle stop tour of the main attractions. The Belvedere Torso, deemed to be the most perfect torso ever sculpted, was one of them but I was saddened to later discover that we missed the Rafael rooms. Being a keen cartographer and having a strong interest in geography, my favourite room was undoubtedly the long corridor detailing many maps, mainly of parts of present day Italy, I think from the seventeenth century. The maps were huge paintings on the walls and all were drawn to scale, with every key port noted. It was fascinating comparing those maps with the landscape today, seeing what had survived, what hadn't and the relative sizes of these places then and now.

The tour ended in St Peter's, where the guide bid us farewell and we were free to explore this awe-striking monumental structure. A mongrel of a basilica, it initially started out as a simple Greek cross in shape before being converted into a Latin cross, pulled between the competing visions of its chief architects and the resident Popes of the time. With pale brown being the dominant colour, the atmosphere is somewhat sombre inside, but the use of gold does enhance the beauty of the building, not least in the Latin inscription that goes around the top of the walls. It is a breathtaking space in which to be, no less so than underneath Michaelangelo's stupefyingly gorgeous dome, which we climbed to the top of, in order to get a closer look. This was a real highlight for me as we also got a bird's eye view of the nave, appreciating the sheer grandeur of the design and the engineering involved in a time when modern construction methods and technology didn't exist. The intricately patterned mosaics on the wall, which formed beautiful images, although difficult to see from ground level, were testament to the dedication and devotion involved in constructing the basilica. Unfortunately, Wolfie is scared of heights and had to dart past this section while he also bailed on climbing to the top of the cupola, not liking the narrowing twisting staircase and claustrophobia of the dome closing in as we completed our assent. Being with others doing the climb too, it did get a little intense, with the increased heart rate and giddiness of climbing up so many steps not helping. He went back down quickly and waited at the bottom while I enjoyed an exquisite view over St Peter's Square and the city of Rome beyond. It was worth it.

I did tell Wolfie that he didn't have to come up with me to the tower but I still felt a little guilty as I had darted off at stage two of the climb just after the aforementioned mosaic bit. After we had completed our descent to ground level, we hugged and checked out the basilica one last time (but sadly missing another masterpiece by Michaelangelo, his Pieta) as it was a tranquil and relaxing place to be. I do like churches of this impressive scale as, although they can make you feel a little insignificant, you do get imbued with a sense of the talent and creativity of the human race.

We then ejected ourselves from the complex and into St Peter's Square when, frustratingly for the first time that day, it stated to rain. We dipped into the Vatican post office to pick up some Vatican stamps as a souvenir (which I think I have sadly misplaced since) before risking the light shower and heading back out into the large airy square. On Easter Sunday as many as 300,000 faithful cram into this square and the thought of that too was quite inspiring. The arcing colonnades - of 284 travertine columns, 88 pilasters and 140 statues of the saints - mimic arms widening to envelope you, drawing the city in with its welcoming grip. Created by Bernini between 1656 and 1667 in perfect symmetry, there are two points in the middle of the square where the four rows of columns line up perfectly. In the middle of the square stands a 25m tall obelisk of red granite, brought from Egypt by Caligula in AD 37. The obelisk also works as a sundial, with appropriate illuminated lines on the pavement to its north, marking the correct placing of its shadow dependent on what sign of the zodiac we are currently in. Interestingly, the Square stands on Nero's Circus where early Christians used to be martyred, again highlighting the influence of the Romans on our modern practices. This seemed to be a common theme throughout the trip and probably the main thing I took away from our fascinating trip to Rome. We didn't get to see everything - missing out on looking around Pont Sant'Angelo, the main defensive castle of the city and a vestige for Popes in strife - but we did get to see a lot of it. I still think I'll be coming back to Italy though, not just to see bits of the cities we missed but also to see some of the rolling Italian countryside too. There's still an awful lot of the country I would like to explore.

Taco Puppy!

We arrived in Mexico City late last night after a mammoth 11 hour flight from Amsterdam, which had been preceded by a much shorter affair from Manchester. Indeed we barely noticed the length of the first flight as we got chatting to a chappie from Hull, who was flying to Kyiv to spend five days with some friends he knew. Having been to the city before, I was on hand to advise him on all of the sights to see in the city, although I did frequently mix it up with Minsk and Moscow. Well it was three and a half years ago since I was last in Ukraine.

If I were being honest, the 11 hour flight did not seem that long either, apart from the last hour when we were counting down the minutes until we landed. Mixing writing my journal with some in-flight TV and some tasty food proved to do the trick while the six beers I had (all 250ml cans though) definitely helped. I had wanted to have a few more beers but thought better of it, going through customs drunk is probably not a good idea. The range of films and TV wasn't particularly good and the couple in front of us who were kissing constantly were somewhat annoying but aside from this, the flight was pretty good although by the time we landed we were absolutely shattered. This is never a good time for customs fun but although the line was long, we got into the country pretty speedily, aided by the staff who checked the landing cards had been filled in correctly before we reached the customs desk. The lady was very friendly and soon we were at baggage reclaim, which was a mass of confusion as they had changed the belt from 17 to 22 without telling anyone or displaying it, while the conveyer spent most of the time stationary, with bags just piled up around it. It was Taneli who spotted my bag and soon we were off, although I had the delight of having all of my bags searched too before being let into the country.

It didn't take too long to find Cryn and his partner Misha, our hosts for the first part of the trip, although it did take us quite a while to reach their apartment, which is reasonably nearby. Mexico City has a population of over 25 million and it's a chaotic sprawl of a place. All of the main roads are frequently snarled with traffic and so it proved, even at 8.30pm, as we stopped at red light after successive red light so it took us over an hour to get to our destination. What doesn't help is that driving here is almost like a free-for-all and with no driving test to pass to be allowed to drive - you just need to queue for a license - it's easy to see why the road network is such a mess. They have tried building roads above roads (and even above roads again) to alleviate this problem but the city is growing at a far faster rate than the authorities can cope with, meaning they always seem to be on the back foot. What doesn't help are the itinerant salesmen and window washers at every stop light, who will sell you anything from a USB stick to a toffee apple. Some will walk between the cars attempting to clean the windscreen and you have to be quite firm, if not rude, to decline their services. In addition to this we saw various cyclists just dart carelessly across the road in front of oncoming traffic, not to mention people running across duel carriageways too. At one point on Thursday we saw a children's play area in the middle of a dual carriageway with no discernible access to it. The chaos of this city is very much like that of Manila, the other mega city to which I have been. Speaking of which, we saw another itinerant salesman on a bike riding around with a megaphone selling sweet corn, much akin to the balut salesmen in the Philippine capital. It sounds very much like the Muslim call to prayer I regularly heard in Indonesia when I was there in 2009.

Feeling jetlagged but wanting to adjust to local time, we opted to stay up a few hours on Wednesday evening and order a local takeaway, which consisted of the most delicious Mexican food I have ever tasted. Chicken soft tacos were accompanied by two hot sauces, chopped coriander, diced onion and sliced pineapple which you could apply to the tacos in any way you wanted. We also got some crispy cheese sheets, akin to the burnt layer of cheese you get when some of it drips from your cheese on toast and onto the pan underneath. All of this came with crispy nachos, chunky guacamole and a refried bean dip which was lightly spiced but was one of the best things I had ever tasted. The guys had bought me a few beers - a 2014 special reserve of one of the major brands here - as they, like Taneli, or more wine drinkers than beer. The other there shared a bottle of red - not one of the ones we had bought as presents for them - and we chatted a while about various things. For me, it was great to get to know them as I had never met them before, fearing it may be a little awkward staying in their house when none of us had met before. Fortunately everything was fine and it was great to get to know them properly after a few months of sporadic chat on social networks. This is very much a cat household, and me being a dog makes for an interesting dynamic. They have two real cats - a bouncy white and ginger one and a more moody black one - but they both seem to like me. As is always the case with me, I cannot help myself saying "kitty catty basket" whenever I see them for some reason. It's a compulsion. Cats do scare me a bit though as they jump about everywhere, with the ones here frequently perched on shelves to shock me when I see them at the last minute.

By 11pm (so 5am in the UK, 6am in Amsterdam) we were beyond tired and opted to head to bed, although jetlag can play weird games with your mind and I had rather fragmented sleep. It didn't help that I needed the toilet twice in the middle of the night but by 5.15am I was largely wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Still I guess six hours sleep under the circumstances could have been worse so I watched the sunrise over the view of the city from my window, waiting for everyone else to get up. Fortunately, we had planned an early start so I didn't have to wait too long and after a delicious sweet pastry for breakfast, we were soon on the road and heading north to the pyramids of Teotihuacan.

Starting in 200 BC, Teotihuacan was the first planned urban settlement in Mesoamerica, built as a result of a migration northwards due to a volcanic eruption. It was dominated by the Avenue of the Dead, with the Temple of the Moon at its eastern end. To the south stood the Temple of the Sun, with both temples set atop massive pyramids, both of which still stand today (sadly the temples have since been destroyed). These pyramids are famous throughout Mexico and there is nothing else like them in the Mexico City area (these were about 40km out in the adjoining state of Mexico). Consequently, they are quite a tourist attraction, which is one of the reasons why we wanted to get their early. It was a good call as school parties with children started to arrive halfway through our own excursion and while there was the usual bus load of Japanese tourists, the complex was largely desolate at such an early hour. There were a few people about but we did manage to climb the steep steps of the Temple of the Sun pyramid before being overwhelmed by the crowds or the strong sun, it got up to 21C in the afternoon today. The high altitude made climbing the pyramid tougher than it otherwise would have been but the panorama at the top was stunning, with small towns nestling in the foothills of extinct volcanoes, with the remains of the Teotihuacan complex mapped out below. Partly due to the exposed nature of the place, it was quite windy, and I enjoyed watching the wind blow a white hat off the head of a tourist, viewing it bouncing down the uneven sides of the structure. Indeed the pyramids are not a perfect pyramid shape - they were built in layers at various stages of construction until the site was abandoned between AD 700 and AD 750 - while there are frequent stones jutting out of the sides to prevent the structure slipping on the piled mud underneath which made the internal element. The attention to detail is quite remarkable though, with little stones embedded in the mortar while the airy basalt made for a very strong building material.

As befitting a tourist site, there were many people trying to sell tourist tat, both in little sheds on the road leading up to the complex and just wandering around the area itself. We saw one determined man harass an old Japanese lady for over five minutes for a particular item while we had to tell them firmly to go away nearly every other minute. This didn't really detract from our enjoyment of the pyramids though as it was all so wondrous, with the view from halfway up the Temple of the Moon (the top half was closed for some reason) down onto the main religious area of the city, which consisted of smaller pyramids facing into a central square or Quincunce, which is laid out to display the cosmological order of things according to tradition. While I was around this area, a German couple barged in front of me as I was reading a sign (I got quite obsessed with signs here) only to discover that they wanted to use me for shade. We also saw a range of interesting murals - one of a puma and some more in Quetzalpapolotl - while there were many fragmented examples in the modest museum around the back. The museum was a real delight as it had a range of pottery and ceramics created by the people of the city, and demonstrated just how cosmopolitan it was as they had contact with and influences from a range of other cities across what is now modern day Mexico and beyond. Charting these influences throughout the nine centuries of the city's existence I found fascinating while the scale model of the city with the Temple of the Sun looming large in the window in the background gave an excellent geographical perspective. Technology featured strongly with a complex irrigation system to keep 80,000 people fed at its peak while the open tombs with actual skeletons in situ did highlight the religious and funerary beliefs of this community, even if it was a little grizzly and voyeuristic to look over these bodies.

We ended up staying far longer than we thought we would, and feeling hungry, we opted to get food in a restaurant nearby than risk being caught in traffic heading back into the heart of Mexico City. We decided on one near the pyramids and although it was a little touristy, with a full Mexican band and Mexican dancing providing entertainment, it served enough traditional local food for it to be a viable option for us. There were two large Mexican flags fluttering in the wind at the main entrance, with one fluttering so much it smacked me in the face. There was also European football on the TV, a bit of an initial headfuck as it was dark and evening there but light and lunchtime where I was, emphasising that I was a long way from home. We ate quite a bit. Cryn ordered the insect platter containing grasshoppers, worms and ant larvae, which locals pop into a tortilla and munch with salsas and guacamole. The grasshoppers and worms were served whole, in the case of the former, with legs attached which you could feel tickling their way down your throat as you ate them. They were largely tasteless but crispy, with the worms merely hollow but crispy. Only the larvae had a taste and that was probably because they were mixed with something to add a certain richness. Eating these insects is reasonably common in Mexico and the best way to do it is to wrap them in a tortilla and add guacamole and more palatable things and not think about what you are eating while you do it. This is all fine until the contents fall out of the tortilla mind. On my second attempt, folding at one end, I did quite well but at bites three and four I started to think about what I was eating and it became a little offputting. I still finished it though. I also enjoyed a starter of Aztec Soup, described as a liquid tortilla in a bowl with pork crackling which was soggy in this case when it should have been crispy, and chicken in mole and rice. Mole is a rich dark gravy made with cocoa and spiced. The sweetness and the spiciness was a rather odd combination but it was delicious, with the little kick at the end really adding to the completeness of the flavour. I also drank a nice crisp yet sweet local beer called Tecate, which I hope to try again sometime.

As we were already out and about, we decided to go to a lake on the other side of the city, meaning we had to drive down the longest street in Mexico which goes north-south through the city. On our way back, we spied the effects of the rapidly expanding city, with shanty dwellings clinging up the sides of some of the hills almost like humans are surrounding it like a colony of ants. These don't look particularly planned but the brightly painted buildings did look rather pretty in the sun. The houses out here were particularly small but interestingly nearly everyone had a car, despite the more modest nature of their surroundings. No wonder there is so much road trouble.

Approaching the city, we decided to try and avoid the traffic by going around the city, going through rundown neighbourhood that not even Cryn and Misha knew. Unfortunately this backfired somewhat as we swerved to miss a particularly deep pothole and failed, with an accompanying hissing sound coming from my corner of the car shortly afterwards. We had gouged a huge hole in the back left tyre. Fortunately there was a petrol station just two blocks away so we didn't have to stop on the side of the road in the bad neighbourhood with a good looking Mercedes. All of the petrol stations here are state owned, called Pemex, and have attendants to pump the gas. This means they can often help with things like a flat tyre, which they did in ten minutes. However, the replacement tyre was far thinner than the other three so we agreed with Cryn that going home would be the best option and to go to the lake another day.