More Tourist Stuff

Hey all,

Had a good sleep last night – a full 8 hours, so woke up feeling a little bit more positive about the Peter Pan hostel, and was even prepared to tolerate the toilets (following a minimalist aesthetic, they dispense with both seats and paper) – anyway, another full day doing touristy stuff. Started off at the Colosseum, which was impressive, but not overwhelmingly so for me at least (it is, after all, just a smaller version of the MCG...). The thing that interested me most there was the brickwork – I tried to get this in a photo which is attached – if you look closely you can see the bricks laid out in intricate load bearing arches, within solid walls (the photos seem to have uploaded in reverse order, which I will remember for next time). Then wandered past the Circo Massimo, where I guess the elite of ancient Rome once watched chariot races, or elephant races, or maybe just went jogging, or whatever. It now has all the grandeur of a disused quarry – it is the photo that looks a bit like a sunken paddock.

After that I decided to walk along the Tiber, which, being a huge river that runs right though the middle of Rome, is easy enough to find. Predictably enough I got horribly lost, was reduced to asking for directions (the horror) after an hour or two – and managed to eventually find it. Was lovely just wandering along the edge for a while in the general direction of the Vatican – also reassuring because even I can't get lost when I am walking along the side of a river. There were some people fishing under a bridge, which is pretty game given the state of the water, but they also had sleeping bags and stuff under the bridge, ie, they lived there, so I guess any food for these guys was a bonus. Will see what it costs to book in if the hostel reverts to form...

There is this enormous castle and museum on the Tiber, which I went to and had a fun couple of hours wandering around in, the Castel Sant Angelo – still not entirely sure what it was for exactly, but it was an interesting building, as was the museum – all these paintings of various patron saints of the place, all of them pictured cradling the huge fortified castle in their arms as if it were a lamb... The most impressive thing about this castle was the view from the terrace – the photo of the Basilica S. Pietro that is attached was taken from this terrace – definitely worth the effort. Wandering around on the walls I actually saw a backpacker in a park below who appeared to have taken up residence on a bench, and was sound asleep with all his gear. I took a photo, but it did not turn out very well so have not attached it.

On the way out I bought some Genuine Designer sunnies from a charming young Nigerian fellow who had them laid out on a blanket in the sun. He wanted 10 EU for them – I threw my arms up in the air in outrage, stormed off. He called me back, offered 7. I threw my arms in the air again, walked off, not so much outraged any more as much as slightly miffed. He called me back and agreed to 5, which seemed reasonable enough, and said “You are bizniss man”. Which was generous of him, considering he probably bought them by the box at 20 cents a pop from some factory in China. The prices here are extremely variable – anything obviously near a big attraction is very expensive – 4.50 EU for a coffee (!). Wander around the corner for 10 minutes and you can find any number of little cafe's where the coffee is .80 EU, or less.

Anyway, complete with new sunnies and feeling very proud of myself, I went to the Pantheon – this really is astonishing, easily the most impressive space I have ever been within, just magnificent. I did not attach any photos of it – I took a few, but frankly I am not a good enough photographer to do it anything like justice – just can't get the sense of scale at all. It was crowded, but the space itself is so powerful that it kind of puts the milling tourists like myself in their place – the crowds don't overwhelm the space, it is the other way around. Again, it is a church – I can't imagine what it would be like going to an actual service there – I assume they do have them.

Looking forward to another Skype phone call to K tonight, (my night, her morning). Tried last night but the Internet connection here is in keeping with the toilet facilities, so it was one of those “Hey, great to hear you... CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU THERE? HELLO? HELLO? Oh, anyway, today was really... ARE YOU THERE? HELLO? HELLO?” conversations, which do make you feel really distant. The net connection seems a bit better behaved today, so hopefully will work better this time.

The photos attached are the Colosseum, the Circo Massimo, homeless people fishing on the Tiber, St Peters from the St Angelo terrace, the interior of still another church which I did not mention above. Then there are two which I reckon are kind of interesting – the first is of the interior castle wall at St Angelo. If you look closely at the left you can see a souvenir hat on a ledge. I imagine two fat American siblings with matching hats having an argument, until one of them, inspired, grabs the other's hat and flings it across the abyss to the castle wall, where it will remain indefinitely. Or it could have just fallen there, but I like my story better. The other is a bit of street art – this has been stencil sprayed on to the background of some ancient statue in the Palantino. You can see the angel wings, but probably can't make out the words, which are “Here is Photo Opportunity Angel Point”. Cool. And it did turn a headless statue into a real photo opportunity...

Cheers, B.

PS: The friendly staff member at the hostel has just warned me that there is a group of 40 Germans arriving here tomorrow. 40.