flat out around rome
3 days of hardcore sightseeing and we are bloody knackered (strange how one begins to use iconic australian euphemisms when away). it would be a complete lie to say that we have seen everything here, infact there is enough to keep you busy in rome for a very long time and we have "strategically" left several key sites as preverbial carrots, to lure me back here sometime in the future. i think i will leave them for a fair while, however, because i am not so sure i can handle the streets, crazy drivers, and inhabitants of rome too soon. except for mauritzio, clara and massimo our family friends who have looked after us for two consecutive dinners and are very a-typical romans
there is an observation that was confirmed by our massimo, that romans are particularly 'individualist'; but in a more overtly selfish way than one could imagine. it is quite a strange phenomenon because it is not so much in the way that they look or anything so tangible - indeed there is so much style here that you would assume every gucci/prada/etc wearing strutter is a gentleman, but rather it is an attitude that you will sometimes encounter in while in a commercial situation, and that is very clear in the way that they drive. there is pretty much no such thing as a road-rule, and if there are than no-body knows them and the polizia AND carabinieri do not care enough to enforce them... they are too busy telling street buskers to clear off... obvioulsy an important priority.
in terms of highlights i feel that it is too difficult to pick a sight that stood out, but there is something incredibly beautiful about the sculpture at the piazza navona; each one of the four carvings around a large fountain and beneath a massive egyptian obelisque (which i believe, along with several others around the city, were imported from egypt when the roman empire encompassed that area) is dedicated to and personifies a different river.. the nile, the danube, the tiber and one other which i am struggling to remember. whoops.
spent two lovely days hanging out with charlotte (a very sweet girl who we met in cerltaldo at the infamous bassetto) and her friend tom and i have officially dispelled all of my hatred for newspaper gelato recommendations because the one that we found which was "recommended" by the new york times was ridiculously good. the place was so pro that they didn't even need to show you the icecream flavours, just a small name next to a sunken and electronically monitered refrigeration well covered by a stainless steel lid is sufficient apparently. indeed one must be wary of big wet gelato tubs claiming to be good... its all about temperature regulation. we took a free tour with these kiddies to st peters basillica which is literally the largest church one can walk inside. the facade is the size of a football pitch and the inside is so large that you can hardly tell that it is more than 200m long because your eye is, apparently, not used to looking at distances and structures so big without the sky behind it.
killing time at the hostel before we jump on a train down to mafia country too see where my nonna was born. we have officially reserved a seat so hopefully the cabin will be empty and we will be able to get some sleep, but i have learnt from past errors and booked a hostel in catania which looks quite shmicko and is a fair bit cheaper than the rates we have been paying here. all in all things are looking good on the money front which is good considering i thought that italy would have taken a larger toll. shouldn't speak so soon because we have at least another week and a half here before we get to paris. one thing that has pissed me off has been the inability for a payphone to dial a toll-free number, even with coins telecom italia remained determined to deny any connection. i guess i will just have to call home from sicily somehow.
there is an observation that was confirmed by our massimo, that romans are particularly 'individualist'; but in a more overtly selfish way than one could imagine. it is quite a strange phenomenon because it is not so much in the way that they look or anything so tangible - indeed there is so much style here that you would assume every gucci/prada/etc wearing strutter is a gentleman, but rather it is an attitude that you will sometimes encounter in while in a commercial situation, and that is very clear in the way that they drive. there is pretty much no such thing as a road-rule, and if there are than no-body knows them and the polizia AND carabinieri do not care enough to enforce them... they are too busy telling street buskers to clear off... obvioulsy an important priority.
in terms of highlights i feel that it is too difficult to pick a sight that stood out, but there is something incredibly beautiful about the sculpture at the piazza navona; each one of the four carvings around a large fountain and beneath a massive egyptian obelisque (which i believe, along with several others around the city, were imported from egypt when the roman empire encompassed that area) is dedicated to and personifies a different river.. the nile, the danube, the tiber and one other which i am struggling to remember. whoops.
spent two lovely days hanging out with charlotte (a very sweet girl who we met in cerltaldo at the infamous bassetto) and her friend tom and i have officially dispelled all of my hatred for newspaper gelato recommendations because the one that we found which was "recommended" by the new york times was ridiculously good. the place was so pro that they didn't even need to show you the icecream flavours, just a small name next to a sunken and electronically monitered refrigeration well covered by a stainless steel lid is sufficient apparently. indeed one must be wary of big wet gelato tubs claiming to be good... its all about temperature regulation. we took a free tour with these kiddies to st peters basillica which is literally the largest church one can walk inside. the facade is the size of a football pitch and the inside is so large that you can hardly tell that it is more than 200m long because your eye is, apparently, not used to looking at distances and structures so big without the sky behind it.
killing time at the hostel before we jump on a train down to mafia country too see where my nonna was born. we have officially reserved a seat so hopefully the cabin will be empty and we will be able to get some sleep, but i have learnt from past errors and booked a hostel in catania which looks quite shmicko and is a fair bit cheaper than the rates we have been paying here. all in all things are looking good on the money front which is good considering i thought that italy would have taken a larger toll. shouldn't speak so soon because we have at least another week and a half here before we get to paris. one thing that has pissed me off has been the inability for a payphone to dial a toll-free number, even with coins telecom italia remained determined to deny any connection. i guess i will just have to call home from sicily somehow.
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