Before I launch into more of my Roman adventures, I just wanted to tell you about this. After I’d put yesterdays post up and added the ‘PS’ bit, I got a text from Vivien and this is what she said:
“I can even top the guy with the stockings ... One of my matches is a transvestite it even shows him/her dressed as a woman ... wtf”!!!!!!
I have to concede that she’s definitely won in the weirdy dating stakes! Sorry Viv!
Anyway, back to Rome ...
I woke up on Sunday morning like I was awakening from the dead. I could barely move. In fact I can’t ever remember being so tired ... it was more than tired though (at the risk of being dramatic ... and one could never mistake me for that! Lol) I was totally exhausted!
I remember thinking, “OMG, I can’t move! I need to get up ... I can’t get up ... I can’t move ... OMG!”. Slowly, after about 45 minutes, I managed to come round a bit and turned on the TV to hear the sad news about Amy Winehouse and the multiple killings in Sweden. So sad on both counts. I them staggered ... literally staggered (still finding it really hard to walk) into the shower, then flung a bit of makeup on, got dressed and went to breakfast.
I don’t usually do breakfasts, but “When in Rome!” (there it is again folks!). Breakfast consisted of 2 Danish pastries and 2 cups of coffee (very good coffee I might add. I have the give the Italians that ... they do absolutely the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life ever ... and I’ve had a lot of coffee!) ... then I was off. By the way, it was only 8.30 am by this point but I wanted to get an early start so that I could cram as much in as possible and I’d had about 11 hours sleep, so I shouldn’t have been tired.
I set off, wearing different flip floppy type sandals from the day before (the others just caused too much pain when I tried to put them on) ... yes, that’s right ... flip flops ... they were designer flip floppy type sandals I might add ... well what did you expect me to wear? Trainers? With a dress? Are you havin’ a laugh!? I wouldn’t be seen dead in trainers outside the gym ... and I wasn’t going to wear anything remotely sensible like ‘walking sandals’ as suggested by my hairdresser *shudder* (you’d think she’d know me better by now, I’ve known her for about 10 years) ... so designer flip flops it was (at least I was in flats!) ... and I was in Rome for goodness sake, a girl’s gotta keep her style intact no matter where she is!
So I ambled (or rather flip flopped) in the general direction of the Vatican. Knowing that it would take me about an hour to walk there, I decided to drop off at the Pantheon on the way. That was the best idea of the trip ... I got there when it opened and it was totally empty. I think there were about half a dozen people there besides me ... it was amazing and extremely peaceful at that time of day ... it was quite idyllic. I didn’t hang around too long though. I took some pics, said a few prayers (for those of you who don’t know, the Pantheon, as well as being a huge tourist attraction, it’s a fully functioning Catholic church) and then I was off again on my jaunt to the Vatican.
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| The Pantheon early in the morning ... before the crowds - bliss! |
I’m not going to talk too much about my visit to the Vatican. I’m Catholic and that’s our spiritual home, so I want to keep that private. But what I will say is that I was surprised that nuns had to queue with everyone else to get into St Peters. That shocked the hell out of me actually! What’s the point of being a nun ... giving up your whole life to God and the Catholic Church and you have to queue to get into St Peters? It didn’t seem right. Anyway ...
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St Peters ... Look at the queue! |
I was at the Vatican for about 3 hours and actually managed to catch High Mass – that’s where the mass is sung and is entirely in Latin – which is incredibly rare these days and was at the main alter of St Peters, which is also rare. After my visit to St Peters (I was ready for a sit down as the only sit down I’d had all morning since I left the hotel was during mass and it was 1.00 pm by this point, so I decided to grab something to eat and drink at one of the cafes on the main road up to St Peters. Big mistake, HUGE! I had seafood risotto, 2 (very small) glasses of wine (what is the matter with the Italians? They give you an egg cup as a wine glass ... it’s simply not on ... I’d heard they love their wine and it’s plentiful! Not from my experience ... very disappointing!), small water and a cup of coffee – 45 Euros! WTF ... I nearly fell off my chair! Now, I must point out here, that I’m far from stingy and don’t usually balk at large restaurant bills, however, the quality and the amount of food and drink I was getting for these crazy sums of money was, well, crazy!
I’d heard that it was a rip off for food and drink in Rome ... well folks, it definitely is. You see, the advice most people give is to go off the beaten track and it’s much cheaper ... but I didn’t really want to do that, what with being on my own an all ... so got stung. Maybe if I went again, I’d do things differently ... in fact I know I would!
After I’d been fed and watered (I must point out here, that my feet and legs were hurting so badly by this point that it really was painful to walk), I decided to walk (read *limp*) to the other side of Rome and visit the Trevi Fountain, via the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon (it was on the way).
When I finally reached the Piazza was crowded and full of crazy people. You know those people you get who dress oddly and pretend that they are statues ... there was a gunslinger, a Egyptian Pharaoh (pictured below) and a few other oddities. All very strange ... and lots of people painting. I didn’t stay long, I sat and watched the world go by for a bit, but it was too mad for me and I kinda couldn’t be bothered with it. When I felt that my feet could take the strain again, I stumbled back on towards the Pantheon.
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| Egyptian Pharaoh?????!! |
It couldn’t have been more different that it was in the morning. It was mental! So many people, you couldn’t move. I stopped for a little while to rest my weary appendages and just watched the world go by for a bit. I love people watching and it was extremely interesting in Rome ... youngsters (and not so youngsters) just love to stop in the street and snog! It’s bizarre ... one minute they’re walking lazily down the street hand in hand, the next minute they’re sucking the face off one another! All very odd, but there was a good vibe going on.
After a while, I got up and I carried on wandering and came to the Trivi Fountain. Now I’m really gonna sound like I’m moaning here ... but I really couldn’t see what all the fuss is about. I thought it was a lovely fountain in a large Piazza. Not so. It’s a huge, no, massive fountain, stuck on the side of a building (it doesn’t look at all in keeping), surrounded by other huge buildings. Disappointed does not describe how I felt. Plus the tiny, tiny square it was on was so jam packed with tourists that you couldn’t get anywhere near it. I managed to chuck my 3 coins over someone’s head, stayed for about 2 minutes and then went to a local bar and got ripped off again for another thimble full of wine.
On reading this back it sounds like I had a horrible time ... I didn’t, I actually loved it, honest ... it was just that it was quite a bit different to what I’d expected ... it was certainly more emotional, busier, ram jam packed full of tourists and more tiring anyway! Ho Hum.
It must have been about 4.30 pm at this time ... too early for dinner and I knew I couldn’t walk much further because of my sore legs and feet, so I found a fab place to plonk myself and read – well it was a stunning day/early evening and I’d taken a book with me for just such an occasion. I sat on a beautiful, huge marble bench set quite high up some steps with a magnificent view of the Capitoline Museum (about 5 minutes from my hotel ... if I was walking properly ... and right where I met Angelo the day before).
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I did my 'people watching' from a bench over the road on the left of this building. Not a bad view if I say so myself! |
My two hour ‘rest’ took people watching to a whole different level! I’ve never experienced anything like it ... I’ll tell you about it and my numerous encounters with the opposite sex in my next post.
I’ve gotta rush again folks (I will get to tell you all of this story ... promise!)
Until then, be fabulous lovely people and have fun.
Love Jx
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