Roma...final days of our voyage.

We were looking forward to be back in Roma..we had enjoyed our first visit so much. Once again, our hotel was in the Prati area, very close to the Vatican. We were at Casa Linnea on via Plinio where we enjoyed a large and sunny room, with nice amenities AND shared a kitchen with another younger couple (from Greece).

 After the grunginess of Naples, Roma felt like a breath of fresh air! Blooming trees everywhere, and this light so typical for the Eternal City...we had no special agenda except than to revisit our favorite places that we liked and to discover new ones! There were tons of tourists, more than at the time of our visit in July 2011!

As can be seen here, we had to change our strategy to re-visit the Saint Peter Basilica...early mornings the line-ups were too long but at the end of the afternoon, we were able to get in easily!!!

 

We love walking over the Ponte Cavour or Ponte Umberto over the river and admire the views...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned to piazza Navona, and to the Pantheon...we spent much more time in this area than during our 2011 visit.  We discovered a wonderful café La Tazza d'Oro with SUBLIME coffee and an espresso granite with panna (cream) that was out of this world. What a wonderful place...no need to say that we went back every day!

Just around the corner of the Pantheon, on Piazza della Minerva, is the wonderful gothic church (the only gothic style church in Rome built in the VIII century) Santa Maria sopra Minerva with paintings of Michelangelo, Bernini and Filippino Lippi.





But there was more to this church than its blue nave...during the Inquisition, its cloister was the site where Galileo Galilei was trialed for having discovered that the earth was indeed turning...and it is in this church that the tombs of the Medici popes Leo X and Clement VII can be found. After having read so much about the Medici, I felt compelled to see this site.

 

 

On the Piazza in front of the church is the "petite" Egyptian obelisk that Bernini perched on an elephant! There were two obelisks, erected in front of the temple of Neis at Sais (today Sael-Hagar, Egypt). The other obelisk is also in Italy, in Urbino on the Piazza of the Renaissance. Science and strength are combined in this sculpture of Bernini, commissioned by Pope Alexander VII in 1667.

Later in the afternoon, we meandered around a small island in the Tiber and to the oldest bridge of Rome. Ponte Fabricio is still used everyday by thousands of tourists and locals. It connects the Jewish ghetto with the Isola Tiberina island; this island was once the location of an ancient temple consecrated to the god of medicine Aesculapius; since then, it has been the site of hospitals.
Guarded by two marble pillars with two-faced Janus heads, the bridge is a symbol of transitions and beginnings, a place from where you can see the future and the past. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiber_Island

 

 

 

 

 
 

The first Jews who arrived in Rome in 63BC were slaves brought back by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompei) after taking Jerusalem. There was no persecution of the Jewish community until 1556 when Pope Paul IV forced it to restrict the living quarters of its members to the current ghetto area, which was then surrounded by walls and with a gate to control its inhabitants.

 

 

The wall started from Ponte Fabriccio reaching the Portico d'Ottavia; from there it run along today's Via del Portico d'Ottavia (not including the ancient fish market; at Piazza Giudea (which was cut in two) it bent again running along Vicolo Cenci (today Via del Progresso) until it reached the Tiber again. The total area amounted to three hectares, where at the time of Sixtus V roughly 3,500 inhabitants were living in inhuman conditions (Jews were very limited with regard to the occupations and jobs they could hold).

 

 

  In 1943, the Nazi forces rounded up more than 1,000 Jews from Rome's ghetto and nearby neighborhoods, leaving these quarters empty...Today, it is an area full of life, with a large synagogue and it is a major touristic attraction, especially for Jews around the world. When in this area, one cannot miss the small but excellent bakery where we bought great tasting pastries...mind you, at 3 euro each, they had better be good!!!

 The Fountains of the Turtles was commissioned by a private person, Muzio Mattei.  While Mattei and his family were Roman Catholic, they lived in the part of Rome which became the Roman Ghetto.  When the pope decided to build a wall around the Ghetto in 1555 and imprison the Jewish population, Mattei was given a key to the gate!

Sunday in Rome...what is one to do????

Lots...we remembered fondly a sunday in New York City when we had spent almost half a day in Central Park...so, why not doing the same, here in Rome? First, we went to Piazza del Popolo where a group of Romans played traditional tunes on accordion...(see youtube video at the end of this blog's section).

We then went to the piazza di Spagna that we had missed in 2011...oh la la...the crowd! Undeterred, we also had lunch near the beautiful fountain of Trevi, to finally end at the Villa Borghese and its magnificent gardens.

 We joined the crowd!!!!!!!!!!

We did so much in 4 days...it was fun to return to Antique roman sites but we were happy to have made the visits in 2011 as the crowds were immense.... we spent more time in Travestere and in our area around the Vatican, even venturing to Piazza Massini to meet the cousin of our Chinese friend who has been living in Rome for 7 years now and kindly agreed to meet us at the Bar Antonini for coffee and mignons (delicious miniature pastries, the specialty of the place...). http://www.antoniniroma.it/


 

Voilà, the end of our Roman odyssey and of our 40th anniversary Italian celebration. Unforgettable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-xlUaW3OAY

Pompeii

We all know about Pompeii and thanks to TV and Internet, we have seen the pictures of its fossilized people and ruins of temples and houses ..but nevertheless, to see this site in person gives another perspective. And so, we took the train from Naples - more specifically from the Circumvesuviana train station - to Pompei, a one hour trip. The trip itself was an eye opener... children beggars came across the wagons for money, and the train crossed all kinds of very unattractive and poor municipalities; we could see several camps covered by tarps (inhabited by gypsies?) with a level of poverty pretty shocking for Europe. Naples has a high rate of poverty, with children going to work at age of 11 to support their family.http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1722081-child-labour-re-emerges-naples

The ruins of Pompeii are located near the modern suburban town of Pompei which was built on a spur formed by a lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarno river.

 

Today it is some distance inland, but in ancient times it would have been nearer to the coast. Pompeii is about 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Mount Vesuvius. It covered a total of 64 to 67 hectares (170 acres) and was home to approximately 11,000 to 11,500 people on the basis of household counts (therefore an important city in Campania).  There had been an earthquake 17 years before the deadly eruption of the Vesuvious and so many of its inhabitants had left as they did not feel safe anymore in this city.  The reconstruction of the city began soon after this quake but it was still ongoing when the 79AD eruption gave Pompeii the deadly blow.

The site of Pompeii began to be truly explored and excavated only in 1748 with the restauration works still ongoing. 2/3 of the site has been excavated as of now. In the recent years, there have been numerous reports in the European press that the moneys spent by the European Union on this UNESCO site have not been put to use..or at least to restauration use. The Mafia (camorra) is still a powerful organisation in southern Italy and it has been reported in Italian Press that there is now a special unit dealing with European union fonds...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9622553/Making-a-killing-on-contracts-how-Italys-Mafia-has-plundered-EU-building-funds.html

Indeed, we were shocked to see that several important buildings of the site were closed and that there was not much work going on...also, many frescoes have been taken out of Pompeii and put in the archeological museum of the city of Naples. We are glad to have been there, however, because what is left of the site is impressive and fascinated us.

We had arrived early ... to avoid the crowd.  However, most of the "accessible" buildings were closed (and we had not been given any information as to which building was open to visit, and which one were closed.).  So, we meandered around for the first two hours, finding always closed doors, chained up.  Very disappointed, until we saw some locks to be opened around noon time ... the tourist buses had arrived, together with their paid guides.  What can we say ....?  More "special treatments here at work???".  Very frustrating.  So, we started our "visit" of these homes again!

Heiner is shown here walking right of the Forum which was the city's main square...carts traffic was forbidden! It was surrounded on all sides by administrative and political and religious buildings.  That day, we had a bit of rain but the cloudy skies gave the Pompeii ruins an ominous look...

 

A typical street ...when possible, we entered houses to admire ceramics or other life artefacts that pertained to the daily lives of these Romans...2000 years ago.

 

Mosaics were found in every house (after we had access ...!); typical colours for Pompeii were ochre, 2 different kind of red, blue, green and black. Mosaics also were used to decorate floors...or used to give explanantion as to the type of services  that were offered in certain houses...like in this bordello! or "lupanar".  The sex-trade was well and alive in this civilisation...while there was only one bordello in Pompeii, prostitues were rendering their services on the ground floors of hotels, taverns or even in private houses that had a room or rooms close to the street... with depictions of options available ..here are some. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, is the bronze statue of the Faun, pertaining to the house of the Faun, the largest house in Pompeii, with its 2970 square meters.. another striking decorative element of this noble house was a mosaic depicting the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, King of Persia, which suggested a possible connection between the Macedonian ruler and the owner of the house.  The mosaic was difficult to photograph because it was not cleaned properly and covered by dust; it seemed in very good shape, otherwise.

 

The picture should have looked something like this ... with less sand and dust on its surface.  But still ...

In what used to be a granary and a food market, is now a storage rooms for diverse materials of Pompeii...including plaster casts of victims bodies.  

Throughout the site, cast of bodies can be found, suggesting how horrible it must have been to find oneself in Pompeii at the time of the eruption.

 

For the whole duration of our visit, we tried to imagine what life in Pompeii must have been...hopefully, the sites will remain despite societal crisis and political turmoil.

And so, after these two very special days in Naples and Pompeii, we too had to leave...

To see Naples and die

Marleyne was really curious about Naples, the city, Heiner about Pompei..so we went for a short stunt of 2 nights in this city, which after Rome and Milan, is the third municipality in Italy! Between 3 and 3.7 millions of people live there...And Naples ((Neapel=neapolis=new city)is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world...Bronze Age settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium before Christ. And, another record for the books, Naples was the most bombed Italian city in WW2...Naples is all that and more.

Coming from Florence, a shock awaits us...Florence was a "lady", Naples a girl, a bit of a tramp really. She is dirty, noisy, bold and brash but has a great heart! Welcome!

Arriving at the Napoli Garibaldi train station gave us a feel for what the city life would be ...lots of traffic, aggressive drivers, honking cars, graffitis everywhere, and no clean streets (the garbage strike is finished though!!!!)....But we had read about it so not too much surprise there! Here below is the street leading to our hotel on via Mezzocannone.  The hotel was located in the Spaccanapoli area and we were thrilled to see these small narrow streets - the way we imagined Naples -  just around the corner. Gelato shops, pizzeria, cafés, full of life!!! and the prices! half of those in Florence!

 

  Of course, Marleyne's ultimate goal that day was to have a taste of Naploli's pizza! As soon as we sat on the restaurant patio, a brash napolitan waiter "guessed" our order..and brought 2 pizza margherita and 2 beers!

 

Because we did not have so much time in Naples, we sampled some of its treasures..for example, the Galleria Umberto 1 (inspired by the galleria Vittorio Emmanele II of Milano).

And the Palazzo Reale's construction began in 1600 for the Spanish viceroys by Domenico Fontana and was embellished and enlarged by the following inhabitants.... today it is where the national library is located..

 

 And there is the Teatro San Carlo...the largest opera hall of Italy! Build in 1737 by Charles de Bourbon, it has one room decorated with gold and silver which used to be the envy of European courts!  Unfortunately, no opera was staged for the dates we were there.