I Came, I Saw, I Liked

I arrived at 4:30am in Rome and it was cold. Very, very cold. I had my first taste of Italian hospitality and demeanour when I asked for directions to the train or bus station in the most elementary English from two policemen and an airport staff. I got a lot of hand gestures and the Italian shrug instead. Maybe it was too early in the morning. I gave up and took the cab. I asked how far my hotel was and the good cab driver said 30 minutes and rained more Italian lingo on me. What he didn't tell me was that 30 minutes actually meant doing 170 KM/Hr on the highway. Cab fare : 160 Euro. Go ahead, do the conversion on that and tell me if that's not enough to make a man cry.

When I have imagined Rome, I've always thought primarily about the ancient stuff. You know, the Colosseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus, Forum - all the millennia old ruins. What hits me about Rome so far is that the vast majority of really interesting architectural features are medieval baroque and renaissance. The other fascinating thing is that most things seem to be hybrids, blends and mixtures of styles as architects, popes, cardinals and princes have added their personal stamp to buildings and public art over many centuries. There were many cathedrals too.

This is Paolo Pintarelli. My Italian connection. Thanks to him, my stay in Italy was made more meaningful. He prides himself to be related to the Riposati family who happens to operate one of the three oldest bakeries in all of Italy. He brought me over to the bakery to sample their speciality. For over three centuries the bakery had stood near the Trevi Fountain and frankly speaking, I have never tasted anything better. I was also given a two hour lecture by Paolo's aunt on the complex working into perfecting the Riposati's bread. In Italian nonetheless while Paolo translated feverishly trying to keep up with his aunt. These people talks too fast. The bread, I was told, is now baked in an electric oven : a wood oven was certainly more poetic, but it can't be regulated and it imparts a flavour of charcoal. I can't remember any other details as I was too overwhelmed by the sweet acidic smell of yeast. Or was that yeast at all. I don't know.

Paolo took me out for dinner on my first day in Rome and I had my first taste of authentic Italian food. Nothing fancy, really. Pizza, pasta and stuff in a stand up restorante and bar. Espresso and cappuchino's too. Very nice. The 'bars' in Roma are typically a short counter and maybe a couple of tiny round tables. They do sell alcohol in the evenings but during the day it's mostly coffee and cornetti. I was obviously disappointed.

Later, I shared with him the Tiger's I brought and he loved it. I had an extra 4 cans courtesy of this nice MAS stewardess. On my way back to my hotel we stopped to buy their local beer which I thought tasted more like distilled water.

I remember taking bus No.23 to go to Vatican City. This time without Paolo. I told him I wanted to do Rome on my own and lose the tourist trappings. I will remember that bus because I was sitting in one filled with the most beautiful women. I swear I was slowly undressing each one of them.

I was still entertaining my lustful thoughts when I realized I was approaching holy ground. The Vatican city. I have seen queues in my life but the ones I saw at the basilica's square into the main building was worthy of a rock concert. Too long but it moved fast.

I had to stand in line to see the most recent Popes tomb, Pope John Paul. There were a lot of dead Popes there.

Florence is another beautiful city. Lots of cathedral built in honour of the saints. But I was there to see the tower. Now, the story of the tower of Pisa construction cracks me up. Apparently they noticed the problem with the lean after only the third level had been built. So they stopped, and nothing was done for nearly a century. Instead of knocking it down and restarting, they then decided to build another four floors but at an angle to compensate for the tilt. Realising it was still tilting, the work was stopped again. Finally after yet another century, they just popped the bell chamber on the top and called it a day. Maybe they had great foresight though, as it has made Pisa a major tourist attraction. Ever wondered why it hasn't fell? You get tourist like that bastard up there posing everyday like that, that's why.

Venice is beautiful. There are virtually no cars in the city. It was a foggy, rainy day but that didn't stop me. I bought a map and small guidebook to the city for 2.50 Euro at the nearby tourist office - this turned out to be an invaluable purchase. Venice is unique of course because of the canals, but I had not realized that for the most part you cannot walk along the canals. The buildings go straight into the water with no walkway in front. You get from place to place by navigating through narrow cobblestone alleyways between the buildings. It is very difficult to follow any kind of map. There are yellow signs on the sides of buildings at certain intersections which will direct you in a general sense to two of the largest attractions - the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Square. So you can check the map against those signs to see if you meant to go toward one of those or away from it.

It was confusing and naturally I ended up just wandering around and getting lost. I also visited a couple of beautiful churches. There must be over 50 churches in Venice. I did eventually make my way to St. Mark's Square. More birds then people here. There was a long queue to enter the square and I thought "Man, it must be packed." When I got a little closer I realized the square was flooded!!! The tide was so high that there was about a foot of water throughout the square. The city had set up wooden platforms for people to walk on around the perimeter and between the major buildings. The platforms were so chockerblocked with people that policemen in hip waders stood alongside blowing their whistles to keep people moving. Of course all of the tourists were in awe of the gorgeous surroundings and wanted to stop to take pictures while on the platforms. I just had to laugh at the whole scenario. I didn't do the gondola ride. I figured spending 80 Euro for a 45 minutes ride was just beyond my already depleting budget.

Milan was cold and the people stylish. They pride themselves to be more refined and cultured than their southern kin. I visited the Duomo (yet another cathedral) in the city centre which was pretty, but most of the building was covered with scaffolding for cleaning. The stained glass windows were probably the best part of this disappointing visit. I paid for an audio guide of the church, but due to construction most of the areas mentioned on the audio guide were roped off. All I could do was imagine what they were talking about. I would have enjoyed climbing to the top of the church, but I forgot to do that before I left. I ended up coming back later to do that, but it was closed by that time.

In all honesty that is all there is to see in this city. You need reservations to see Leonardo DaVinci's Last Supper, and they were booked through November 5 already. One person I met did reserve a space to see the painting, and he was escorted into the room, rushed through in 15 minutes, and then brought out to a gift shop. Not sure that's worth 11 Euros.

That's me and Eve. Adam was too errrr....indecent.

I took a train back to Rome after deciding Milan was too complex for my liking. I didn't do much in Milan. I heard so much about Via Montenapoleone and its adjourning streets but walking amongst LV's, Channel and the likes wasn't a strong point on my visit list.

I stayed for two more days in Rome and went around the city on my own. I did the most obligatory sites in some detail - the Colosseum and the old Roman Forum. I hadn't realised that there were about half a dozen other later forums built by various emperors. The Colosseum is every bit as awe-inspiring as it's always assumed to be. A combination of precise stone work, brick-work and ancient concrete a couple of millenia old. What a sight it must have been during its hey-day. Filled with 60-70,000 shouting, laughing Romans having a grand day out at the old ball-park watching Christians being mutilated in the most gruesome way imagined. Like much of the really spectacular structures in Rome, it's difficult to get perspective on it and (I find it) hard to photograph. Hence, none of it deserves to be posted here.

On my last day, I went to the Spanish Steps and just sat there for hours watching people watching other people. Rome is beautiful. The sights were beautiful, the wine sweet, the gelatos very nice - they're everywhere, the women stunning and food fantastic. Yeah, there were a few Italians who were just plain arseholes but as Paolo warned me, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Before heading back to my hotel, I walked to Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that it is lucky to throw coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into it. One coin, and you are ensured a return to Rome; two coins to get married; and three to get divorced. I don't know if there is any truth in the legend surrounding this magnificent fountain but I did all three.

Ciao!!!