The Big Trip
Part 1: Roma

Thursday Jan 5 saw my departure from Stansted to Roma Ciampino to meet Maarinke for two weeks of continental travels, the culmination of months of intensive preparations. After an inauspicious start to the trip, involving me boarding a train to Birmingham (only realized after departure from Cambridge station), i managed to check-in with 165 seconds to spare and made it to Rome. Found the hostel and went for a reconnaisance trek about town, past Colloseo,

and the monument to Vittorio Emmanuel II,

all the way to the Vatican.

Trained the following morning to Leonardo Da Vinci aeroporto in time for Maarinke's arrival from Vietnam, via Singapore and Frankfurt. She was in high spirits, on her inaugural trip to Europe, and of course pleased to see me (particularly so as I, uncharacteristically and some might suggest miraculously, wasn't late to meet her at the airport).

We found our hotel, noting the campanile vista from the window of our room,

then, wasting no time, we hit the streets, stopping first at the Coliseum,

which turned out to be far more infested with hawkers during the daylight hours, then on to Foro Romano,

where the clear skies and sunlight, both relatively foreign concepts to me now, allowed for full appreciation of the splendours of the great empire.

Up the Capitoline hill (one of the seven famed hills of Rome),

to see Romulus and Remus (famed founders upon aforementioned hills),

and the north side of the Campidoglio.

Jumping ahead to the 19th century, the Vittorio Emmanuel II monument, built after the unification of the nation of Italy, whilst in keeping with the monumentality of the ancient empire, expresses its splendour in a radically different style, more redolent of similar nationalist- neoclassical works in Germany from the same period.

It appears to be a great cliche to criticise this monument in comparison with the graceful ruins of antiquity that surround it, or with the renaissance and baroque palazzos and chiesas that constitute much of the city. It is representative of Italy's move into nationhood after more than 1200 years: in this day of pan-Europeanism, as distinctions between states become more blurred, such commemorative pieces give reminders of the relative modernity of the concept of nationhood. It was good to enjoy this perspective over history, whilst also appreciating the view over the city.

Back down the hill, past the Foro Imperiali,

and into the city, where the piazzas were teeming with crowds enjoying the Epiphany Day public holiday. Purchase of trendy new sunglasses from a street vendor provided opportunity for Blue Steel posing in nearby alley.

Maarinke was putting in a sturdy performance for someone who hadn't been to bed for 54 hours, but a rejuvanatory hot chocolate was in order, enjoyed amongst the throngs outside the Pantheon.

7pm saw Maarinke, understandably, collapse into bed and, after a couple of slices of pizza con funghi e salsiccia, I hit the hay also, in preparation for another big day tomorrow.

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A relatively early start saw us make it to the Vatican when the queue was only 1200 metres long. That was a pretty exciting and stimulating couple of hours,

but worth it once inside. The Capella Sistina, crammed as it was with 2000 tourists snapping away, most of whom wouldn't know a Bernini from a Botticelli or a Lippi from a Lotto, was good without being great: obviously one shouldn't pass up the opportunity to see one of the most famous places/artworks, but that doesn't mean you can't make snide, jaded remarks about the experience.

What were really good were the rooms through which one dutifully troops on the way to and from the main event:

Filled with ornate decoration, great big maps of different parts of Italy, lavish frescos, there was plenty to look at whilst attempting to distract oneself from the mindless banter purveyed by fellow tourists. The modern religious art collection, of which we saw a subset, was an welcome contrast to the masses of High Renaissance on offer.

The Pinacoteca was also cool (though we were to later discover that the bulk of the Baroque pieces were being exhibited in Bonn at the time). Lunch and a bottle of paint stripper was followed by a quick visit to St Peters piazza,

where Maarinke looked suitably pious reverent in front of the Basilica.

Strolled then past Castel Sant Angelo,

back across the Tiber,

up the Spanish steps,

to the Pincio, from where we viewed the city,

and Piazza Popolo.

Wandered south then through a really cool swisho part of the city filled with art galleries, antique stores, cafes and trendy boutiques. Paid obligatory visit to Fontana de Trevi

where a kind street hawker offered to steal my camera (admittedly in exchange for a lovely red rose), but declined my reciprocal offer to jam his rose in, thorny end first. Having ticked most of the touristy boxes, we celebrated with a couple of Morettis and a lasagne and called it a day.

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Squeezing the last drops of cultural value out of Roma before our departure to Firenze, we assembled in front of Villa Borghese at 8:30am.

That was unanimously judged the best thing we saw in Rome: a mansion in acres of parkland, filled with topnotch painting and sculpture, predominantly Baroque. Highlights: Bernini, Titian, Caravaggio, Veronese and the incredible entrance hall. As a pleasant contrast to the knuckle-dragging throngs with which we were forced to share our Musei Vaticani experience, many of the rooms in Villa Borghese could be enjoyed in complete solitude. Sustained ourselves with a ciambella,

then off to the stazione,

where we missed our train thanks to a combination of faulty departures boards and our (my) own ignorance and apathy. Thanks to my faultless performance as "Stupid Australian tourist" in the station information office, we were then upgraded to a Eurostar: woohoo - sitting in the aisle was a small price to pay for the 1.5 hours carved from our travel time.

Next stop: Toscano.