When in Rome... Part I

Midnight was not the best time to arrive at the Royal Santina Hotel, although, to be completely honest, I would not really recommend arriving there at all. To say it is a hotel with faded glory would mean indicating it had glory to begin with. It needs a major refurbishment, but I would have settled for a wipe over with a damp cloth. Claudia and I were greeted by surly-man-at-desk on arrival – his one and only pleasantry being to offer us a wake-up call the next morning which was never made and thus we overslept by an hour.

Our room was at least less dusty than the lobby and stairwells and had what could almost be described as a nice view over the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (say that 3 times fast!) toward the dome of St Peters in the distance – well, if you leaned out of the window a bit…

First thing Saturday morning (although, an hour late thanks to a lack of a wake-up call) we put our lodgings behind us a made for the Vatican. Having been warned of horrendous queues and madding crowds we started with the Vatican Museums in an attempt to head off the worst of it. We must have chosen a quiet weekend. 5 minutes after arriving we were buying our tickets and on our way into the museum for two and a half hours of frescoed walls and ceilings, marble sculpture, mosaics and tapestries, oh, and stairs… lots of stairs!

The culmination of the museum tour is the Sistine Chapel. Once inside the walls and ceiling are instantly recognisable. To stand in the space and look upon those frescoes alone and unhurried must be fabulous. To be jostled and bumped by the hordes is not such a pleasant experience. Both Claudia and I found the experience a little less than comfortable and spent only about 10 minutes gazing about before retreating to quieter areas.

Second stop was Piazza St Pietro, the sweeping curve of colonnade bound pavement stretching out before St Peter’s Basilica. Being lunchtime and both of us ready for a sit-down we resisted the urge to enter the Basilica right way and walked across the Piazza to a café recommended by a German friend of Claudia’s. Having seen where Germans choose to eat while travelling, I was somewhat dubious. My fears were allayed as I sat down to a carafe of chilled white wine, excellent bruschetta and lasagne.

Stomachs sated off we sauntered to St Peter’s Basilica. Without a doubt the most overwhelming space I have ever set foot. I defy anyone to enter the doors of the Basilica and not be moved by what they find. Whether it is the scale of the architecture (the building can hold 60,000 people – more than Lang Park, for a quick comparison), the richness of the decoration or something deeper I am not sure - perhaps a combination of it all.

The statues are enormous, towering about us from niches in the columns and walls. Every wall, column and floor is covered in patterned marble. Huge images adorn the wall behind the altars of the chapels down each side of the Nave. You take them to be elegant paintings or frescoes until you move very close, only to find they are actually the finest and most detailed mosaics - the skill of the artist is beyond comprehension.

The canopy over the central altar appears to float above barley sugar columns. Made of bronze and designed by Bernini it marks the point, under the basilica, of the tomb of St Peter and stands like an island at the centre of the cross of the Basilica ground plan.

There is so much to take in as you slowly walked around the space, and it was almost a relief to step back out into bright Roman sunshine and leave the intensity of the Basilica behind.

From the steps of the Basilica the view takes your gaze down Via della Conciliazioni, a contribution by Mussolini, to the distant River Tiber, so we walked that way.

We strolled, in the shade as the day was a warm one, toward the river. The cylindrical lump of Castel Sant Angelo drew near and we found ourselves looking down into the River Tiber, sluggish and a rather deep, bottle green in colour. Ahead of us leaping across the river from the entry to the Castel Sant Angelo was the Pont Sant Angelo. A guide book had identified this bridge as the prettiest bridge in Rome – clearly the other bridges of Rome were not going to offer a visual feast. We wasted little time on the bridge which would not get a second glance in Paris and plunged into a labyrinth of charming little streets and lanes on our way to Piazza Navona. We only got lost about three times before we found our way into the Piazza; home to three fountains and the second obelisk of our weekend’s touring – the first being outside St Peters - and by no means the last. Piazza Navona is also home to a plethora of stalls selling clichéd oil paintings of Roman scenes – St Peters, the Coliseum, Cafes etc. and a rather good gelateria called Tre Fontana. We bought both paintings and icecream.

Next stop was the Pantheon. Unfortunately, closed by the time we arrived we decided to return the following day so I will deal with it later. Although, while walking away we did enjoy obelisk number three…

Five minutes later and we were standing, mouths slightly agape, staring at the Trevi Fountain. It is rather larger than had anticipated and it dominates its tiny square, and the space is not taken up by the fountain was crammed with people. We managed to squeeze our way to the top of the stairs and take a few photos before we retreated to periphery to take in the sight. The fountain is designed to look like the sculpture, and the entire building above it, is emerging from the living rock. The edges are blurred where uncarved rock looms up out of the surrounding balustrade and creeps up into the building façade. The figures of horses and men spring from the mass of stone at the heart of the fountain as water pours around them. Despite the vigorous life of the sculpture and the throng of people all around, the square seems to hold onto an air of coolness and peace and there is the ring of laughter and joy in the rushing, tumble of the water and of the voices of those looking on.

From milling throng to milling throng. The Piazza di Spagna was no less busy than anywhere we had been all day. But, despite the crowds we found a few square feet on the Spanish Steps to sit and enjoy the afternoon. The steps really are perfectly formed for sitting and lounging and watching the world. Worn smooth and shiny by millions of feet and back-sides the travertine is remarkably comfortable. To lie back and gaze down upon the Piazza is a delight. The sun was warm and eventually that warmth and the need to meet up with other friends forced us to relinquish our spot and head to the Metro and back to the hotel.