Roman Empire, Roots of Christianity, Limoncello and the Bella Figura

Forum Romano

Colosseum

Rome conjures a romantic idea because of the Hollywood greats that pervaded our TV screens with movies like "Three coins in the Fountain" and "Roman Holiday".  My last visit to Rome was 33 years ago and at that age, my priorities were different.  I searched the web for information on what to do in Rome and most sites give me a list of tour packages you could already pre-book. The tag used by the tour companies was "skip the ticket line". I have to admit being overwhelmed by the choices and the steep prices of the tours offered, but decided that, since I would have eight days in Rome, I would decide what to do when I got there.

I flew from Brussels to Rome on SN Brussels. How glorious to be transported to a new destination with a different culture, language, food, landscape and people in just a few short hours.. Don't ask for Spaghetti Bolognese in Rome, it does not exist and where pizzas are street food.

Arriving in Rome, we were picked up and loaded our bags. Mine was almost empty as I had anticipated filling it up with clothes, bags and shoes from Italy. Remember, you must count 2 sizes up if you buy clothes in Italy and size 37 shoes seem the more popular size.

Forum Romano

We stayed at the Duke Hotel which is in a quiet, residential neigbourhood. The hotel has surely seen some better days but it is a convenient location for work. We got upgraded to the superior room which featured a king sized bed, that would have made Goldilocks weep: it was hard and someone on Tripadvisor described the beds at the Duke Hotel akin to concrete slabs. ( i'll put a like on your review, friend! )

The bathroom comes with a bidet and full bath with shower and curtain, old style but ok. The pictures on the wall are framed in the style of  Louis XIV.
In such sombre classic surroundings, the bright sunshine and blue skies would just burst through the bay windows lightening up the hotel room with cheer. I started to notice that all the surrounding houses had shutters. In the evening when I returned to the hotel room, it was always cool and dark as the maid would draw down the shutters to keep out the heat. That's Mediterranean style living.

Duke Hotel Breakfast buffet

Buffet breakfast at the Duke has a bit of everything: hard boiled and scrambled eggs. Any other style, you'll have to order. The choices consist of stubby meat sausages and crispy bacon, cold cuts and sliced cheeses, home-made yoghurt ( which was very good ), big glass jars of fruit jams, Nutella spread and a selection of fruit juices. There are always three or four types of tea cakes, a selection of Danish pastries, breads and Bomboloni ( my motivation to get out of bed early to grab before they vanished ). There are also four kinds of cereals and the same two thermos pots of brewed Nescafe coffee. If you rather prefer something else, there is fresh Cappuccino, Expresso, Lungo, but that takes at least 15 minutes to arrive.

Cold cuts

I wasn't bowled over breakfast. Every item looked tired and uninteresting and clearly came straight out of the box to the table. These days, customers prefer farm to table freshness, home-made produce and certainly cakes and breads that aren't dry. Even the local bakery section of the Simply Supermarket next to the hotel had hard breads and dry cookies.

I began a new (dis) appreciation for the Biscotti.

Italian style bakery  ain't my cup of tea

The final enlightenment came when a lady friend told me that breakfast isn't important to Italians. They usually grab coffee at the local bar in the mornings as their women are too busy preening themselves: Bella Figura runs deep in the veins of Italians.

Off with her head?

Porta Titus

Piazza Navona

Saturday, and it was off to test my map reading skills and in-built compass, I first hailed a taxi to go downtown and then ventured to points on the map that I had meticulously marked: Colosseum, Forum Romano, Forum Trajan and along the way met a few quack Roman soldiers on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

I traced my way to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, Pantheon and ended up at Piazza Navona to admire more fountains. I devoured my first Pasta Amatriciana at a cosy bistro next to the Tiber River and with renewed vigour, marched across the bridge to the Vatican.

Spanish steps

Square  of St Peter's Basilica

Trevi fountain 

I wanted to visit the square in front of St Peter's Basilica, where history has it that the Christians were martyred there and not in the Colosseum, like the  movie Gladiator would have suggested.  The square was swarmed with people as tourists queued for hours to get into the St Peter's Basilica.  My visit to St Peter's Basilica was set on Wednesday and Thursday so I made a bee-line to the Via del Corso to take in some shopping and taste gelato.

Gardens of Castel Gandolfo

On Sunday morning, I travelled some 25km to the Alban hills in the Lazio region to visit Castel Gandolfo. Traditionally the summer residence of the Pope, it has a beautiful garden within the Castel ground, now open to the public. The town itself, overlooking Lake Albano, is surely a place to unwind and to take in the beautiful lakeside view as I lunched on delectable Romano specialities and lovely wines.

Communion day

Overlooking Lake Albano

Guess who I bumped into at Lake Albano

Castel Gandolfo

Monday isn't blue when you are in Rome. On my hectic agenda ( being a tourist is tough walk and work ) were more sites to visit. To kick start the day at the farthest end of the city, I took a taxi to Rome's first Christian church, built by Emperor Constantine, St Giovanni in Laterano. I was barred from entry because I had exposed shoulders. Bummer! I must have missed that note. Strategically, the wandering Bangladesh peddlers were selling their PRC- made shawls nearby and I purchased a pink and khaki one to at least match my attire and re-entered the church. The same security guard, earlier on with a surly face, now greeted me "Buongiorno Signora" with a smile. Such ignorant tourists, we are! From that day onwards, my shawl was a constant appendix to my handbag. From St Giovanni church, I ventured further to the Thermae Caracalla, which was quite a walk in the blustering sun and I was so glad, I had my hat.

St. Giovanni in Laterano

Afterwards, I walked to the Circus Maximus, round up the Palatine Hills, cut across the Colosseum and reached St Clement church. It was a long track and I have got sun tanned stripes to boast.  I managed to push further to Piazza Vittoria Emmanuel, close to the Termini where I saw the shadier parts of otherwise beautiful Rome. Here traders from China, Africa, India sub-continent and Nepal ran their business. In the park close by, scruffy folks and litter dotted the place.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Unfazed, I pressed to Piazza Maggiore, where I stopped for some lunch. Then popped into The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (church of Santa Maria Maggiore ) This is a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. A Filipina who sat behind me offered to take photos of me.. ( wow.. a depart from my usual selfies ). We chatted and she invited me to join her in the side chapel for "Adoration".  I acquiesced halfheartedly to her invitation. It was for 30 minutes while i listened to the angelic voices in Italian praising God.

After the short service, we went our separate ways where I finally collapsed into a taxi to return to the hotel. My Fitbit bore witness that I walked 15 km that day.

last oranges of the season

Thankfully dinner that evening was just around the corner of our hotel, in one of the most beautiful manors in Rome, with a sprawling garden of lemon and orange trees. One of the specialities of the house, among many others, was home-made Limoncello. Not only was it organic, it was pure alcohol, lemon peel and sugar. This is the kind of produce, I was ranting about... Dinner was scrumptiously prepared by a Filipino self-taught cook, yes..you read it right. And I ate every morsel of it..

Tuesday was retail therapy day: a visit to the Rome's Outlet mall some 30 minutes outside of Rome. I perused the designer shops like Furla, Ferragamo, Burberry and other Italian brands. I did not see anything that particular that caught my fancy though the prices at Coach and Furla were pretty interesting. After four hours of retail therapy, I headed back to Rome with no purchases. In the evening, I was invited to dinner prepared by a young Italian chef who cooks French-Italian fusion food. His dessert of carved melon drenched in liquor was delightful.

Wednesday was a day I had eagerly waited for. This was the highlight of my 8 days in Rome. I would be on an exclusive tour of the Scavi ( Italian word meaning "excavations" ). Although this tour requires advanced booking with only 250 people admitted per day, in groups of 15, i managed to secure a place through a certain bishop who helped in arranging my visit. No pictures are allowed and only Vatican officials, mostly Priests, would lead the tours. At several points, there is a pause and prayers are whispered. The highlight is to see the tomb of St Peter and his bone relics.
In the evening, I was invited to a dinner at a marvellous palatial house overlooking the Forum Romano. With such excellent views, I could sit here all day and gaze at the ruins. Dinner was again superb, and the company esteemed.

Fresco in the Monastery

On Thursday a friend's husband turned guide for the day accompanied me to a few of his favourite discoveries. Xavier showed me the small but beautifully preserved chapel next to St Giovanni ni Laterano, then another Monastery where sisters are practising their faith. It is amazing to see young women in today's modern world still serving their calling. In the afternoon came the second highlight of my trip :

Vatican Museum

A guide to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica with a very adept tour guide, Madam Blanche. I skipped the queues because I had special access, which made the tour even more special. I gawked at the paintings, richly decorated ceilings, wall murals, floor mosaics.. you just have to keep walking and keep gazing. Here was where I learnt an important Italian word "Avanti"

In the evening, i was invited to another dinner and saw that same young Italian chef again, this guy must be quite famous. He again did not fail to impress me with his rendition of Poire Helene, enveloped in a robe of chocolate. I was resolved to walk another 15 km the day after.

The ancients were doing selfies in the nude

My last day in Rome was spent visiting missed sites like the Teatro di Marcello ( mini Colosseum ) and adding more pictures to my over-fed Iphone, I took the opportunity to wander off the main Via del Corso onto side streets like Via Condotti, visited shoe stores which my friend had pointed out to me. Visited a few more shops, went onto Piazza Popolo to wait for the hotel shuttle. Unfortunately, the front desk told me I had to wait an hour as it was a busy period. Hmm.. welcome to Rome.

Via del Corso

I whipped out my new taxi app " MyTaxi" and requested for a taxi. I wish i had found out sooner that that is the best way to get around Rome, without unscrupulous taxi drivers taking you for a spin. How come I hadn't read that on Tripadvisor?  Only goes to show not everything is mentioned and you should not believe everything you read on Tripadvisor either, especially for restaurant reviews as one man's food is another's poison. Speaking of which, death by poisoning was one of the favourite ways of ridding one's adversaries among the ancients.