Roma Antica

October 31, 2015

We cabbed it down the hill from the hotel early on Halloween morning to meet our guide at the Oppio Cafe. The cabbie dropped us off in front of the cafe and we were early enough to go inside and get a cappuccino and a bite of breakfast. This cafe is a good meeting point to start a visit of the Colosseum and the many other Roman ruins that are nearby. The meeting point was basically right above the Via dei Fori Imperiali, a road that the dictator Benito Mussolini built between 1924-32. This road connects many of the attractions in the area and is really all that separates the Colosseum from the Oppio Cafe .

At precisely the appointed time of 8:30 AM, our guide Elisabeth from Context Travel showed up. We were lucky because although Context groups normally have the maximum of 6 people per guide, we had Elisabeth to ourselves.  We started with a quick history lesson before crossing the Via dei Fori Imperiali and entering the Colosseum. It turned out to be very important to review the succession of the Roman emperors from the time of Christ to about 200 AD. The various historic sites we would visit were built at different times by different emperors, so being able to put it all into context was important. Elisabeth is a well-educated Archeologist and prior to guiding and teaching she was involved in many archeological digs. So, she was the right one to show us around. She carried a laminated textbook with her which she referred to many times during our tour and it was helpful to set the stage for many discussions that morning.

The Colosseum was amazing. The building itself was built between 72 AD and 80 AD. It was started under Vespasian's reign and finished under his son Titus' reign. It was financed by the sacking of Jerusalem during the Jewish Rebelian of 66-73 AD. Both Vespasian and his son Titus led Roman armies during that war and returned to Rome with the spoils of war and numerous Jewish slaves to help build the structure. There is a pretty good museum located on the upper floor just inside the outer wall that displays some of the artifacts found at the site and gives the visitor an impression of how the building was used by the Romans. We didn't have enough time there to really see all the exhibits.

Right outside the Colosseum, our next stop was the Arch of Constantine. It was completed in 315 AD and commemorates Constantine's victory in the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Elisabeth explained that the arch contained a lot of reliefs from earlier works dedicated to earlier emperors and was then a kind of collage of styles pasted together. I guess the artists had to improvise when the imperial grants ran out.

We would then scale Palatine Hill to visit the ruins of the Flavian Palace. At this point, I would like to tell you that we hiked a long distance over uneven ground on that day. We also climbed a record number of stairs as measured by my iPhone. It was a good workout, trapsing around Ancient Rome and the Vatican, so I am glad I did it when I was relatively young.

Palatine Hill was pretty cool. There is basically a big outdoor museum on the hill that archeologists agree is the site of the first human habitation of the area during the Bronze Age. Before the Roman Emperors established the hill as the site of their palaces, all of the affluent romans built their cribs up there, as it was the neighborhood of choice for the rich and famous. Augustus, his successor Tiberius and later on the Flavian Emperors (Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian) would boot out all the merely rich people, expropriating their land to build increasing larger and more elaborate hang-outs for themselves. We spent a lot of time looking at the work of Domitian on a Palace that had been started by his brother Titus and his father Vespasian that both ruled before him. On the brow of the hill this palace had the best seats for the chariot races, as they looked directly down over Circus Maximus from the southern side of heir palace. Mrs. Gym and I looked down on that same view that Domitian had viewed the races and unfortunately, today there is nothing left of the stadium that once sat 250,000 people. The bowl is still there and you see how big it was but it ain't as grand as it was when Ben Hur raced around down there.

The last part of our tour with Elisabeth took us down off Palatine Hill and into the famous Roman Forum, the centre of the ancient city. We stood next to the Temple of Vesta where the Vestal Virgins tended the Sacred Fire of Vesta, a flame that had to be kept burning so that the fortunes of the city would continue to be positive. All around the Forum, are important civic buildings in various states of repair. Here, senators gave speeches, processions and parades passed through, trials were conducted and most of the commercial activity took place. My feet were getting tired on these old Roman roads and I have tell you that you have to pick your feet up when strolling about around the Forum. I bet there has been some nasty spills on those uneven surfaces as people are looking at ruins and not being mindful of their footing.

We finished our 4-hour Roma Antica Tour exiting the forum area not far from Trajan's Market, near Piazza Venezia where there was a taxi stand. We said goodbye to Elisabeth there where Mussolini's Via die Fori Imperiale connects to the piazza. We had to rush to meet out Vatican tour guide.

The Colosseum in the early morning from the Oppio Cafe

These are the stairs up the the top levels of the colosseum where the
poor people and the women of any class had to sit. Only wealthy or
powerful men could sit in the lower levels.

This is a display in the museum that is inside the colosseum. These are
counterweights used to raise up the cast of a performance from beneath the
floor of the arena. 

Here you can see where they have restored a portion of the arena floor

this view looks down at the floor and shows the sub-floor
corridors where the gladiators and wild animals waited for their cue to be
raised up through the floor when their events began. 

The Arch of Constantine commemorating victory at the Battle of
Milvian Bridge in 312 AD

Side view of the Arch which spans Via triumphalis,
the road of victorious emperors entered the city

The top of Palantine Hill

Looking down two levels to a water feature on the main floor.

Looking down at a beautiful inner courtyard from the top floor of the
Flavian Palace. Present day ground level is at the third level of the palace so
this had to to be carefully excavated to reveal the first two levels. 

This is a view of Circus Maximus From the top floor of the Flavian Palace.
It doesn't look like much today because the stone has been taken away to
build newer structures in Rome. The massive bowl where the chariots
once raced now is empty.

The Hippodrome of Domitian is next to the Flavian Palace ruins.
It is a private green space for Domitian where he may have been
entertained in a private setting. It is big, about 150 meters long.

A typical roman road - watch your step!

The Temple of Vesta.

Buildings surviving today around the Roman Forum include the Senate.

Revealing Rome

I have quite a bit of material from our visit to Rome so in this first post I will describe the setting and our temporary home in Rome and we follow up with sightseeing in subsequent blogs.

We left our suite on Oceania's Newest ship, the Riviera, on October 30, 2015 and moved our luggage inland to a new base camp at the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel. This turned out to be a great place from which to discover the capital. Cabs from this hotel to all the major sites in Rome were no more than 10-15 Euros. So we were close to all the sites but because of its  geographical location the Cavalieri was also a restful oasis that you could retreat to, from the city. This hotel is located high up on a hill overlooking Rome and has wonderful views of the city both day and night. It seemed removed from the hustle and bustle of the city as much of the noise is blocked out by the lush vegetation that grows all around the hotel on the sides of the slopes. In the morning, you can see the sunrise over the city to the east and at night you can see the lights of the city from your balcony. The hotel has a fantastic outdoor pool and the largest indoor spa of any hotel in Rome. In terms of room rates, you could get good deals on the internet if you pay up front. You want to ensure though that you get a room with a view.

The only downside to the hotel was the pricey menus of all of the hotel's dining options that made it impossible to have your meals in the hotel and stay on a budget. Fortunately, there is affordable dining only a short cab ride away. Additionally, within walking distance, there is a very highly-rated Sicilian Restaurant called the I Vespri Siciliani that we wanted to try but take note that it is closed on Sundays, as are many establishments in Rome.

Mrs. Gym couldn't check in right away, so we explored the hotel grounds and then when our room was ready, we settled in. Later on we went down to the spa and got our metabolism's up so we could have a nice meal at the main restaurant in the hotel. The service was great. We retired reasonable early as we had arranged two, 4-hour semi-private tours the next day.

Please read on. The Roma Antica post relates to the first tour and the Visiting the Vatican post relates to the  second.

our room in the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria

View towards the Vatican from the balcony

view towards the ruins of Ancient Rome

the beautiful grounds of the hotel

the outdoor pool that was quite well used in November

another shot of the grounds

the viewpoint

Finding Florence

Our last tour from the M/s Riviera was to Florence on October 29, 2015. Early that morning, we pulled into Livorno, Tuscany and then boarded a bus for the 90-minute ride through the world-renouned Tuscan scenery.

A tuscan farm house framed by the vineyards in front and the
green hills behind

these are undoubtedly Sangiovese grape vines

Olive trees on the hills with a castle in the background

We had an excellent guide on this excursion, a native of Florence, Antonio was well-versed on everything that was Florentine. As we passed through the rural areas west of Florence, he reminded us that this was Chianti country and the vines we were passing were mostly Sangiovese grapes that must make up at least 80% of a Chianti wine. In the region that was south and west of Florence, Chianti Classico is produced and it is always recognizable on the wine store shelf by the iconic Black Rooster seal.

Again, we would walk through the old part of town and in the case of Florence we would work from the north, past the cathedral to the Arno River and then circle back past the town hall to The Basilica of Santa Croce. There, we were given 2 hours to have lunch, shop and visit the Basilica of Santa Croce. I was able to measure the distance we had traveled on foot during our various walking tours with a trusty iPhone App and this day's stroll turned out to be one of the longer hikes, coming in at just short of 10 kilometres. Needless to say, we did not have to go to the gym when we got back to the ship.

In Florence, we spent time visiting the outside of the Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore or the Duomo. The building is notable for the massive dome, the red, green and white marble facade and the massive bronze doors. The cathedral complex includes two other beautiful structures, the baptistry, Battisterio di San Giovanni and Giotto's bell tower.

the Battisterio di San Giovanni just in front of the Florence Cathedral

The front of the cathedral

The door to the Baptistry - this is a copy of the original that  was
damaged in a flood and removed to a safer place. The copy is very impressive.

Giotto's Bell Tower

the massive dome from beside the cathedral

the Dome from a distance

From the cathedral we sauntered down towards the Arno River to check out Il Porcellino. This was a fun diversion to a statue near the river. This bronze copy of an original statue made by Pietro Tacca faces south towards the river in an alleyway that has a very medieval feel to it. According to our guide if you rub the snout you will return to Florence. The snout is rubbed so often every day that it has a polished sheen as you can see in the photos.

Shortly after stroking the snout, we walked onto Ponte Vecchio. this medieval bridge spans the narrowest part of the river and although there has been a bridge here since Roman times, this version dates from 1345 A.D. and as in many bridges from that era, the sides of the bridge are lined with shops. It used to be all butchers shops and now it is Jewelry shops. Butchers could easily get rid of their unsold product at the end of the day but today, the Jewellers tend to hang on to their unsold merchandise. 

In the first photo following this paragraph, you see a yellow structure above the Jewelry shops on the bridge. This is the famous Vasari's Corridor, a sort of +15 walkway for the De'Medici ruling family of Florence to use when they moved from palace to palace. They did not want to mingle with the public. 

Jewelry stores on Ponte Vecchio and on the upper right the famous
Vasari's Corridor

the Arno River from Ponte Vecchio

The next major stop on our walk through Florence was the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence. Here in the town square, in front of the Palazzo, is a copy of the statue of David, by Michelangelo.  The original is in a museum called the Galleria dell'Accademia which we did not see. We also passed by the Uffizi Gallery which houses innumerable priceless art pieces that people will line up for five hours to view.  Fortunately, there are other original sculptures by other notable artists right there in the square that you can view for free (see below). 

copy of Michelangelo's David facing Rome

The Fountain of Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammannati

Cosimo I de'Medici a Grand Duke of Tuscany by Giambologna

Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli

...and there were others.

From Palazzo Vecchio we moved on and worked our way towards Piazza Santa Croce. This square was where we stopped for lunch at a trattoria in front of the Basilica Santa Croce. After lunch Gym paid 6 Euros to enter the basilica while Mrs. Gym checked out some of the shops. 

We had another authentic Italian pizza. These are thin crust pizzas that are big on tomato sauce and short on everything else. I'm sorry but Gym likes the bastard North American variety with more cheese and toppings that you can see. The establishment was called Finisterrae and was in the corner of the square nearest the entrance to the basilica. It rates 3 out of 5.

For me, the climax of the day was entering into the Basilica Santa Croce and seeing the burial place of 3 extra-ordinary Italians. Not only is Michelangelo buried there but so is Galileo, the great astronomer and Machiavelli, the father of modern Political Science. More recently Marconi, the inventor of the radio has been buried there and probably many more notable people that I did not have the time to discover.

For her part, Mrs. Gym found the leather goods quite pricey and successfully rebuffed all the approaches by the merchants.

Santa Croce from the square

inside facing the alter

looking back from the alter to the front door

only the central portion of the tomb of Michelangelo

The tomb of Galileo

The tomb of Machiavelli

We finished our walking tour of Florence but there was one more place to see on the way back to the port. We are glad we saw it once in our lives but we will never willingly go back there.

the biggest tourist trap in Italy

We re-boarded the ship one more time. The next stop was the last one for our little cruise. We were now going to spend three nights in Rome. 

Some chinese guy picked two successive winners on the roulette table so he was certain to get the helm on that last night's cruise.

Learning about Lucca

On October 28, 2015 we would land in La Spezia, Tuscany. Let me ramble for a little bit because the previous night we hustled out of Genoa with great alacrity and purpose, as if we were on a tight timeline. We exit every port in this same way, every time. But this time, when I awoke to view the GPS position of the ship's path during the night, I noticed something that I found very funny. Then I checked out the distance between the two cities on google maps and I learned that you can drive between the two ports in less than an hour as they are less than 100 kilometres apart. So what does that ship do all night out there in the Mediterranean? The GPS shows that after everyone is in bed, it slows down and turns big figure eights in the sea. It looks like the captain gives up the helm to the guy that had won the most money at roulette in the casino. But then in the morning, as people wake up, the captain retakes the helm and the ship picks up speed and straightens out as it heads into port to make the schedules for the shore excursions right on time.

We had wanted to visit Cinque Terre that day which is a set of five quaint Italian villages that are perched on cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea but that excursion was full and we will have to see this UNESCO site some other time. We ended up signing up for a half-day tour of Lucca.

The Lucca tour was pretty cool. The historic centre of Lucca is completely enclosed by very thick, Renaissance-era walls. Today the walls are topped by mature trees and a very well-maintained 4.2 kilometre walking and biking path. We would cross the old city from one end to the other, along the very narrow streets where numerous trattorias and luxury shops now inhabit the buildings that are hundreds of years old. Many of the roads are too small for automobiles but vehicles still need access to make deliveries so pedestrians have to keep sharp. I saw a mini-garbage truck while I was strolling about, it was perfect for those narrow streets.

We stopped in Piazzia Anfiteatro which is an open plaza that was the site of a second century Roman Amphitheatre. We ordered a cappuccino at one of the outdoor cafes and agreed that it was the best cappuccino we had tasted in our whole lives. Gaining a heightened sense of well-being from the cappuccino, I almost bought a cheese grater at one of the shops. Then the buzz wore off and I remembered that I had a couple at home so I escaped the shop without any injuries.  

Between La Spezia and Lucca we would pass the town of Carrera where we would see the multi-colored marble sitting beside the motorway ready for export to places like your next kitchen or bathroom renovation. Seeing these great slabs of  marble before our visits to Florence and Rome foreshadowed the themes of those explorations.

We left La Spezia late that night with great aplomb and professionalism. At about midnight we slowed down as the roulette champion took the helm and started the first giant donut which he would turn before the captain booted him out of the bridge at about 6 am. Again, the destination was only a short distance away. Tomorrow was our last full day on the cruise.

looking across where the moat used to be in front of the
Renaissance-era walls of Lucca

Porto San Pietro where we entered the walled city

the walkway up to the top of the walls and the pathway on top

a well maintained 4.2 km. track. Linda advised that ten circuits
of the walls would be the exact distance of a marathon

the narrow streets of old Lucca

San Michele in Foro

Basilica of San Frediano. Get this,  Frediano was an Irish Prince that
became the Bishop of Lucca in the 6th Century. He is buried here in this
church that has a beautiful outdoor fresco.

Wildlife of Lucca, waiting for breakfast which was served seconds later.

Piazza Anfiteatro - the buildings fringe the perfect circle of the old
Roman Amphitheatre which existed in the second century a.d. 

Carrera marble stacked by the motorway and ready for export