Long Roman Day
There is nothing like a bus pass. Really! I have walked around maybe a dozen cities (Rome too) and there is nothing like jumping on a bus or a tram guilt-free. (Guilt free first because you are not sneaking on, and guilt free secondly because it doesn't cost anything to rest weary legs). Unfortunately, many of the Italians on the subway do not hold deodorant as a pressing priority. long, hot rides can get unbearable. But it is an adventure, right?
Before I go on about Rome - I just have to admit my addiction to the Belgium show Eurokids. It is better than Idol even - I can't believe I missed the final : http://www.een.be/extra/subsites/eurokids/e_euro_opeen_nummers/index.shtml
A few words about my hotel here in Rome. It is a really bad area of the city, right behind the bus station. That seems to be a bad area of any city and I always seem to be staying right there - but the room is clean, and though it is not worth the price, I am impressed with the cleanliness. It is in an apartment block where every floor is a different Pensione. Mine - Pensione Lucia - is on the top (6th) floor. To get up there is an elevator in a cage - VERY neat, all rattley and scary. Unfortunately, if someone on the 6th floor forgets to close the cage the elevator will not come down and one will have to haul their tired selves up 6 stories or narrow stone steps. Luckily, that has only happened to me in the other direction - walking DOWN is not as tiring. There is a large Italian family who lives and runs the Pensione - they are always eating when I enter the Pensione (the private dining room is visible from the door). To get in one has to ring the buzzer at the front gate and again at the door. I feel guilty every time I want in, but they are probably right that if the keys do not leave the building they will not be lost.
The room itself has a television (with a sign warning that to turn the volume on will annoy others), stone steps leading to a window (picture a chambermaid's room) and a bathroom that is spotless save for a gob or mucus on one wall with a single black hair sticking out of it. It is disgusting and I can't stop looking at it when I am in there. I keep hoping it will disappear, but it does not. The shower is just a fixture on the wall, so when the shower goes on all gets sopping wet.
***
Today I visited the Pantheon
Pantheon is one of the greatest, the most majestic and best preserved monuments in ancient Rome. The present building of 80 A. D., wanted by Adrian, stands up on the ruins of the previous temple, built by Agrippa in 27 B. C.; the inscription on the tympanum, original from the old temple, made the researchers think for a long time that the Pantheon (as we can see it now) had been built by Agrippa himself. In 609, Pope Bonifacio IV turned the pagan temple into a Christian church. The high level of preservation is just due to this transformation. The sight from Rotunda Square propose us the view of the portico, and of the already mentioned inscription. When you enter, you discover the reason why this monument is famous in the world, as an absolute example of architectural and building skill: the immense dome, symbol of the vault of heaven. On the top you can admire the opening penetrated by the pencil of light that constitutes the only luminous source of the Temple, symbol of the eternal light that enlightens the man, and of time passing by. In fact the sensation you can feel by visiting the building in the different hours of the day is strictly depending on the position of the sun, and so on the position of the ray of light inside the building; 43 mt. high, it is comparable to San Peter's dome, but it was built more than a thousand years before. Remarkably important are the graves of famous personages of history and arts that are located within it.
and saw Raphael's grave. Yes, THAT Raphael. The ninja turtle. I guess Shreddar triumphed in the end. It was hard to look around with a camera that needed charging, but I can go back tomorrow and take scads of pictures. (I did end up buying a charger for 2€ - the first store said 5:80 and the second 17. Then a sweet little lady who knew not a word of english solved all my converter problems - although I had to run back to the hotel to make sure that the plugs came with a surge protector - I know, boooring.... but now I can use the camera again!
Then I wandered high and low and around and down the spanish steps and from obelisk to obelisk. You see, I had a vision. Although near the colleseum there were crowds of men selling designer (sort of) handbags, in the areas where the tour buses stopped I knew they would be more expensive. This vision was a big market, perhaps in a square, with millions of gorgeous designer bags, and all cheap cheap! So I walked and suddenly, I came upon THAT VERY SQUARE. A dream come true! Prada! Gucci! I am THAT shallow.
I got into a conversation with one of the men selling the purses. It turns out that all of them come from Senegel, in Africa. I wonder - do the purses come from Senegal? Are they imported along with the sellers? It is a big mystery. Did I buy a purse? That too will remain a m ystery, because of course I would never buy a FAKE, and any purse that graces my classy arm must be the real thing.
Just a note - I went to the head of the competition to record the theft, and her answer - in Italian - was "It's not my problem". Hm. Never mind that it took almost 5 hours to go and see her. I did not even yell at her, I just turned around and waited in the rain for the bus, looking and feeling miserable. A little pity is never amiss. (I guess I looked so sad standing ther dripping in the rain that one of the singers - a tall, handsome Italian boy - went to the corner store and bought me some cookies. That was sweet!)
The 5 hour bus ride was ludacris though. The bus was just pulling away from the station when the Roman skies opened. We sat for almost an hour as the streets were flooded. Luckily I had a seat on the bus. One of the windows would not close, and instead of giving up her seat, the Italian lady sitting under the window opened her umbrella and huddled in (?) comfort. For almost an HOUR. People sure are strange.
LIST OF THINGS MISSING 2
1 - French CD
2 - Soft-grip Blue Pen
Before I go on about Rome - I just have to admit my addiction to the Belgium show Eurokids. It is better than Idol even - I can't believe I missed the final : http://www.een.be/extra/subsites/eurokids/e_euro_opeen_nummers/index.shtml
A few words about my hotel here in Rome. It is a really bad area of the city, right behind the bus station. That seems to be a bad area of any city and I always seem to be staying right there - but the room is clean, and though it is not worth the price, I am impressed with the cleanliness. It is in an apartment block where every floor is a different Pensione. Mine - Pensione Lucia - is on the top (6th) floor. To get up there is an elevator in a cage - VERY neat, all rattley and scary. Unfortunately, if someone on the 6th floor forgets to close the cage the elevator will not come down and one will have to haul their tired selves up 6 stories or narrow stone steps. Luckily, that has only happened to me in the other direction - walking DOWN is not as tiring. There is a large Italian family who lives and runs the Pensione - they are always eating when I enter the Pensione (the private dining room is visible from the door). To get in one has to ring the buzzer at the front gate and again at the door. I feel guilty every time I want in, but they are probably right that if the keys do not leave the building they will not be lost.
The room itself has a television (with a sign warning that to turn the volume on will annoy others), stone steps leading to a window (picture a chambermaid's room) and a bathroom that is spotless save for a gob or mucus on one wall with a single black hair sticking out of it. It is disgusting and I can't stop looking at it when I am in there. I keep hoping it will disappear, but it does not. The shower is just a fixture on the wall, so when the shower goes on all gets sopping wet.
***
Today I visited the Pantheon
Pantheon is one of the greatest, the most majestic and best preserved monuments in ancient Rome. The present building of 80 A. D., wanted by Adrian, stands up on the ruins of the previous temple, built by Agrippa in 27 B. C.; the inscription on the tympanum, original from the old temple, made the researchers think for a long time that the Pantheon (as we can see it now) had been built by Agrippa himself. In 609, Pope Bonifacio IV turned the pagan temple into a Christian church. The high level of preservation is just due to this transformation. The sight from Rotunda Square propose us the view of the portico, and of the already mentioned inscription. When you enter, you discover the reason why this monument is famous in the world, as an absolute example of architectural and building skill: the immense dome, symbol of the vault of heaven. On the top you can admire the opening penetrated by the pencil of light that constitutes the only luminous source of the Temple, symbol of the eternal light that enlightens the man, and of time passing by. In fact the sensation you can feel by visiting the building in the different hours of the day is strictly depending on the position of the sun, and so on the position of the ray of light inside the building; 43 mt. high, it is comparable to San Peter's dome, but it was built more than a thousand years before. Remarkably important are the graves of famous personages of history and arts that are located within it.
and saw Raphael's grave. Yes, THAT Raphael. The ninja turtle. I guess Shreddar triumphed in the end. It was hard to look around with a camera that needed charging, but I can go back tomorrow and take scads of pictures. (I did end up buying a charger for 2€ - the first store said 5:80 and the second 17. Then a sweet little lady who knew not a word of english solved all my converter problems - although I had to run back to the hotel to make sure that the plugs came with a surge protector - I know, boooring.... but now I can use the camera again!
Then I wandered high and low and around and down the spanish steps and from obelisk to obelisk. You see, I had a vision. Although near the colleseum there were crowds of men selling designer (sort of) handbags, in the areas where the tour buses stopped I knew they would be more expensive. This vision was a big market, perhaps in a square, with millions of gorgeous designer bags, and all cheap cheap! So I walked and suddenly, I came upon THAT VERY SQUARE. A dream come true! Prada! Gucci! I am THAT shallow.
I got into a conversation with one of the men selling the purses. It turns out that all of them come from Senegel, in Africa. I wonder - do the purses come from Senegal? Are they imported along with the sellers? It is a big mystery. Did I buy a purse? That too will remain a m ystery, because of course I would never buy a FAKE, and any purse that graces my classy arm must be the real thing.
Just a note - I went to the head of the competition to record the theft, and her answer - in Italian - was "It's not my problem". Hm. Never mind that it took almost 5 hours to go and see her. I did not even yell at her, I just turned around and waited in the rain for the bus, looking and feeling miserable. A little pity is never amiss. (I guess I looked so sad standing ther dripping in the rain that one of the singers - a tall, handsome Italian boy - went to the corner store and bought me some cookies. That was sweet!)
The 5 hour bus ride was ludacris though. The bus was just pulling away from the station when the Roman skies opened. We sat for almost an hour as the streets were flooded. Luckily I had a seat on the bus. One of the windows would not close, and instead of giving up her seat, the Italian lady sitting under the window opened her umbrella and huddled in (?) comfort. For almost an HOUR. People sure are strange.
LIST OF THINGS MISSING 2
1 - French CD
2 - Soft-grip Blue Pen
posted by Melamondiale @ 1:07 PM
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