Rome

Thursday 16 Sept
We had another very early start this morning as we were back on the 'ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME' highway and today we were to arrive in this ancient city by mid afternoon.  Our first stop was at Bologna which is famous for it's fine fare (food) and medical science, which was secretly used for research by many famous scientists.  The birth by cesarean section was first experimented here and proved a valued asset to modern child birth.  Bologna is very rich in soil moisture, hence, wealthy in producing fine produce.


Our next stop was on the outskirts of Florence before continuing on through the country side of Italy passing by numerous vineyards, tobacco and sunflower farms.  The flowers were at the end of their season and most fields had been harvested but I can imagine the beautiful fields of gold during the summer months. We passed through some small old, traditional Italian villages, some showing signs of near poverty.

 The land scape changed considerably from Venice to Rome as we crossed over the mountains, seeing white marble in the cliffs.  Mist began to fall and it was quite barren at times which gave it an eerie atmosphere.  We were no sooner through this, and as we started to descend, lush greenery reappeared.

We drove for quite awhile around the Rome Circle, eventually exiting towards the Vatican City.  We stayed very close to the Vatican at an old monastery refurbished as The Grand Hotel Palazzo Carpegna Rome.  

After checking in we had some time to relax before driving through the very busy 5 o'clock traffic to the back streets of true Roma.  Eric, our driver did so well as he had not driven in Rome before and relied on Simon's directions to get us to our destination.  In a typical square in Roma, people 'hang out' and relax around the central fountain in the early evening.  This is the usual practice at this time of night as the apartments are not air conditioned and the windows are kept shut to keep the heat out.  It is too hot to eat in the apartments so people eat in the open.  Beautiful fountains are the centre of most squares as the water provides coolness.  There were a lot of beggars approaching us for money but we ignored them.  They had 'make believe' artificial limbs and small children made out out to look very ill.

                                                  

The Santa Maira in Trastrvere Church is a central feature of this square.  In is believed it was built by St Peter and St Paul in the 19th century BC.  It has amazing sculptures, paints, stained glass windows and architecture.










                
                                           










Our Italian dinner was held at L'Antico Moro Restaurant, down a small, narrow lane.  We had the traditional pasta and lovely 'real' pizza with red wine and brownies for dessert while being entertained by Italian male and female singers who involved the audience well.  We sat with Pete and Eunice from Auckland.  It was a fun night had by all!      

           



After dinner we were taken to the night life centre of Roma 'Piazza Navona'.  Again a large fountain marks the centre of the square which is surrounded by many places to eat, entertainment, artists doing portraits and selling their work.  There are beautiful sculptures and buildings, mainly all white stone or marble.  A very popular place for action night-life.

We returned to the hotel, viewing the colourful lights of Roma City.