Ruminations on Rome (4)
November 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Sunday in Rome is still a bustling day full of locals and tourists thronging the streets and cafes, but Silvia and I took it easier this morning while going on another tour in the afternoon. So this morning we left the hotel almost an hour later than yesterday and headed for the banks of the River Tiber. It was so sunny and mild that Silvia wore sandals and sunglasses – in mid November.
We eventually reached Piazza Navona again and this time headed for the south of the square where the Museum of Rome is located. We had noticed yesterday that there was an exhibition entitled “War Is Over” to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and we wanted to see it today because most museums are closed on Mondays.
It was an especially fascinating exhibition for us because our Italian mother lived in Naples throughout the war before meeting our father who was in the country with what he called “the forces of liberation” and she termed “the forces of occupation”. The exhibition was mostly photographs taken by an Italian state organisation and an American military organisation and they reflected the impact of the war on both military and civilians and the complexities of the situation in which Italy changed sides in 1943.
Like yesterday, in early afternoon we were collected from the hotel and taken to tour company offices but this time we took some lunch with us – club sandwich for me and salmon bagel for Silvia. To our surprise, we had the same guide as yesterday. In my last blog posting, I described him as old and today we learned just how old – an amazingly fit and bright 85.
The tour was called “Imperial Rome” and focused on “the Roman remainings” in the old forum. First though we drove through Piazza Venezia which is home to the gigantic Vittorio Emanuele II monument (usually called “The Wedding Cake”) and Palazzo Venezia from whose balcony Mussolini used to exhort the joys of Fascism.
Next we drove through the Roman Forum, observing pagan temples and arches of triumph before halting at the imposing remains of the Colosseum. Inside the structure, our guide explained how it was built by 30,000 slaves in just eight years (72-80 AD), accommodated 50,000 spectators, and was officially called the Flavian Amphitheatre. Of course, we had all seen the film “Gladiator” but we were informed about some of the realities of events in the colosseum.
Next stop was the Capitoline Hill with a statue of a wolf suckling Romulus and Remus and its equestrian statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius plus good views down to the Roman Forum as the sun set and thousands of starlings swirled overhead. Our final destination was the Church of Saint Peter in Chains which houses chains which apparently held Peter and an impressive sculpture of Moses by the prolific Michelangelo.
As yesterday, once the tour was over, Silvia and I stopped at a cafe for a drink and then later found a restaurant for dinner. This evening we ate at a place called “Porto di Ripetta” close to Piazza del Popolo where I had fillet steak in red wine sauce and Silvia had spaghetti with clams. Another very satisfying day.
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Ruminations on Rome (3)
November 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Silvia and I had a very full, and very enjoyable, day in Rome where there was an obvious security presence following the terrible events in Paris last night. We decided to use the morning for orientation by visiting the major squares and to use the afternoon to tour the Vatican since it will be closed to tourists tomorrow (Sunday).
So first stop was the nearby Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna. The proper name for the steps is Scalinata della Trinita’ di Monti after the church at the top, but they have their popular name because the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See was nearby. The bad news was that the steps are cordoned off for renovation. The good news is that we could actually see the steps because nobody was on them.
Next stop was the Trevi Fountain in Piazza di Trevi. Silvia had never seen this, so I led her into the square as she kept her eyes closed, in order that she could be truly surprised. If you have not been there before, you don’t realise how huge the fountain is, occupyimg virtually the entire square. If you have been there before, the fountain looks glorious because it has just been reopened after an 17 month clean and renovation.
Striding on, we then visited the Pantheon in Piazza della Rotonda. This was originally designed as long ago as 118-125 AD and has memorials to two Italian kings, Vittorio Emanuele II who finally unified Italy in 1871 and Umberto I who was assassinated in 1900.
At this point, Silvia and I stopped for a rest and early lunch, sharing a large panini of salami and mozzarella cheese. Our fourth and final square was Piazza Navona, probably the most beautiful in the city. Although I call it a square, it is not square or even rectangular so much as cigar-shaped with very long sides of elegant buildings. In the centre of the piazza is the famous Four Rivers Fountain designed by Bernini in 1651.
Throughout our morning in tourist central Rome, we saw loads of vendors, entertainers and beggars. The most frequent object for sale – usually by a migrant – was the ubiquitous selfie stick for cameras.
We returned to our hotel with just five minutes to spare before our scheduled pick up for the afternoon tour of the Vatican. A minibus took us from the hotel to the tour company’s offices where we boarded a coach which an hour and half later managed to pass by our hotel. Our guide was a wizened old man who looked like a character from “The Lord Of The Rings”, but he knew his stuff and he knew it in English, French and Spanish.
Apparently one can queue for hours to gain entry to the Vatican but tour guides lead their groups straight inside. We viewed some of the many magnificent galleries which are full of paintings, tapestries and statues. The most stunning was the Gallery of Maps which has a stupendous ceiling.
Then we were shown into the world-famous Sistine Chapel which is home to some of the very finest work by Michelangelo – the ceiling, which includes the iconic scene of Adam and God touching fingers, and the altarpiece representing “The Last Judgement”. I had seen the chapel before but it was reopened in 2000 following a painstaking cleaning process lasting 14 years and now looks more magnificent than ever.
Leaving the Vatican Museum, we then had some time in St Peter’s Basilica. Among the many artistic treasures here are the marble Pieta’ statue by Michelangelo and the four columns holdimg the huge altar canopy designed by Bernini. Finally we walked a little around St Peter’s Square with its 284 columns. It was now dark but the front of the basilica and the two large fountains in the square were illuminated which made the experience very atmospheric.
Once the tour was over, Silvia and I had a drink and chat before going for dinner and more chat. We found a fish restaurant off the Via del Corso shopping street and both had grilled salmon with cauliflower purée and spinach accompanied by a side dish of roasted vegetables. Of course I had ice cream too to conclude a splendid day of over 12 hours’ sightseeing.
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Ruminations on Rome (2)
November 13th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
My long weekend in Rome with my sister Silvia got off to a slightly anxious start when she was three-quarters of an hour late meeting me at London’s Heathrow Airport. She had major problems with her train from Leicester to London and then her mobile refused to send or receive either calls or texts. Of course, nothing could be done about the train issues. We managed to sort out the mobile issues with an extremely complex technical process known as switching it off and switching it on again.
The afternoon flight to Rome’s Fumicino Airport went smoothly and we had a car waiting to take us to the River Palace Hotel in the heart of the city. We arrived in early evening, so we immediately went out for dinner and found an excellent place called “Canova” where I had veal in lemon sauce and Silvia had fettuccine with prawns and courgettes. I finished with a gigantic ice cream dessert so I’m going to bed happy.
The hotel and the restaurant are both close to Piazza del Popolo, described by the guide book as “Rome’s elegant public living room”. It started life as a trapezoid piazza in 1538. Then, in 1589, Sixtus V ordered the installation of a 3,200 year old obelisk, the 25 metre (82 foot) high megalith from Heliopolis honouring Ramses II. Finally, in 1811-1823, Guiseppe Valadier turned the square into its current Neo-Classical look and oval shape. It must be great for political demonstrations and speeches.
Back at our hotel, we started to learn of the horrific terrorist attacks in another European capital city as the news came through of the huge death toll from a variety of terrible incidents in Paris. We live in a different world now and nowhere is truly safe.
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Ruminations on Rome (1)
November 13th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I’m off to Rome for a weekend break – not with my wife Vee but with my sister Silvia. For about a decade now, my sister and I have tried to have a short holiday together without our spouses and this is our ninth such break.
It will be my third visit to Rome, but the previous trips were years ago – in 1978 for a family holiday and 1992 for a trade union congress. I think that this is my 11th visit to Italy – as well as Rome, I’ve been to Venice, Florence, Milan, Turin, and Naples (where our Italian mother was from).
I have no idea how the Italian state functions, but I love Italians and Italian food and the country has so much history and culture to enjoy. Our weekend should be fun …
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How to get a good night’s sleep
November 13th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I am fortunate: I can sleep almost anywhere almost anytime and invariably have around eight hours sleep a night. But so many people struggle to sleep well. You can find some useful advice here.
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Have you ever seen the mid 1980s movie “Out Of Africa”?
November 12th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If not, you should. If you have, you might want to revisit it – as I have recently done. You can read my review here.
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The s-l-o-w decline in the use of cash
November 11th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
A couple of decades ago, I assumed that by now we would be moving rapidly to a much less cash, if not actually a cashless, society. But we are still using a lot of cash for a great many payments in spite of debit cards, credit cards, and contactless payment systems.
The number of branches in the UK has halved in the last 30 years. The total fell from 13,349 20 years ago to just under 9,702 in 2013. Some 650 bank branches are due to close this year. Compared to the size of population, the UK has far fewer bank branches than France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Meanwhile the use of bank branches fell by 6% last year as customers channelled more transactions over phone networks and the Internet.
However, the use of ATMs has continued to grow steadily and is now over 70,000. And surprisingly the total cash withdrawals from these ATMs is still rising.
in 2012, 7.2 million consumers relied solely on cash for all regular payments. There is a major difference in the use of cash between consumers on different incomes. For people on incomes of less than £9,000 a year, over 70% of payments are in cash. For those on incomes above £50,000, the figure falls to less than 50%.
It seems that, especially in this age of austerity, low income consumers find it easier to manage their budgets by using cash, so that they can physically see the notes and coins involved in the transactions
These figures emerged from a discussion I chaired recently of the Post Offices Advisory Group run by Citizens Advice where we had a presentation from the LINK Scheme UK.
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The remarkable story of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi
November 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It’s exciting news that in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), the National League for Democracy (NLD) looks set to have won a stunning election victory, although there are many constitutional, economic and ethnic problems ahead.
The NLD leader is the remarkable Aung San Suu Kyi who has a special connection with the UK because her late husband was British. Her story was told four years ago in a moving, but little-noticed, film called simply “The Lady”. You really should try to view it. You’ll find my review here.
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Sooner or later, the Internet changes everything
November 9th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This is the title of my latest column on Internet matters.
I look briefly at three sectors: one sector where the changes as a result of the Net have already been dramatic (mail); another where the changes are still in progress (e-commerce); and a third where the changes are not yet too significant (broadcasting).
You can read my piece here.
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U.S. presidential election (13): the astonishing rise of Ben Carson
November 8th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
To almost non-Americans – and, I suspect, many Americans – the current success of Ben Carson in the race to become the Republican candidate for the US Presidency is simply amazing. The retired neurosurgeon with no experience of politics has now overtaken Donald Trump – himself a political outsider – who has previously been in the lead for six months.
A profile in today’s “Observer” newspaper notes of Carson:
“He has … coined some of the most outlandish statements ever uttered on the national stage, a purveyor of bizarre conspiracy theories and a provocateur who compares abortion to slavery and same-sex marriage to pedophilia. This week, Carson restated his belief that the pyramids were built by the biblical Joseph to store grain, and not by Egyptians to entomb their kings. He believes that Vladimir Putin, Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Abbas attended school together in Moscow in 1968. He believes that Jews with firearms might have been able to stop the Holocaust, that he personally could stop a mass shooting, that the Earth was created in six days and that Osama bin Laden enjoyed Saudi protection after 9/11.”
And yet:
“Carson’s favorability rating among Republicans, at 74%, towers over the field. His devout Christianity has made him a darling among evangelicals, who count for about a third of caucus participants in Iowa, the first state to vote. And in the last quarter the Carson campaign reported contributions of $20m, more than any of his rivals.”
You can read more about the enigma that is Ben Carson here.
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