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Rome Day 6 - Update

I’ve realised that the last few rambling posts haven’t told you what I’ve been doing (other than obsessing about power usage). So…

Yesterday I went to Palatine Hill. It was pretty cool. You could wander around quite a bit & get right up close to the ruins. They’ve also restored a couple of rooms of Emperor Augustus’ palace. You can only go in in groups of five, so I had to wait in line a bit. Quite a few people didn’t seem to notice the line and tried to go straight through. The guy in charge of the line kept having to chase them back. One guy didn’t seem to get it at all, and it took a while for the line guy to explain it to him, and when he’d finally got it and wandered off the line guy rolled his eyes at us and sighed. Amusing… The rooms were pretty cool. There’s quite a lot of Augustus’ palace still standing, and you can see faded frescos in the walls all over the place. I didn’t go over the Forum part of the area, because I was getting pretty tired and hungry. I’ll go back this afternoon to look at the rest (I have a week-long ticket). I’m getting pretty tired now - a morning is all I can handle and then I come back to the hostel and crash. Luckily I’ll have lots of resting time tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’re catching a train down to Reggio di Calabria, where we’re catching a ferry to Stromboli. Our train leaves at 6:45am - ow… I probably won’t be posting very frequently for a while. I’m not expecting great internet (or any internet) on trains and ferries and small volcanic islands.

Now I’m heading out to buy a memory card for my camera. I only have 128mb, and I can fill that up in about 3 hours… Once we’re away from civilisation I won’t be able to empty the card onto a usb stick every day, so I think a bigger card will be the best plan. Steve’s plan to use the ipod for storage has been foiled by the fact that it needs a firewire connection to charge, and we don’t have one. Oh, the technology!

Posted 06 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Rome - Mad Italian Skillz!! (Maybe)

I’ve just got back from a shopping adventure, where I got to use my mad italian skillz!!1!

Part 1 - Postage Stamps

Me: (waving postcards) francobolli per Australia, per favore…

Tabbachi lady: Australia? (correct pronunciation)

Me: Si.

(exchange of shamps and money)

Me: Gratzie

I made that first part up myself! At least, I substituted in ‘Australia’ where my phrase book had the US and UK as examples. And I’m starting to get the hand of saying “si”. It seems that my default foreign-language yes is “ya”, and I’ve had trouble getting out of the habit. It’s gonna be fun when I get into the German-speaking part of Switzerland and keep saying “si”!

Part 2 - Wool

This one is not so much a demonstration of mad skillz.. But I was trying… I didn’t bring nearly enough wool to keep me occupied for a month. I’m halfway through my stash (luckily also about halfway through the corresponding capelet creation). But that won’t last out the train/ferry trip to Stromboli. So, reasoning that I’m more likely to find a wool shop in Rome than in eensy-weensy Stromboli, I thought I’d go looking.

Problem 0: asking for a wool shop

I consulted my phrasebook, which has a dictionary in the back, and it gave me wool = lana. Which is fine, but does that mean fabric made of wool or balls of wool? The guy at the front desk clarified that it does mean ‘wool as in balls of wool’, so hooray! I had my word. Alas, he didn’t know where a wool shop was. He looked like I was asking him a very strange question, in fact.

Problem 1: finding a wool shop

I’d spotted a shop which sold sewing machines and thread on the route between the hostel and the Colosseum. I hadn’t seen any wool, but figured that that was a good place to start. Also, I needed some grey thread to fix my aeroplane pants, which had torn where they got taken in at the waist. Unfortunately, I got the little Italian grandma with no English… I pulled out my wool, which I’d brought to demonstrate what I was after (see props in Part 1 above, too). She said something which, from the head shaking, I was pretty sure meant “we dont have any”. So I pulled out my Italian, and oh so eloquently asked “dove?” (with gestures). She gave me a street name, but I couldn’t make it out. I asked her to write it down for me, but it looked like Probelem 2 was going to be ‘Decipher Granny’s Handwriting’. So I bought my thread and ran away…

I headed back towards the hostel, and, peering down a side street, spotted a sign that I’d not noticed before. It had the word “lana” on it, which I now knew meant wool! Winner! So I wandered down the road and checked it out. Unfortunately they seem to sell mostly thin thread-y wool, more suited to Steve’s hacky-sack crochet than my wooly-scarf-thing crochet. But I might check it out more thoroughly tomorrow, coz I’m gonna get desperate soon. And we are going to be spending about 4 or 5 days on trains in Switzerland in a few weeks, and I’ll need something to do that lets me still look at the mountains. I’ll also see what google maps has to say about via Something Emanuelo, or something. This will be a test of my googling skills I’m sure…

Posted 06 June 2008 | Holiday § Sewing/Craft | Comments (0)

Rome - I Have Issues

The hostel we’re in has strange bathrooms. Instead of the usual chipboard partition things, they’ve built little rooms for the toilets and the showers. Along one side of the room are three little rooms for the toilets, and along the other side are three little rooms for the showers. A side effect of this is that each toilet and each shower needs to have its own light. For some reason, people always switch off the shower lights, but never switch off the toilet ones. This drives me nuts. Every time I’m in there, I switch off all the lights that are on (checking first that there’s no one in there, of course). The disposable plates and spoons that come with our free breakfasts and dinners drive me a little crazy too. The water fountains that just constantly have a similar effect, although not quite so bad. Yesterday I found one that was behind a fence. No one could get to all that water just running away down the drain, except the pigeon that was sitting on the spout. This is crazy! *twitch twitch*

But I’ve gone a bit off topic. The interesting question here is: why do people switch off the shower lights but not the toilet ones? I think it has to do with the doors. The shower doors open inwards, but because the toilets are in the way, the toilet doors open out. This means that the toilet doors are usually nearly closed, to be out of the way, while the shower doors are open. I think the open door makes the light (and fan) more noticable, and also redundant, as the room’s main light shines in. But the toilet ones are not visible/noticable (unless you’re a power-saving freak like me), and the toilets are dark inside if the light isn’t on. Any other theories?

Posted 05 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (1)

Rome - Bits and Pictures

I’ve finally got some photos onto a computer. Here are a few. I’ve put them under the fold because I have no way of making them web-size. If you’re on a slow connection, or don’t really care, just don’t click “more..”. But even though you’re mean and don’t want to look at my pictures, I’ll tell you a story…

I’ve turned into an anthropologist. I can’t see anything without spinning some theory or long involved explanation that drags in all sorts of stuff, and usually ends up, 10 minutes later, with me explaining Geertz’s famous cockfight article to my hapless listeners. I had just such a moment about 20 minutes ago. Steve and I were eating gelato on the pavement when we saw a tour bus with dark tinted windows drive past. I started a long commentary about tours where people were isolated from the place they were visiting, just hopping off the bus to see stuff then hopping back on to go to the next one, without any effort or any interaction with the people who live there, and how the tinted windows could be seen as a symbol of this, and of people who wanted to look at other people, but didn’t want those people looking back at them. This I linked to the whole “only other people have culture” thing, assuming that you are watching/studying them, but ignoring or denying that they’d want to watch you. Steve’s reply, when he finally got a word in, was “they probably just wanted to keep the sun out”. And my reply to that was “Yes, I know, but….”. Amusing.

Continue Reading »

Posted 05 June 2008 | Holiday § Anthropology | Comments (1)

Rome Day 4 - On My Own

Today was my first day out and about on my own. I’m glad that I’ve had a few days to get used to the place. I was pretty nervous about it before leaving, and quite terrified a couple of times, like in the middle of the night on the plane and at the end of the second day when I was exhausted. But this morning it was all very easy. And I’m more and more in love with Rome each day I’m here.

The first adventure was the peak-hour metro ride. I knew where to go and how to buy my ticket from Monday, and on the platform I spotted an English-speaking tour group to hang around near for extra security. I couldn’t get into the first two trains, but for the third I was right up the front, and shoved my way in like a local. We were packed in like sardines. I couldn’t reach a handhold, but was held up between my fellow sardines quite safely. Nearly everyone got out at the Vatican station (the name of which I can’t remember). I’d forgotten that wednesday is “seeing the Pope” day.

I was headed to Castel sant Angelo, near the Vatican. It was really cool. It wasn’t a one-way, follow the rest, don’t step out of line cattle chute like the others have kinda been. I went over the whole place, and really enjoyed it.

Then I walked along to Palazzo di Giustizia, and over the river and down to Piazza Navona. The buildings around this area are a bit different from near the hostel, and it’s definitely a fancier area. From there I followed the signs through some really picturesque alleyways to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon has to be the most impressive and awe-inspiring of the things I’ve seen so far. I spent about five minutes just standing outside and staring. Inside is really cool too. I took lots of photos, and some video. Steve’s got friday afternoon free and is going to get me to take him to the best bits, and I think the Pantheon is definitely at the top of that list. I can’t put into words how awesome it is, at least not with my internet time ticking down as I try to think.

After that I followed the signs again, heading for the Trevi Fountain, but lost the trail when I got to via del Corso. So I decided to head south and follow my original plan instead. At the end of via del Corso is Piazza Venezia and the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. It’s a huge monument, cunningly built on a hill so that you can’t tell from the Corso side that there is a hill. These Italians really know how to build monuments, hey… From the top you can see the Colosseum and the ruins of the Forum which lie between the two. I was getting tired and hungry by this point, so I decided to head home, past the Colosseum, which is pretty much on the way.

I got a bit lost on the way (it all looked so easy from the top of the hill!), but sorted myself out without any trouble. Luckily I had my RAC Rome map in my bag, because somewhere along the way I’d lost the hostel one that I’d had in my back pocket. By the time I got there I was really fading, and rather than walk up the hill to the hostel I decided to take the Metro. Line B seems to be the poor cousin of Line A - the Line A trains aren’t grafittied all over, and have TVs. I suppose that’s coz Line A has the Vatican, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain on it, and Line B has only Colosseo!

Then I walked back to the hostel from Termini, and watched the tail end of Ace Ventura, which someone had on the TV. Tomorrow’s plan is something like: Palatine Hill, the Forum and some Catacombs, maybe followed by the Steve’s conference’s nod to culture, a trip to an art gallery.

Posted 04 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Rome Day 3 - Colosseum and Lazing

This morning we headed down to the Colosseum, bright and early to avoid the crowds and the waiting in the rain. We got down there at about 8am, and spent half an hour waiting in the rain for the gates to open. We’d picked up a stray umbrella in the Vatican Museum yesterday, but I’d left it at the hostel, so we got rained on once again. It was ok at first, but by the time we’d followed the audioguide about halfway round we were pretty cold and miserable. This might have contributed a bit to our less-than-enthusiastic opinions of the Colosseum. It’s much more impressive from the outside. Part of the trouble is that it’s all very controlled - there are only so many places you can go and paths you can follow. It’s not a very explore-y experience.

I understand why it’s like that, there being plenty of stupid and thoughtless people around, but it does impact on the quality of the experience a bit. I’m afraid that the Forum and Circus Maximus will be similar. The Vatican Museum certainly was - the guards in the Sistine Chapel being particularly aggressive in their calls for silence. That was a bit weird, and kinda scary. The PA announcements in the tombs under St Peter’s were a bit weird the same way. A PA voice-over in a classic PA Announcement Style saying “This is a sacred place. Please observe silence and respect” was more than a little strange. Annoyingly, lots of people didn’t seem to be listening. We had a couple of stereotypical American tourists behind us there who were very annoying. Overall I think it’d all be much nicer if there weren’t so many damn tourists around!

Rome itself was much more active today, and seems much more alive and real now that the shops are open, replacing the graffitied shutters which were all you saw before. There are also lots more people and cars around. The crazy traffic has emerged, including lots and lots of sirens this morning while we were in the Colosseum. The parking has been crazy all along. Double parking seems to be perfectly acceptable, and the people’s parallel parking abilities are amazing! How anyone ever gets out of their parking spot I don’t know.

I slacked off this afternoon, staying in to read and make notes of all my photos before I forget what they’re of (my memory card filled up halfway through the Vatican museum). The last few days have been pretty exhausting, and I thought it’d be better if I took one afternoon off and had enough energy for the next three days. Especially because they’ll involve a lot more effort in the planning and navigating departments!

Posted 04 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Rome Day 2 - The Vatican

Short version: did lots of walking, looked at lots of stuff. oh, so much walking!

Our excursion started about 9 o’clock. We took the metro to the station near the Vatican City. Then we walked down the road, and joined the line for the Vatican Museum. It went around the corner, so we couldn’t see exactly how long it was… It was hella busy, because apparently today is some sort of public holiday. An hour and a bit later, we got into the Museum, having successfully (stubbornly) fended off the swarms of umbrelli salesmen. Umbrelli is my word of the day. We got through security without incident (luckily I’d taken my pocket knife out of my bag that morning), and headed into the museum. There were Egyptian arifacts, and lots and lots of statues,  and lots and lots of mosaic floors and painted ceilings. The Sistine Chapel was right at the end, and was very impressive. By now we were kinda footsore, so we sped up a bit, heading for the exit. When we emerged, we were astonished to discover that it was 3pm! We’d spent about four hours in the museum.

After finding something to eat we headed off to St Peter’s Basilica. There we had to line up a bit more, for security, but nothing like the first time! We weren’t really sure where to go, so we just followed the people in front of us. We ended up in the catacombs under the Basilica, where a whole bunch of popes and assorted others are buried. There was quite a bit of congestion around Pope John Paul II’s grave.

From there we headed into the Basilica. So impressive. It’s huge inside, and covered in statues. We looked around and then headed off to climb to the cupola. We chose to take the steps, for €2 less. That saved us about 100 steps out of 300ish. Shortly after the lift, the route goes through the interior of the Basilica, inside the dome. There was a service of some sort going on - I think there was a pilgimage or something going on. I think we saw the pope! There was someone who looked important, and was heard to speak German (the pilgim-y people seemed to be German). He was very far away, but when you zoom right in on one of the photos it looks like him. That was pretty cool, because the people on the floor of the Basilica, back behind the barriers, wouldn’t have been able to see. After a while we headed on up. It got very tight and crowded near the top - I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re claustrophobic. The view from the top was great.

By the time we got back down, it was 6pm. We’d spent about 2.5 hours in the Basilica. Our feet were hurting pretty bad by now, and we’d had two lots of nurofen already today (first halfway through the museum, and then halfway down from the cupola), so we headed off home. Luckily we had leftovers to reheat, because the free pasta wasn’t happening coz of the holiday.

Summary: we thought we could do this in half a day. It’s not possible! Well, maybe it is, but I think it really needs a full day. And knee braces and nurofen (both of which I had - yay for me!)

Tomorrow is the Colosseum, etc in the morning, before Steve heads off to his conference. Then I’ll probably head back to that area for some more archeology… Now, I’m off to have a lie down.

Posted 03 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Rome Update

soo…. It’s now 1:30ish here in Rome, and Steve and I are about done for the day. We got woken up at about 4:00am for breakfast, and landed at about 6:00am. Then we pretty much strolled out of the airport, and out to the airport train station. There we had to deal with our first buying-stuff-in-foreign experience… We got our tickets with only minor awkwardness, and hopped on to the waiting train. The train took about half an hour to get into Rome’s Termini station, during which time we ate the midnight snacks I’d joinked from the plane (I was half awake & they were handing out stuff, so I took a couple), and commentated on the architechure and flowers that we were passing.

Our hostel is just down the street from Termini station. We found it without any trouble, because we’d remembered to make a note of the address, and we had a map. Woo. Being about 7:00am, it was too early to check in, so we dumped our bags in the storage room & headed out to explore. The guy at the desk had told us where to look for a supermarket, so we wandered off that way. We didn’t find a supermarket, but we did find a big park with random ruins and a tribe of stray(ish) cats. From there we wandered down a random street, and saw something intruiging in the distance…. (I wish I could show you the picture, but these computers are locked down like crazy, and I’m I don’t want to pay 3 euro cents a minute to try breaking it)

It turned out I was right, and it was the Colosseum… The herds of tourist buses had tipped us off to something big nearby. We wandered a bit sideways to that direction, looking for the place Steve’s conference is in. It is literally around the corner from the Colosseum. And I mean literally in the proper sense of the word. We headed back towards the Colosseum, pausing at the top of the stairs to admire 1) the building and 2) the crowds. Then we headed down to join the throng. The line to get in was huge, so we just wandered around the outside. We looked at the arch that’s right next to it (arch of Constantine? my map is too far away and there’s no way to get another tab or window), and peered through the fence around Palatine hill. There was a long line to get in there too, and by this time (about 11:00am) we were starting to droop a bit. So we turned around and headed back to a little shop we’d seen near Steve’s conference place for lunch, then headed back to the hostel.

Our plan for the rest of the day is to rest. Tomorrow is Steve’s last free day before the conference, so we’re going to the Vatican. Wednesday morning we’re planning to head to the Colosseum, etc bright and early to hopefully get in ahead of the crowds. Once you’ve bought your ticket you can skip the lines, so then you can spend the whole day. Not sure what I’m doing after that… The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain are the other two big ones, but I suspect I might spend a lot of time at those ruins just around the corner… Palatine hill looks fascinating, and I’m sure there’s plenty to explore in the Colosseum.

Posted 01 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Arrived

In Rome now, got in at 6am. About to go exploring Colosseum, Forum, etc. More details later. Kthxbye.

Posted 01 June 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)

Woo! Trip!

This time tomorrow I’ll be halfway between Perth and KL, on my way to Rome. Rome! I can’t quite comprehend it. I think I’ll be wondering around the whole time thinking “this is so surreal”… It might be that I haven’t had enough time to think about it - I’ve had 50 million things to do right up until the last minute. I handed in an essay tonight, and I’ve got to finish off another for tomorrow, and I had to organise insurance and rail passes and all sorts of stuff.

So anyway, I think I’m all ready, apart from the essay and the packing. I’ve got all sorts of supplies - a couple of books to read, and a book of 365 sudoku puzzles for planes and trains, and a coin purse to carry my gelato money so that I don’t have to get my wallet out for a snack, and all sorts of things. And I’m taking knee braces and sports tape and nurofen for my dodgy joints. I’ve probably got heaps of stuff I don’t need. But I don’t think I’ve got any really stupid stuff on my list. I suppose I’ll have to wait and see.

Um… yeah. So. Exciting!

More news later… From Rome! OMG, Rome!

Posted 30 May 2008 | Holiday | Comments (0)