Switzerland - A Trip to Rome

Last Supper - Time to go on a Diet!

Somebody asked me if I was really into Italy when I mentioned that I was going to be in Florence one weekend and then in Rome the next. It’s not really the case – or wasn’t at the time – it just so happened that the two trips were one after the other. I don’t know why I’ve neglected Italy before in my travels – now that I’ve been, I’m a fan!

Anyway, last weekend I went to Rome – I flew in on Friday and left Sunday. We landed late but I still decided to be adventurous and take the bus to the hotel rather than just hop in a taxi. It was a bit confusing because there were shuttle buses at one part of the airport and the bus station in another part, but fortunately I’d remembered correctly that I had to head for the bus station. I saw the bus leaving just as I got there. Drat! However, it was warm, even in the evening, so I didn’t mind sitting outside to wait for 45 minutes.

The bus was relatively easy, but finding the hotel afterwards was another matter. I’d mistakenly thought it would have a sign outside, but actually it was just a name on a doorbell (bizarre!). Moreover, it was number 81 instead of 83. It was a B&B with just four rooms and the woman comes in especially to greet you, but is otherwise not really there, so you help yourselves to coffee and tea etc whenever you like. Anyway, she was getting a bit stressed at my late arrival. It was a Friday night, I guess! But I got there in the end.

My friends arrived the next morning at 10am, so that gave me time to get up and have breakfast, feeling relieved that I hadn’t had to get their early-morning flight.

It was a repeat of Florence in terms of walking, only this time it was mostly flat and not up and down stairs all the time.

I’d booked tickets in advance for the Vatican. We somehow got a bit lost on the way there so we ended up walking right round the outside. Unlike the Uffizi in Florence, the tickets this time really did mean that we didn’t have to queue and it was surprisingly quick to get in. The tours had sold out, so we had only the audio guide, which was OK, but the major stops could have been labeled a bit more clearly (the individual items were fine).

I didn’t have any expectations about the Vatican. I’d kind of forgotten it was in Rome so booked the tickets at the last minute. But it was amazing – just everywhere you looked, the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the items on display, everywhere was just masterpieces. At the end, there was also a section with modern art (including a Dali).

I finally saw the entire picture of Plato and Aristotle walking and talking that featured so prominently on the cover of The Republic when I studied Philosophy at university; I hadn’t realized before that its origin was a painted wall of the Vatican.

The Sistine Chapel was awe-inspiring; the figures appeared to be hanging down from the ceiling; Michelangelo’s fresco of The Last Judgment also encompassed so much within it. But even in other parts of the Vatican, the ceilings were incredible, the tapestries enormous and detailed. I was a bit disappointed to see a tapestry with the Last Supper where they appeared to be eating a pig. I’m convinced that I’ve seen other pictures where they’re all eating chicken.

But just wandering around Rome is also an experience and it reminds me of Luxor to the extent that anyone who digs into the ground in Luxor finds ancient artifacts and the same holds in Rome. There are ruins everywhere.

You divert yourself down a narrow street in the old town, and then in the next square you’re confronted with an amazing building or the Spanish steps or the Trevi Fountain. It’s hard to stick to your itinerary because you just get sidetracked onto something else.

We also did a food and wine tour, where we learned the difference between an osteria and a trattoria and between a bruschetta and a crostini, as well as between a piazza and a campo. Artichokes were in season and we had some great double-fried (whoops!) ones in the Jewish district. I did also finally eat some gelato.

I’m now 7kg heavier than when I first returned to Switzerland; I think 3kg of that is from my Italian trips. It’s probably about time that I returned to Egypt.