Buona Pasquale i tutti!
Our adventures over the Easter weekend have been amazing. We've been to see the Palatine ruins, the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, St Peters Square, Piazza Navona, and many more Piazzas and famous buildings.
We've really enjoyed just walking around the cobbled streets of Trastevere, Testaccio, and the Centro Storico, eating out for massive lunches - so much so that we can't really fit in dinner afterwards (or gelato crazily enough). As you can imagine, the legs have been working hard, which is good given the amount of olive oil we have consumed over the past two days - and we have found time each afternoon for a siesta before heading out again.
One of the more inspiring sights we've seen so far would have to be the Pantheon - coming around a small street corner close to midnight to see it looming above us - we felt like we were in a movie set. The building itself is mammoth - the doors are at least ten times our height and the columns 4metres in diameter. The most amazing thing is how it contrasts so boldly against the other buildings in the piazza. Just to know that it has stood there for 2000 years is pretty crazy.
Today we went to St Peters Square for Easter Mass with the Pope. There was a crowd of about 300,000 or more, just in the square - the connecting piazza would have held more people still. It was quite a moving experience to hear the Pope speak and bless the people - and to see how the crowd responded. We also went to a huge church on Piazza Navona last night for a while whilst there was a mass on, which was equally as moving - the singing was particularly beautiful as was the church itself.
Not all of our time hasn't just been spent looking at cultural treasures though... we have also amused ourselves perusing the supermarket shelves for an hour or so just to see the different products on offer. Small things hey...
We are getting a better handle on the language, bit by bit, and each of us has a phrase or two that we are semi-confident in so we can take turns at restaurants and shops- the language barrier is quite challenging (mainly because of the speed at which people talk) but we are getting there. on saturday, sim went in alone to a supermarket to get some lunch and managed to wing it without the phrase book to get a proscuitto and mozzerella panini made up at the deli... was pretty happy after that one!
We have loved it so much here that we have organised to stay one more night at our accomodation in Trastevere... Tomorrow we will check out the Forum ruins and Campo di Fiori markets - and shopping is definitely on the cards. On Tuesday we head off to a small town in Tuscany called Montalcino.
Hope all is well at home. Will post photos as soon as possible once we figure out how.
Cheers,
Sim and em. xxx
7 comments:
Hi Em and Sim,
It's SO great to hear you both so happy. (What a relief that you actually got over there - I was having terrible visions of that last assignment not going well, you rushing to hand it in at the last moment, uni being closed, you hanging around to find a way to hand it in, missing your plane...!!) Easter in St Peter's Square sounds unbelievable. (In fact everything does!!) Did you also visit the Vatican itself, or were crowds prohibitive? I loved going to the vatican, mostly because we had an amazing walking tour guide who brought the history, the art and the architecture alive with anecdotes. Keep having a wonderful time - though you really don't sound as if you need to be wished that! Happy easter and happy travels, xoxoxo Lau
Hello There Happy Travellers
Sounds like your flight over was somewhat teadious. Seems Rome is the place to be at this time of year, what an experience to be amongst so many people. I would love to be able to see all the historical buildings ..... so can't wait to see the photos when they make their debute onto this blog. Must be ace to put your Italian into practice even if it is responded to with english. Hope you had a good Easter. looking forward to hearing more about your adventure. Love Claire.
Hi Em and Sim.
Sounds like your having a fantastic time over there. Its funny that the people over there can speak such good english. Hope you had a good Easter, happy easter, from Mel!
thankyou for messages!!
lau, to be honest, the assignment was completed in an all night effort - i finished at 7 the morning of the flight, sim printed it at the library and we posted it on the way to the airport (thanks to sims folks for the lift!).
st peters square was unbelievable! we are waiting to see the rest of the vatican when we come back to rome prior to leaving.
mim and mel, thankyou for your messages - i loved getting up this morning to read them. they are amazing english speakers here. although i am sure we will travel to places where their is no or little english spoken and we will be tested a little more. and mim i cant recommend a better place if its old building you want - they are seriously astounding, how did they move those marble columns with man/animal power - incredible!
lots of love, em and sim
We received the most beautiful little surprise in the mail today. Thank you so much!! It means a lot that whilst you were about to depart for your adventure o/s, you were at the same time thinking of us (and our impending adventure). They're geogeous booties and will be great if the baby is anything like it's mum (abolutely no circulation in the feet - permanently freezing!). Can't wait for your next blog installment! Thinking of you both all the time. Hope you're enjoying Tuscany (?) xoxox Lau
Guys,
Make sure you do the The Rome(ing) Tours night tour/pubcrawl... I did it when i was there and loved it! I know its a bit corny but still really good and informative!
hey andy. great to hear from you and thanks for the tip! will def have to check it out when we return in mid may to leave... but no more talk of departing for now eh?
we absolutely loved it in Rome - the place we stayed at was fantastic and we managed to make a friend while we were there that conveniently spoke italian and helped us book the place we are staying now (montalcino - amazing hilltop town in tuscany). we ended up spending a lot of our nights in Trastevere - a place not unlike brunswick/fitzroy, but italian style.
hope all is good in melbourne town, that uni is going well, and everything else is well.
write again soon,
love simone. x
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