Il Centro e San Giovanni in Laterano

Tuesday January 20, 2009
Today I woke up and it was a beautiful sunny day outside! I drank my coffee while I got dressed for the day. I was trying to decide where to go. I decided on the church of St. John the Lateran or San Giovanni in Laterano. It is the oldest catholic church in Rome and the original was built by Constantine. It is one of the four most important basilicas in Rome. The inside is insanely ornate and matches the outside which is decorated with statues on the roof and decorative Corinthian columns forming the portico. Inside at the transept is the altar canopy above the papal chair. It is covered in gold. The main nave is lined with fabulous classical style sculptures of many saints. Saints Peter and Paul are of course the closest to the apse as they are the Roman patron saints and hold keys and a gospel respectively. The apse is large with your basic Jesus and his apostles mosaic. I spent about 45 minutes there then left to make my way to il Colloseo.
Turns out I went down the wrong street (I blame the Roman signage). I got out my guidebook (complete with maps- Thanks Chris!) which I usually try not to do in public so as to avoid looking like a tourist. Just as I was leaning down to get the book out of my backpack a man stops and says something to me in Italian. I reply “non parlano italiano,” which I say a lot in one day! So he speaks to me in broken English. He asked where I was trying to go and I told him “il Colosseo.” He says he knows how to get there but it is important for me to be able to find my own way with the map. I do so and he tells me good job and that he will take me there. So we walk together with his two dogs. He tells me about himself as we enter Via Domus Aurea- a little parco with rosebushes and 2000 year old ruins, no big deal. At this point I could see il Colosseo but I was in no hurry. This man told me more of the history of Rome: about the monastery on the opposite hill. We were on the Esquilino. The monastery is Irish which warms my heart. He gave me helpful advice on many topics and he said no matter how badly I speak italiano, I must try to speak Italian when possible. He told me he has a friend my age and told me all about her. He said if I message him on facebook (of course facebook would come up in a random conversation with a stranger in Italy) he would give me her email address and introduce us. This guy isn’t a creep, I can tell. He is 55 he says. He has a good heart. If I met him in Vancouver I think it would be at the Jericho beach youth hostel. He would be the guy sitting at the bonfire on the beach playing guitar and telling stories. Trying to communicate with him was a simple pleasure in my day. So we said “Arrivederci!” and go our separate ways.
I walked down to il Colloseo but it was very busy so I didn’t go inside. Naturally I was surrounded by Roman centurion soldiers, ticket sellers and souvenir peddlers. I snapped a few shots of the 1900 year old structure before taking some of l’arco di Constantino then heading home.
So today was the first that I used Roman transit and all by myself at that. By my “tube” ride home I was showing another tourist how to use the ticket machines!!! I think I navigated the system rather well and I think that perhaps I am meant to be a tourist in foreign cities. So as I am writing this I am sitting in my new favorite (next to Starbucks of course which they don’t have anywhere in Italy) café and bar in Piazza di Bologna. I am having a chicken panino and a cappuccino; the cappuccino here is a new daily habit. So there is the epic story of my first sightseeing day on my own! And it was great. Ciao for now!
Lots of love, Kate







Sun January 18, 2009
Well today I went with the family down to il centro which is the equivalent of downtown. It was so busy with all the tourists etc. Many cool monuments were seen though!! On our drive down, Stefano stopped the car at the tomb of Augustus. We didn’t go inside but I looked through the glass and it looked cool. Perhaps I will go another day. We first went to the Piazza del Popolo which has an overwhelming presence! One enters the piazza through a large ancient aquaduct and immediately is confronted by a massive, 3000+ year old obelisk (these are all over Rome) in the centre of the square and on the far side are two churches that are identical in the exterior appearance. The insides however are different; one of the two houses two Caravaggio paintings while the other houses a large nativity scene until the end of January.
Then we walked over to the Piazza dei Spagna which leads to the Spanish steps who have been walked by so many. This square also had a nice fountain which apparently has drinkable water- Lucrezia drank it first but I still didn’t believe it was safe. We left there and walked down Via Condotti (Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Yves St Laurent, Versace etc.) which led to Via Corso (Disney store which is modeled like an ancient museum with Daffy playing Julius Caesar laurel wreath and all, Accessorize and some Italian stores).
I saw Trajan’s column on Via Corso right across from Zara (juxtaposition much?). The column is much wider than I thought from the photos I have seen. The relief carving is supposedly the best in the entire ancient Roman world and I believe it. It was fabulously intricate.
I saw the monument to the Unknown Soldier which is an interesting monument because it is massive and it doesn’t match the other monuments and buildings in Piazza Venezia where it is located. Oh and Piazza Venezia also has the balcony from which Mussolini made his famous speeches to the people but it is rather unexciting. Back to the monument: it was built by Vittorio Emmanuele and a lot of people were upset about it because it doesn’t match the rest of the city (that’s Romans for ya) and it’s very baroque- that is to say over-the-top. Ma mi piace! An ancient Roman centurion was outside asking people if they wanted photos with him for a small fee. After this monument we walked up the Capitoline hill to see il Campidoglio and a copy of the oh-so-famous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. We climbed a large flight of stairs that led to a church that I cannot remember the name of but it was a beautiful view overlooking la citta di Roma.
I was so exhausted because it was a fair ways to walk and I was looking and taking pictures which is also tiring. So when I came home I had a nap before dinner which by the way is common- Italians have siestas like the Spanish. Oh and some weird things about Italy: people park literally in the middle of the street forcing cars to go right or left around them, cars stop wherever (often double parking) and put their hazard lights on and call it a parking spot, dogs poo on the sidewalk because there isn’t much grass around so you always have to watch the ground.