Tuesday 17 September 2013

Aching feet and no one would hire me as a guide

Alas, the hotel room is not very comfortable, and certainly no cats could be swung in it. The room is very narrow, the tv is on top of the wardrobe, and there is no armchair, the bed is narrow. I hope sleep comes easily as I need a lot of it.

As the museums I want to visit were closed today, and set off to explore the Aventino. I took the metro, noticing after the first station that i was travelling in the wrong direction, got off, chaned trains and got it right, and having emerged, tried to orient myself. Naturally I headed in the opposite direction. Both my maps  finished just at the point where I needed them, but I can get lost, map or no map. Eventually (after a few minutes) I realised that it was actually rather simple. St. Peter's was visible up one end and that made me realise which way was up, so to speak. I walked up to Santa Sabrina  and to the knights of Malta, famous for their keyhole through which the dome of st peter'S is perfectly framed. Hordes of tourists lined up to take a photo, but for such lesser mortal and our cameras it just did not work.. My photos reveal only what was right in front of it and nothing at all from the other side.

 Retracing my steps, I went to s Maria in comedian, aka  as la Boccaccio della veritable. Many people queued up to out their hands in the mouth, and there was a man who obligingly and most likely profitably, took everyone' s photos. A sign said there would be only one photo per person, but this was honoured in the breach, and in fact, he took three if me.

I love looking at such very old places, especially churches, and those in Rome have been such an important part of our history, both good and bad, and our achievements, I love the stones, the marbles used, the wonderful   mosaics, the inlaid stones, and, especially with the really ancient churches, the simplicity.

The camera was worked so hard that by the end of the day, the battery was exhausted. I photograph street signs and other indications of place, so that after my return, so that it won't all be one big blur, it will be possible to work out what is in the photos.

I walked  along the Tiber  for a while, crossing the river to view the Ponte Rotto and the isola Tiberino, which I love, bought water and a gelato in , and set off again, having in fact gone in a big loop. This way I could tell where I was, and the I managed to find Piramide, which is covered in scaffolding and is in restauro. The, despite waking around the block instead of the other way, I succeeded in finding the cimiterio acattolico, and wandered around it for a while, to see Keats'  and Shelley's tombs. The cemetery is run by volunteers, and I noticed a new grave of a woman from,  I think, New Zealand. Next door, in some old ruin, there are quite a number  of stray cats, Who look actually quite healthy and well fed, and  it seems  that some people, mostly women, feed them, and they come inside  the cemetery, and loll about looking  prosperous  and as though  they own the place. There seem to have been  mosquitos  there is a bite  on
my heel.

This iPad thinks  it is writing  in italian and i don't know nto c,hange it over so here this post endeth.

1 comment:

Elephant's Child said...

I was fascinated, and found that I was holding my breath as I read this post. Travel lust.
And cats and cemeteries seem to have quite a comfortable relationship.
There were many, many, many cats surrounding Eva Peron's grave. And indeed the whole cemetery.