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We have had two glorious days in Rome. We spent the first part of Saturday at the "Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini" which is a fantastic museum of archeological remains that were recently discovered under the Palazzo Valentini which houses government offices.

M:

I rang up to make the necessary "prenotazione" for this visit. If you want Itaian press 1, if you want English, press 2. I pressed 2. "Buongiorno. Il servizio dei prenotazioni. Desidera?" - I surrendered and proceeded in Itaian. There was only one thing they didn't tell me - and I hardly sounded like a local.

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When we arrived we discovered that the visit had a compulsory tour guide and audio visual show and this one was in Italian only. If we came back later we could join the English tour. I said not to worry and Mick did his best to keep me informed as we went around. There were twelve of us in the group and we found ourselves walking on glass floors over excavations, and up and down steps of glass over ancient Roman steps. Vertigo sufferers beware! Below us were the remains of ancient Roman houses and up to the minute technology has been used to add in drawings of the remainders of objects eg vases and tiles, as well as demonstrate how the houses actually would have looked at the time. We were taken on a virtual tour of ancient Rome to see living areas, kitchens, baths and gardens. As the guide indicates it "is an original and wonderful example of how, through modern technology, new things can be created from the heritage of the past." This is a museum not to be missed. (M: Oh - and if you want the whole story - book the English tour!)

We stopped at our favourite spot- Caffé al Banchi Vecchi- on via dei Banchi Vechi (the street of the old benches) for panini and coffee on the way back. We are growing to like this place because we seem to be among the few tourists among the many customers, and now that we have its location clear, it is an easy walk. They don't seem to mind if we sit and eat, unlike other places which charge a lot extra for this privilege.

M:

One of the fascinating things about the narrow winding streets is that even when you walk the same street, each time you see new things. I am currently reading a book by Donna Leon called Death in a Strange Country, which is set in Venice, and features an Italian detective called Guido Brunetti. He describes walking around Venice, his home city, and rewarding himself with a coffee and cake, or a glass of wine or spirits each time he spots something new in his usual haunts. I can see how that might happen!

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We did some shopping in the market to prepare for the somewhat quieter shopping hours of Sunday, and headed back to the flat. On our return we found the caretaker, Ronny, and his wife, not quite finished doing an expert job of cleaning so we went downstairs to a café three doors away for a tea/ cold drink. That afternoon we still had use of our Roma pass (including free public transport) so we decided to check it out on a bus to Termini- the main railway station in Rome. It was quite an experience - first of all squeezing on, then living at close quarters for 20 minutes or so with some locals. Once at Termini we had a look at the self service booths, turning down several offers of help from people looking for a few Euro - or a pocket to pick!. We booked a train for Orvieto on Thursday as we have no class that day - although some would argue we never had any. This cost us 43.40 Euro in total. We will also need to go to Termini when we leave Rome so it was good to check it out. We returned easily to a stop near our place and then took a tram to Trastevere which is the suburb just over the Tevere (Tiber) mentioned in an earlier blog. We went for a walk and Mick bought a cap, scarf and gloves which he will need as we head to cooler weather north. Reheated pasta from the other day did us for dinner and we completed watching season one of "Boardwalk Empire" which we really enjoyed. Thanks to Beth and Elias for downloading this and other goodies onto our hard drive so we can give ourselves a break from the Italian.

Big news here is that Berlusconi has actually resigned at last after about twenty years in and out of power and avoiding jail somehow!

We decided that Sunday would be a quiet day after several weeks of a pretty fast pace. In the morning we spoke to Anthony and Jayne on Skype, and then Marthese joined in on that conversation. Isn't Skype wonderful! It was also great to talk to Emily later too. The church bells were calling so we went to Mass at noon at the church of St Andrea ie St Andrew- how apt for me! This church is literally about six doors away from our flat.

M:

The church has one of the biggest domes in Rome - second only to St Peter's. It is the setting for scene 1 of La Traviata (so we are told!). Way down the front was a gathering of pews - maybe 15 rows on each side, lost in the otherwise empty immensity. There were a handful of tourists looking around. At 11.55 we joined the only other person in a pew. When Mass began, the 6 people on the altar (2 priests, a deacon and three readers (probably seminarians) outnumbered the number in the pews. By about 5 past, we had them outnumbered about 15 to 6. Given that the readers were likely seminarians (and at least 5 of the 6 men were not Italian) there is certainly no shortage of clerics here - even if the Romans, like us, are importing them.

A:

Come communion time there was a woman who can only be described as "falling over sideways as she genuflected several times" on her way to communion.

Lunch at a restaurant at the Campo De Fiori was tasty but we did find ourselves among all the tourists so we will go further afield next time which is our usual method of finding a good restaurant- one which is full of locals. We did go looking for places that had been recommended by our landlord but failed to find them today. The afternoon was spent quietly with Mick doing some work on drafts of doctoral candidate work and me doing Italian to prepare for the start of our classes tomorrow afternoon.

M:

A little reflection on refugees. Both here and in Catania refugees are omni-present. They seem to come from North Africa, and hundreds of them are caught up in the business of selling stuff to tourists that they may need, but often don't. In Catania, scarves were replaced by umbrellas as soon as the rain started, and you were offered one, even if you had one over your head. Another product of choice seems to be what can best be described as "blobs" that you can throw down onto a smooth surface. They go completely flat, then regain their initial spherical shape. They never hassle. They seem to simply look forlorn at the side of the street, often with a new one every 20 metres or so. Given the limited range of products, one would have to think this is an organised business, and that someone is making a nice profit on the back of this exploitation. However difficult this is, it still seems to be better than our system in Australia. And Italy receives thousands more refugees than we do, a situation exacerbated by recent events in Libya and Tunisia.

A:

A short "passeggiata" around seven was a lovely break from our industrious afternoon. We shared the paths and streets with lots of others out doing the same Italian thing. This evening we noticed that the temperature was cooler for the first time - heater on and jackets worn.