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Thursday Nov 24th was our day without a lesson, and so after enjoying talking to people at home we had a look in the nearby museum at an exhibition of models of Da Vinci's machines, created from his drawings. It gives a good idea of the man's genius in ways other than his painting. It is called Leonardi Da Vinci- the Genius and the Inventor.(Leonardo Da Vinci- Il Genio e Le Invenzioni.) What a mind! The claim that he may have been the cleverest man to have lived would be difficult to dispute. He seemed to have mastered so many different fields. There was plenty of evidence of his understanding of flight after observing birds and experimenting with parachutes and other flying machines. He also had an intimate understanding of the human body and muscles in particular, and created many machines including the printing machine and several war machines. The museum has a display of an enormous armoured tank with sighting turret and cannons. It could be wheeled along by soldiers inside who would turn several small wheels which in turn drove corresponding larger wheels with the use of a simple gear system. There is no mention in the museum of this extraordinary machine which resembles a huge turtle, actually being used. (M: I suspect it would have needed an incredibly flat surface to maneouvre on!) For a man of peace, Leonardo contributed in a considerable way to war, and this museum claims he invented the machine gun as well.

After lunch at the flat we walked through the Piazza Navona which is being turned into a market for Christmas stalls, with workmen everywhere. We are so glad we saw the Piazza prior to this invasion- some of the stalls look like they have genuine items for people to create "presepi" ie Christmas cribs, but there could also be a lot of other items to tantalise the unsuspecting tourist. There is a sign saying it opens on Saturday, in two days time, so we will wait and see. (Some of the stalls would not be out of place at the Sydney Easter show)

Dinner was an interesting affair and only 80 steps- yes I counted- from our flat. The restaurant is called Dar Pallaro and there is a set four courses for 25 Euros. (M: If you use the link the first photo is of the room we sat in - in the far left hand corner as you look at it. To get to our table we had to walk through the kitchen where there seemed to be a cast of thousands. Our waiter, from somewhere on the sub continent, asked us if we were from Denmark or Sweden. I replied that we were from a bit closer to his homeland!)

The choice of this restaurant was a bit of a gamble, (M: particularly since you have no choice in what you eat. A bit like growing up in my family :-)) It paid off- we had a good antipasto with fennel, delicious lentils, small rice balls and balls of something we failed to identify, and prosciutto. Next was pasta done to perfection with two different kinds of sauce, and the third dish was lamb with very finely cut potatoes and spinach. Last was a slice of tart- possibly orange. There was also a bottle of mineral water and you could choose between red or white wine - by the jug. The cook (and proprietor, Signora Paola - also on the site) came out as we were finishing and saw us on our way.

M:

One of the things that has struck us in Rome is the large number of people who live, or make a living, on the street.

The most obvious category is the street sellers, whom we have mentioned before. They seem to have some kind of code of ethics about not getting in your face. Their concentration seems to be in direct proportion to proximity to a famous site. They sell (or try to sell - I think between Catania and Rome we have seen about one sale!) camera tripods of all sizes, chestnuts, scarves, roses (no one has told these guys the code of ethics!) , umbrellas, handbags, sunglasses and gloopy things that go flat when you throw them onto a flat surface, then regain their shape (go figure).

Category two are the buskers - and these fall into three main groups. There are the statues- gunslingers, Statues of Liberty, mummies (the Egyptian kind), and drunks (these guys have a trick - I'll try to load a film clip). Having to stay very still, they are never a bother! Then there are the musicians - like our pals the Happy Gypsies, but there is a plethora of guitarists, and some excellent accordionists , like the one who plays outside the school every day then catches the same bus as us to go home after another day in the office. We have heard countless renditions of "My Way" and also heard "Strangers in the Night" twice. Third are the miscellaneous - puppeteers, Michael Jackson impersonators and the like. They all add a bit of colour to the street.

Category three are the beggars. They are on the streets in numbers. It isn't clear to us if there are more people in poverty here in Rome, or more who choose this as a way of scraping out some form of life, but they seem to be more prevalent here than any other city I have been in outside developing countries. There seem to be different schools of thought here. Some kneel or lie prostrate with a container in front of them. Some stand up and hold a container out, saying nothing. Others of this group say they are hungry or have not eaten. A minority of these, particularly the older ones can get in your face a bit. The last group of these have some form of disability which they profile in fairly unsubtle ways, like the guy who had lost an arm, and had his shirt off to demonstrate. Perhaps the worst we have seen is the poor tortured soul whom we have mentioned before who sleeps on the street near one of the local supermarkets. He lies there all day and night it seems, among the remains of whatever food he has had and empty wine cartons, and has lost himself so far that the space between cars has become his bathroom.

Enough of this musing on serious matters. On to Friday.

We had a few items of shopping to do. One of these was to replace the ink cartridge in the printer that is here in the flat. This has been an ongoing saga. No one seems to sell Lexmark. Today's choice of shop was up near where we do our lessons and sort of on the way to the Vatican. Another fruitless visit - the fourth. At this point, I officially gave up on the search. On towards the Vatican with a tourist priced coffee on the way.

A:

We had to be at the Vatican museums with our pre booked tickets and passports (for ID again - but this was not asked for this time) twenty minutes prior to our 11 am appointment. We were in a fairly large group of perhaps 20 and were each issued with a small radio transmitter and earpiece so we could hear our tour guide, who was excellent, quite clearly. We had requested the tour in English. The first thing she did was take us outside to three large pictures of the "Last Judgement", in the Sistine Chapel, and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and spent a good 30 minutes explaining them as it would be impossible to do so in the chapel itself later. There were other tour guides doing the same thing in front of other pictures. Our guide then took us through the Vatican museums apace, pointing out important facts along the way. She really knew her stuff and was quite passionate about it. She had explained at the start that there was far too much to see and so she could only point out certain items for our benefit. If you wanted more time in there you could come back later. She was to take us through the museums, then the Sistine Chapel and we were to end up in St Peters Basilica.

The Sistine Chapel is hard to describe. (M: The previous link takes you to a pretty full explanation, and this one to some pictures as cameras are not allowed.)

Michaelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512 with scenes from Genesis when he was in his thirties. The method used on the plaster required that it be wet as the paint was put on and it would only remain wet enough for six hours. The plaster actually absorbs the paint and this is one reason it looks so good today after a major clean up a few years ago. How one man could spend so much time in such an uncomfortable position, mainly standing up and leaning backwards, to create such a story on the ceiling is simply incredible. And Michaelangelo did so with many arguments with the pope about money.

He returned to his native Florence, disillusioned, on completing the ceiling but was persuaded to return, by another pope, about thirty years later to paint the Last Judgement. This took him several years (1534- 1541). He considered himself a sculptor rather than a painter, so the result here and on the ceiling is all the more extraordinary. Our guide told us he was a difficult personality, preferring to say he had assistants rather than pupils, as others like Raphael had at the same time. He died at the age of 88 after producing many of the works that are so admired by millions to this day.

Our final stop, after working our way through the crowds (and our guide told us we were lucky to be here during the quiet season!) was in the Basilica of S. Pietro itself. We had seen it from the outside several times without being allowed any closer unless we lined up for ages so this tour was a quick entree for us through a different door reserved for tour guides. Once inside you are astonished at the sheer size of the place. The stunning Pieta- Mary and Jesus just off the cross- is inside. This was created by Michaelangelo when he was just 24. He also designed the dome but died before it was finished. Our tour completed, we handed our transmitters in and raced off to the place where we had started (M: Quite some distance away) to collect our coats and bags, and ate our panini while walking to our final lessons. These went well and we both feel proud of our efforts. We invited Nives to dinner at our place on Friday night. She has done a really good job for both of us and has been really well prepared for each lesson.

Saturday was another lovely day and a little warmer. We went for a walk to discover areas we had not yet seen. The thing about walking around Rome is that you always discover new things of interest- there is just so much to take in and every street is different. We walked to the Piazza del Popolo where there is a display of Presepi (Cribs) in a building nearby. There we saw many interesting creations from many countries - not just Italy - and we were practically the only people in there. We enjoyed lunch in the park just above this (M: well rather a long way actually - many steps up to the Pincio - which flows into the gardens around the Villa Borghese where we had been a few weeks ago. It starts to get interesting when the bits of the jigsaw come together!) where we saw a group of young and not so young people roller blading (inline skating) and some of them were very adept. A coffee Italian style- standing up at the bar- on the way back and we were home. Left over minestrone for dinner completed another good day.