Day 217, 6 February 2013, Roma, Italia.
Dino, our host at the Aladino Inn, strongly recommended we visit one of Rome's catacombs during our stay. Today was the day for being adventurous and we headed down the A Line to San Giovanni in Laterano and completely fluked finding the 218 bus that would take us through the walls of Rome and along the Via Appia Antica to the Catacombs (once called the Queen of Roads it was started in 312 BC). Can be quite nerve-wracking when you've no idea how long the trip is supposed to be and whether or not the driver actually will give you a wave at the right spot. Clattering at 80kms/hour over the cobblestones was an experience in itself. So was arriving at the Catacombs of St Callixtus to find they're closed on Wednesdays. And today was Wednesday. Fortunately the entire neighbourhood is riddled with ancient burial tunnels and St Domatilla's was just down the road. We felt much better when we found out the Callixtus site was actually closed until the end of February (seriously - what for? after 2000 odd years are they renovating?). In any event, there was only the two of us so we had the luxury of a private tour through the underground church and down 2 of the 4 levels of tomb tunnels. Oddly, one of the most fascinating was the stunningly crafted pre-christian/pagan tombs. These were eventually connected to the Christian tunnels and defaced over the centuries - but still beautiful. The graffiti was in itself interesting... reading messages and names from the 1700s by the clear light of our electric lanterns, set alongside memorial messages carved in stone 1700 years ago. The more things change, the more things stay the same it seems. My word of the day today is Fossor. We learned that the companies that built the catacombs or more precisely dug them out, created the marble tomb covers and the frescoes in the expensive tombs were called "Fossors" which meant diggers. And of course these days one can fossick for gold. Words are like toys to play with sometimes. Once released from the constant chill of the tunnels, we headed on foot through yet another suburb and found a bus to take us to the massive Terme di Caracalla (Baths of Caracalla). These were opened in 217 AD and 1600 people could use the complex at any one time. The remains of the complex, the mosaics and the carvings fired our imaginations of how it once was - hundreds of workers stoking the fires billowing steam, an olympic sized swimming pool and a massive gymnasium. Now just a half dozen tourists, ant-like by comparison. Incredible. We are making plans on the fly at this point and decide to walk to the B Line metro and take a look at Rome's Pyramid - the tomb of Caius Caestius. I kid you not. As beautiful and unusual as it was, it actually was closed for renovations and was covered in scaffolding - so we headed for old Rome's Trastavere district on a bus. Which actually took us to Trastavere Station. Never fear, this was the perfect opportunity to turnaround and take a tram back the way we came ending up at the church of Santa Maria in Trastavere - founded by St Callixtus in 221 AD. It was a beautiful and peaceful church to visit - especially once the tour group on the "Hidden Secrets of Rome" tour left. I submit to you that whatever hidden secrets Rome may have once had, herding massive groups of tourists around is unlikely to preserve them! Making our way through Trastevere we came to one of the last Italian food groups and shared a massive gelato. Bliss. At one point we we had to leap to the side of a laneway when a crazy Italian driver (is that a tautology?) tried to mow us down. It was actually a blessing in disguise however as we had sheltered in the doorway of a most interesting shop where we ended up buying James a ring with the magic words of Pompeii inscribed upon it - the Sator Square. And if you point it at the sun it also tells the time - a miniature sundial if you will. Excellent memento of Rome, Italy and also of our proposed trip to Pompeii tomorrow. We crossed the bridges of Isola Tiberina and briefly visited Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see the Bocca della Verita (pictured). (Mouth of Truth - if a liar puts their hand in the mouth, it will be bitten off. Seems like a lose/lose situation really but it wasn't stopping tourists paying 50 cents a head to take the chance). Some say it was a manhole cover from the Cloaca Maxima where it drained into the Tiber in Roman times - seems a bit too decorative for that and looks like part of a Pagan temple to me! We walked around the block and saw the Circus Maximus - a site of chariot races back in the day and now a park and then it was onto a bus to Termini where we took a wander through the many Chinese jewellery stores and found ourselves once more in the Piazza di Santa Maria in Magiorre - We were fascinated to find multi-lingual confessionals in this church - obviously Italian and English - but also Polish, Russian and German. Whilst god is obviously multi-lingual it's good to see the priests are all over it too! Last but not least we managed dinner at Guiseppe's Trattoria. Despite the red & white checked tablecloths (or perhaps because of them) it was highly enjoyable. Off to Naples and Pompeii tomorrow! Sweet Dreams.