Trip to the Vatican city and Rome

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

I am surprised it has taken me 7 years to set foot on mainland Europe since moving to the UK. For somebody who enjoys travelling and visiting new places, this seems crazy; but hey ho! Better late than never! I finally managed to hop across the ocean and landed in Rome over the Easter weekend. Leaving behind Junior felt odd but there is no way I would have troubled him on such a journey. He will find his way there some day in not a distant future.

Rome - is it a city or a never ending live museum? It certainly is a confluence of opposites. On one hand you have the grandeur of the past being painstakingly taken care of and on the other you have the more recent habitation which certainly could benefit from a touch of TLC. There is evidence of a well intended city structure which is crying for maintenance.

Taking a cue from seasoned travellers, we travelled light which helped us sail through airport security checks. Having booked a comfortable and simple accommodation; we came back to it each night weary-legged but astounded by the sights of the city. Our first tryst with Roman transport was a bus that shuttled us from the Ciampino airport to the city centre. The first impression you get from looking around is  - Bangalore from the 90s; but laterally inverted. Broad roads lined with trees. The roads themselves were riddled with beautiful potholes. We deposited our bags in the accommodation and raced to Vatican city by the Metro. Once again, the Metro system was put in place with good intent but has faded a bit now. The coaches are broad with clear instructions and multiple ticket machines ensure you don’t have to wait in line for long. A day pass costs you €7 but at  €1.50, you can travel in one direction for 100 minutes. At the end of the day it worked out for us to opt for the second option. A quick ride took us the Ottavia station in Vatican city. A few steps out of the Metro train station and you are welcomed by the imposing walls of the Vatican museum. It certainly makes you gasp in awe - hold on; not just the huge walls but the serpentine queues of people patiently waiting to enter the museum. The queue stretches as far as you can cast your eye down the hill but you cannot guess where it ends. You can buy a ‘Skip the line’ ticket but that assures you entry in about 90 minutes instead 180. This was the first taste of what was to come in the next 48 hours. You need to have lots of patience, the will to walk endlessly and a thirst for sights to give you a once in a lifetime experience. The wait was finally over and not a minute sooner - as we stepped inside the atrium of the museum it started to rain. Well, we were transported to a different universe. There are in excess of 15 museums, each surpassing the other. It is unbelievable that mere mortals could create such beautiful, majestic and jaw dropping art. The sculptures are flawless and the characters in paintings seem to come alive. The gold painted roofs give you a creak in the neck after a while and opulence of the Sistine Chapel leaves you speechless. It is very easy to forget that it is a place of worship for millions of devout Christians. After hours of wandering from one room to the other, our legs finally gave up at just the right time - closing time. Our next stop was to be St.Peter’s square. The day being Easter’s eve, there were throngs of people waiting to do the same everywhere. In fact, the square was cordoned off in preparation for next day’s mass. In spite of this, we were lucky to get a glimpse of the square. Words are not sufficient to explain the feeling of standing there and taking all its beauty and grandeur in. Then the skies opened to almost soaked us head to toe. We snuck into a really large patio of a bank that had closed for the day. Out of nowhere came a hawker selling huge umbrellas; we were in luck. So, instead of covering in the bank’s premises for a long time, we managed to continue our journey on foot. We took shelter in a cosy Italian restaurant. Although none of the staff spoke English we were successful in explaining to them that we were vegetarians looking for ‘no meat, no fish and no mushroom’ dishes. We eventually had the tastiest pasta, pizza and tiramisu we had ever had.

Day 2 was Sunday and Easter. Our plan for the day was to cover as many attractions in ancient Rome as possible. When I started the day I had an uneasy feeling about Christians taking over all the original Roman buildings and sticking a cross on top of them. But our guide at the Colosseum made a very fair point.  Many of the Roman buildings have withstood the test of time and survived the onslaught of religious zealots because they were taken over by the Christians. Basilicas, which were originally huge buildings, used for political meetings were turned into Christian places of worship. The Colosseum, Palantine Hill and hundreds of ruined and semi-ruined buildings can be found in one single area. You can cover as many of them as your feet can support. Walk a bit further, then you will find yourself in the middle of the most vibrant Piazzas or ancient marketplaces. It feels very happy to know that the spirit of Piazzas are still relevant today. Peddlers, painters, artists and simply curious tourists make the hustle and bustle of these places. There are about a 1000 churches, 200 museums and innumerable private art collections in Rome. Any lane or any street you turn into will lead you to a church. Each of these churches are adorned with the most beautiful and eye popping paintings and sculptures. It really leaves you wondering in awe of all the artists and the time when they were all created. It doesn’t end here at all. There are beautiful and grand water fountains sprinkled all over the area. It is almost as if the city has been built around these fountains. Trevi fountain, Spanish steps and the fountain in the Piazza Navona made famous by Angels and Demons; are all indeed pieces of art and not just pouts sprouting water. We spent the last few minutes of the setting sun on top of the Spanish steps in a cool breeze watching scores of people immersing themselves in the beauty of Rome. We ended day 2 in another cosy restaurant which had opened only 4 days earlier. After having a tasty serving of peppered tarantallini, I enjoyed the silkiest ravioli possible. Maybe I would need a few months to taste all types of pastas available, even  just once.

Day 3 was mop up day. We took a long pleasant walk along Circus massimus. This is where valiant Roman charioteers competed for the most coveted prizes. It is no more than a park these days with a few ruined steps to remind people of its previous grandeur. Overall we had covered about 45 km by foot over three days; a satisfying three days of my life. In the present day of ancient ruins being destroyed by fanatics every minute, I felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to view the marvel of Rome.