Italy 2024

Rome

Landing into Rome’s airport meant immediately immersing myself into surges of people trying to get somewhere or anywhere.  This was going to be a real test for me as a ‘directional dyslexic’… meaning, I have no sense of direction at all!

So I managed to get myself from the airport to the citys main railway station, find the bag storage place and store them until being able to enter the accomodation later.

Have been to Rome before and really liked the city, but this time being here alone, the goal was just to visit just a few iconic locations and the rest of 3 full days, simply do a lot of walking around this very historical city. Using the GPSmyCity app a little, but the rest of the time following my nose and immersing myself into the feel of this place.  So with bags stored, off I went.

Below is the combination of walking, tram or train areas explored throughout this Rome visit.

Rome is a large city and the red tracks consist mainly
of my walking exploration around it

It soon became obvious the city was busy with tourists and so early in the season, it was crazy with queues at famous places like the Colosseum, or big hordes of people trying to get close enough to get their ‘iconic’ copy of a photo they have seen on social media or worse, do umpteen poses in front of something whilst a friend photographs them.

The Colosseum early morning and crowds already queuing

When we were last in a city Like Rome, there were no mobile phones, or social media or influencers!

The crowds of people everywhere in Rome in May, usually regarded as part of the ‘shoulder’ season was nuts and it included just trying to walk around randomly through the city, people, people everywhere.

Aaaah, the people taking photos of other people with a bit of scenery
behind them... just smile, move left a little, not quite right... do it again!!

So if you’re thinking of going to Rome… go in winter and in a lot of the photos, hopefully you will get some sense of the abundant crowds!

During my walking, did manage to pass by some of those iconic locations in Rome like the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and The Spanish Steps, took some photos and moved on, leaving the ‘throngs’ to enjoy themselves.

The Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

There was however one place i wanted to visit again and spend extended time in, so bought tickets online to avoid long queues and also paid for headphones in order to learn more about this amazing building… The Pantheon, a real favourite of mine.

My favourite building in Rome... The Pantheon

So a tiny bit of this buildings history:

• its construction was completed around 128 AD
• was originally designed as a temple to Roman gods and it later became a Christian church and remains so to present times
• it is famous for its massive internal dome measuring 142 feet in diameter and still one of the largest unsupported domes ever built.  In the middle of the dome is an ‘oculus’ or hole 27 feet in width which lets in light and rain.
• it is still not fully understood how the Romans built the Pantheon’s dome
• several Monarchs are buried inside as is the famous painter Raphael.

So for this visit it was a slow wander around inside the building learning more about its past and admiring it plus learning about some of its surprising current activity. 

              

Each year, on the 50^th day after Easter, a mass is held in the Pantheon and afterwards, fireman who have climbed outside to the oculus, pour thousands of red rose petals down through the opening forming a shower of petals onto the occupants below.

Inside the Pantheon with its massive dome ceiling and oculus at its centre

The grave inside of a royal

Raphael's grave

The other sole location paid to visit and explore, was the Roman Forum, originally the centre of day to day life in ancient Rome and the scene of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial combats in republican times, and back then, was lined with shops and open-air markets.  

A section of a large area called The Roman Forum

It was also used for social events and gatherings, religious events, elections and there were a range of venues and spaces built within the forum to accommodate such a diverse range of activities.

The buildings in the forum vary based on their original purpose

More of the buildings in The Roman Forum

The total space is large and diverse, so it was a matter of following whichever path beckoned to discover something different or new.  Along these lines were the numerous marble columns and the surprise was they were not all solid marble, some were made out of small bricks then covered with something looking like marble.

Columns made out of small bricks in the forum

Rome is the sort of city where around the next corner could be a new surprise or discovery like coming across a large group of people surrounding a small coffee shop in the back streets.  Happened to be one of the older ones in Rome with a great reputation.

Creative timber decorations

Wondered how old this artwork was slowly
disappearing on the side of a random building

Interesting decorations on the side of a garden wall

Few notable discoveries was a great location on the Tiber River running through Rome i revisited to take night photos of St Peters Basilica we first saw 20 years ago.

St Peters Basilica during the day...

...and St Peters Basilica glowing beautifully at night

Another accidental discovery was the Column of Marcus Aurelius’ which tells the story of the emperor of the same name’s successful military campaigns against the Quadi across the Danube between 172 and 175 CE depicted by the scenes spiralling up the column.

The Column of Marcus Aurelius

The detailed carvings depicting what happened on the
Column of Marcus Aurelius

Also happened upon the Piazza Navona with its huge open area originally used for competitions including chariot races, built around 70 AD.  Now it has restaurants down one side, a church opposite plus 2 beautiful fountains located towards either end.

The Piazza Navona

There were so many things that captured my eye so rather than try to list them and bore you, simply click on the link below for more photos of my wanderings throughout Rome but it was very enjoyable to simply walk through Rome, taking my time to really look at it, despite the constant pinball style interactions with other tourists.

CLICK HERE for a few more photos of Rome

Venice

Rob and Kerry in the meantime were nearing the end of their Med cruise and the plan was for me to catch a high speed train to from Rome to Venice, arriving a day before them, sorting out access to our accomodation and stocking up the fridge with necessities like Prosecco, cheeses and so on before they arrived.

Arriving into Venice via vaporetto on the Grand Canal

The famous Rialto Bridge

View down the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

Again, we had visited Venice in 2004 during an era without mobile phones, apps and more apps… including Google Maps and during that visit we spent more time getting lost in this fascinating city.

Below are route maps of either where we walked or travelled by boat during our time in Venice, including visiting a few of the outer islands.

We did a lot of walking within Venice and a boat trip to a few of the nearby islands

They duly arrived by vaporetto (water ‘bus’) near the Rialto Bridge, the big curved one usually shown in documentaries or films. It was raining steadily when they arrived and overnight torrential rain fell for hours, turning some of those narrow alleys into short term small creeks but it cleared by the morning and we were ready to get out and about.

Some alleys are very narrow

Gondola cruising the narrow canal(s)

Venice is truly a walking city in the main and with the abundance of people visiting, we were soon in conger lines of people weaving our way through those very narrow ‘streets’ or alley ways.

We were always contending with a large number of tourists
everywhere including when trying to catch a vaporetto

The beauty of Venice is there is so much to see both big and small when rounding any corner, interesting things in windows or in one case where we simply followed some people who disappeared down a very narrow little laneway and ended up viewing a fabulous Palace with 15th century spiral staircase.  You could walk anywhere within Venice and be enthralled!

The hidden spiral 15th centurybuilding called
Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo

There are of course some notable destinations, one being San Marco Square which is huge and with the Basilica San Marco, or Torro dell’Orologio (mechanical clock), a very dominant cathedral tower and lots of restaurants or cafes.

Basilica San Marco

Outside decorations on Basilica San Marco

Toro del'Orologio mechanical clock

The Massive Piaza San Marco

We ventured to the square first for a coffee at Caffe’ Florian which opened in 1720 and is the oldest cafe in Italy and the 2^nd oldest in Europe.  Inside its very luxurious and happens to now hold the record for the most expensive coffee we have ever had, but it was worth it.

Entry into Cafe Florian

Enjoying good Italian coffee in Cafe Florian

We had arrived into San Marco Square early and managed to survive a shorter queue to enter the Basilica, originally consecrated in 1094 after being built between 829-836 AD.  It is always fascinating to enjoy the skills of the builders of these very old structures.

Vestibule area in Basilica San Marco

Inside the Basilica San Marco with a few others

We ventured back to San Marco Square during our time in Venice for some night photography and were welcomed by the now still regular flooding of the square which lead to some interesting reflection rich photos.

Basilica San Marco reflecting in flood waters

Reflection of building surrounding the Piazza San Marco

Night shot of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

Whilst we did a lot of it, it wasn’t all walking as we managed to score a free boat ride through Venice and out to the island of Murano, famous for glass blowing, provided we visited one of their ‘shops’ and watched their artisans at work.

Rob & Kerry enjoying the boat ride to Murano island

Artisan glass blower of Murano

We were now on an island and had to get our way back, so eventually managed to get onto a tourist packed vaporetto to the quaint island of Burano, famous for its very colourful buildings lining the canals throughout it and delightful to stroll throughout.

The canals and colourful buildings in Burano

Very colourful in Burano

It was time for us to continue on into Europe for part 2. of this trip and for Kerry to head back home, so after a very early vaperetto trip back to the railway station we parted company, boarded our train and continued on.

Thank you Venice for being a photographers delight and if you would like to see more photos of this beautiful city, simply click the link below.

CLICK HERE for more photos of Venice

More about part 2. of 2024 in Europe to follow so until then, go well!