Ravishing Rome, Astounding Assisi

Following a very comfortable coach ride to Rome, we arrived at our hotel, checked in and decided to give the pizza and pasta a miss for a change. We opted for good old fashioned British food at the Scholars Lounge, an Irish pub in the middle of Rome that we found on our last trip there. It was only a short walk from our hotel, and we passed the brilliant Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, known affectionately as 'The Typewriter'.

The following day we walked – Penny navigated with her ever present map - and passed by the beautiful Trevi Fountain. Close by we discovered a wonderful archaeological site - The City of Water - which is part of a labyrinth of underground passages beneath the Trevi district. This site includes rooms of a house and the pottery and statues recovered during renovation works above. Fascinating.

We then visited the stunning Pantheon and listened to live music in the piazza whilst enjoying coffee and croissant in one of the cafes.

One of the many churches we passed along the way...

The Pantheon

On to Piazza Navona with its wonderful fountains with lunch at a trattoria that served delicious pesto pasta and Penny’s favourite Aperol Spritz. That night we wandered out to see the Forum alight in myriad colours along the Via del Corso.

Assisi was on our must-see list after a brief stop there six years ago. This time we took a day trip by coach which started with a funicular ride up to the ancient medieval hilltop town of Orvieto where we visited a cathedral almost identical to Siena’s – on the outside - but sparsely decorated inside except for one magnificent room covered with frescos depicting Christ’s last days.

We lunched at a guest house along the way and dined on hors d’oeuvres, red wine and a three course meal of pasta, veal and Italian cakes. Then we continued on to Assisi.

At Assisi we walked through the old town from top to bottom along cobblestone streets lined with interesting shops and cafes, and finished at the magnificent Cathedral of St Francis. This two-story church has beautiful frescoes and is the last resting place of the Saint. 

 

Most of the buildings have 'clamps' like these above, to hold them together during earth tremors

 

 

 

The Cathedral of St Francis

Our guide also took us to the church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli in the new town of Assisi where, in a chapel in the midst of the cathedral, St Francis came regularly to pray, and another chapel where he spent his last days and finally died. It was wonderful to see Assisi again and to spend several hours within this beautiful quaint village.

Back in Rome, we came across another archaeological site, this one only discovered several years ago, but important as the location where Julius Caesar was murdered!

 

Julius Caesar was allegedly murdered at the base of this tree

Jim led the walk that night, without a map, and somehow managed to find the famous Spanish Steps (by accident of course). The area was packed full of tourists and police and there was such a vibrant feel. Penny wanted to buy a Pinocchio - he and his creator Gepetto are famous in Italy - so we visited a shop where a local man carves the little toys, and she is now the proud owner of ‘Pino’.

That night we met our friends Irene and Andrew Gray (from Hobart) for dinner. They had flown in from a holiday in the Holy Land to join us on our cruise through the Suez Canal and we were looking forward to our adventures with them on the high seas.

Rome, as always, was magnificent in its history, art, architecture and of course… food!