Dear Passengers,
Thank you for flying Singapore Airlines......for us it was more a case of "Thank you, Singapore Airlines, for flying" ...........
We got to the airport around 7.45, having left at 7.15am from the apartment , our driver having agreed to come earlier. What we were totally unaware of though was that the clocks went back as the end of the Italian daylight savings period was last night. Fortunately, we use the blackberry as an alarm clock and it automatically adjusted otherwise we might have missed the flight. Why? Because we had to check in and claim VAT on our shopping purchases to get the refund. And nothing about Italian bureaucracy is simple, easy or even able to be understood.
You go to your check in counter - no problem. You get your bags tagged and boarding pass, - no problems here either but then you ask for your bags back. You then have to schlepp them to another end of the airport where customs officers then checks your receipts and claim forms and if you are lucky, they will stamp them for you. However, they can, at will, have you open up your well packed luggage and get you to show them each and every purchase you have made that reconciles with the receipts you are seeking to claim against. So you can see that this can take a while. I would hasten to add that where you are claiming a VAT refund for hand held or carry-on items, then this is a different and SEPARATE system, queue and process altogether!! And of course, we had both (stuff in cases & hand held stuff) didn't we.......
So here we were at the airport on time with ample time to participate in this bloody charade of an employment scheme. We must have earnt some kind of goodwill credits from visiting all these god places, because St Christopher, the Patron Saint of Travellers was looking after us this morning.
Not only did the customs officer not rifle through our unmentionables before a travelling collective of the world's populations, in search of proof that we were trying to single handedly bring down the Italian economy by ripping them off a coup,e of hundred euros, but he also stamped both our luggage based claims and our carry-on based claims. This small but immensely satisfying victory against bureaucracy put us in a stellar mood so that we could even ignore how vile the airport food tasted!! However, that's not the end of the process.
From there, you take your suitcases back to the check in counter, they get put on the conveyor belt and you then proceed to the international departure lounge for clearance through customs, which takes an eternity as few staff are on Sunday mornings and then you proceed to another extremity of the airport to claim your refund- only to find that the Government uses different agencies to process different claims from different stores. So you have twelve claims say and you have to queue up three times with the different agencies to get all twelve processed. And people wander why Italy is in a mess!!!!!
Thankfully we had allowed enough time to play this ridiculous game so we got our refunds but honestly folks, if we had not purchased as much as what we have, it's not worth the grief.
We are now mid flight and I am getting tired although we still have some hours remaining on our first leg. But there is a rainbow to all this - Changing Airport and Dutyfree awaits.
Well, Folks, now here at Changi Airport at 7am waiting for our next flight having learnt that Q will be back in the air starting 2pm on Monday afternoon. We are a bit tired but not too bad. Looking forward to being at home with the puppies and in our own place by tonight. May even venture outfit a flutter tomorrow!
Lots a
Kelly and Siobhan xx
Sweet dreams
Kelly & Siobhan
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Arriverderci Roma.......Maybe
Dear Stranded Commuters,
The day started with a fair amount of uncertainty as to how long we would be here. The Age updates were telling us that the special hearings before FWA hadn't drawn any conclusion to the dispute and that more were scheduled for Sunday afternoon Melbourne time. The cessation of all flights and the lockout made the news here, even the local radio stations covered it.
We booked our driver for 10.45 am the next day on the assumption that at the very least we would still make it to Heathrow (as Qantas use British Airways for this first leg) on our 5pm flight and we could then get some place to stay if we were unable to go any further. So out we went and stumbled across this fantastic shop that had an amazing range of clothing. I think that I could scientifically prove that the stress of not knowing one's destination can be offset by some targeted retail therapy.
We headed to Campo di Fiori for some photo ops as they have a lovely food market there. We decided to go against our cardinal rule of never eating on a square or piazza because the food is usually tourist rubbish that is overpriced and dumbed down. But we lucked it big time with a place called Mercato that served up a brilliant leek, speck and peccorino pizza, a beetroot and goat's cheese salad and a gorgeous white from Alto Adige. The only downside were our neighbors to our immediate left. They were like straight out of an episode of The Hills and like, were like, so bloody painful, like, I just couldn't, like, bear it anymore !!!!!
After lunch we indulged in a beautiful gelato from Grom - a new contender in the gelati market and just gorgeous. They have shops in Florence and Rome and if we could import, we would, it's heaven. Even better than the place in East Brunswick at top end of Lygon street. A very slick outfit outfit it is too - all organic and cleverly designed. Unlike our experience the day before, when stopping into a local bar near San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter's in Chains), we were standing enjoying our coffee and cake at the bar when an all out verbal slanging match between the lady serving behind the counter and waiter tending tables outside the shop, broke out.
In between slamming food and plates onto the glass counter top, this largish and loud woman did not stop to draw breath as she shouted abuse at this waiter at the top of her voice in a constant diatribe. Her colleague at the other end of the counter working the coffee machine, refused to be drawn into the fray and his expression didn't even change - giving Siobhan and I cause to consider that maybe this kind of scene was not that unusual. We seemed to be the only ones amazed by the ruckus. The regulars didn't even look up from drinking their coffee..........and then we found out why.
The waiter outside was having a whale of a time baiting this lady and he kept on goading her, until she finally exploded and scooped up some cakes from the counter and proceeded to pelt him with them.....we would have paid twice the price for this kind of entertainment. As we were leaving (most reluctantly), the waiter turns to us and says "she's crazy woman, crazy woman" we laugh and then we hear her start up again so we kept moving just to be sure to stay out of pitching range! But I digress....
On what is our scheduled last day, we trawled through every shoe shop in search of some good Italian shoes and you are not going to believe us but we could hardly find any whatsoever. Of course there is the high end stuff but one can hardly spend over $1,000 per pair on each pair of shoes - well, actually this one could, but decided against it. We had not brought lovely Bruno Maglio shoes just outside of Florence thinking we would see similar in Rome but no such luck. They are boot crazy here with casual flat boots or low heels and fur trims being HUGE. And they aren't that nice but are that brushed leather stuff.
The look for this coming winter is all natural colours of browns, taupes, light greys and a bit of burnt orange and is all soft knits, t-shirts cut on the bias and draped layers that you wear over leggings or fitted jeans, with the legs tucked into said boots. It is totally de rigeur! It's kind of a soft or herbal rock chick look. Oh, and everybody, without exception, wears the linen or cashmere scarf looped deliberately casually around one's neck. Even the nonnas are into the look. On men it is an absolute must.
We took our purchases off home after a mid-afternoon bevie and packed them in readiness. On our way home, organ music draws us into a little church in a side street. The church, L'organa di Sant Antonio dei Portoghesi was this incredible surprise even to us now having seen probably 17million churches ( and that was just in our 10 days in Rome!!!!!!) I am strongly of the view that there are more religious places of worship in Italy than there are people. But this little church was so beautifully decorated in different hues of marble, gilt and frescoes and when combined with candlelight and organ music, we were transfixed. A stunning end to our foray into religious iconography!
We headed to a lovely local restaurant that provides a complimentary Prosecco and we enjoy what may be our "last supper" in Italy. During dinner, Ty calls and advises us that he has booked us on a flight to Singapore leaving at 11am the next morning and then another flight to Melbourne after a three hour stopover. I cannot tell you how grateful we were for Ty's assistance and efforts. All going well we will be back in Melbourne late Monday evening so we can see Dad and catch up with everyone after jet lag has paid us a visit.
Here's to Flying Friendly Skies
Kelly & Siobhan
The day started with a fair amount of uncertainty as to how long we would be here. The Age updates were telling us that the special hearings before FWA hadn't drawn any conclusion to the dispute and that more were scheduled for Sunday afternoon Melbourne time. The cessation of all flights and the lockout made the news here, even the local radio stations covered it.
We booked our driver for 10.45 am the next day on the assumption that at the very least we would still make it to Heathrow (as Qantas use British Airways for this first leg) on our 5pm flight and we could then get some place to stay if we were unable to go any further. So out we went and stumbled across this fantastic shop that had an amazing range of clothing. I think that I could scientifically prove that the stress of not knowing one's destination can be offset by some targeted retail therapy.
We headed to Campo di Fiori for some photo ops as they have a lovely food market there. We decided to go against our cardinal rule of never eating on a square or piazza because the food is usually tourist rubbish that is overpriced and dumbed down. But we lucked it big time with a place called Mercato that served up a brilliant leek, speck and peccorino pizza, a beetroot and goat's cheese salad and a gorgeous white from Alto Adige. The only downside were our neighbors to our immediate left. They were like straight out of an episode of The Hills and like, were like, so bloody painful, like, I just couldn't, like, bear it anymore !!!!!
After lunch we indulged in a beautiful gelato from Grom - a new contender in the gelati market and just gorgeous. They have shops in Florence and Rome and if we could import, we would, it's heaven. Even better than the place in East Brunswick at top end of Lygon street. A very slick outfit outfit it is too - all organic and cleverly designed. Unlike our experience the day before, when stopping into a local bar near San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter's in Chains), we were standing enjoying our coffee and cake at the bar when an all out verbal slanging match between the lady serving behind the counter and waiter tending tables outside the shop, broke out.
In between slamming food and plates onto the glass counter top, this largish and loud woman did not stop to draw breath as she shouted abuse at this waiter at the top of her voice in a constant diatribe. Her colleague at the other end of the counter working the coffee machine, refused to be drawn into the fray and his expression didn't even change - giving Siobhan and I cause to consider that maybe this kind of scene was not that unusual. We seemed to be the only ones amazed by the ruckus. The regulars didn't even look up from drinking their coffee..........and then we found out why.
The waiter outside was having a whale of a time baiting this lady and he kept on goading her, until she finally exploded and scooped up some cakes from the counter and proceeded to pelt him with them.....we would have paid twice the price for this kind of entertainment. As we were leaving (most reluctantly), the waiter turns to us and says "she's crazy woman, crazy woman" we laugh and then we hear her start up again so we kept moving just to be sure to stay out of pitching range! But I digress....
On what is our scheduled last day, we trawled through every shoe shop in search of some good Italian shoes and you are not going to believe us but we could hardly find any whatsoever. Of course there is the high end stuff but one can hardly spend over $1,000 per pair on each pair of shoes - well, actually this one could, but decided against it. We had not brought lovely Bruno Maglio shoes just outside of Florence thinking we would see similar in Rome but no such luck. They are boot crazy here with casual flat boots or low heels and fur trims being HUGE. And they aren't that nice but are that brushed leather stuff.
The look for this coming winter is all natural colours of browns, taupes, light greys and a bit of burnt orange and is all soft knits, t-shirts cut on the bias and draped layers that you wear over leggings or fitted jeans, with the legs tucked into said boots. It is totally de rigeur! It's kind of a soft or herbal rock chick look. Oh, and everybody, without exception, wears the linen or cashmere scarf looped deliberately casually around one's neck. Even the nonnas are into the look. On men it is an absolute must.
We took our purchases off home after a mid-afternoon bevie and packed them in readiness. On our way home, organ music draws us into a little church in a side street. The church, L'organa di Sant Antonio dei Portoghesi was this incredible surprise even to us now having seen probably 17million churches ( and that was just in our 10 days in Rome!!!!!!) I am strongly of the view that there are more religious places of worship in Italy than there are people. But this little church was so beautifully decorated in different hues of marble, gilt and frescoes and when combined with candlelight and organ music, we were transfixed. A stunning end to our foray into religious iconography!
We headed to a lovely local restaurant that provides a complimentary Prosecco and we enjoy what may be our "last supper" in Italy. During dinner, Ty calls and advises us that he has booked us on a flight to Singapore leaving at 11am the next morning and then another flight to Melbourne after a three hour stopover. I cannot tell you how grateful we were for Ty's assistance and efforts. All going well we will be back in Melbourne late Monday evening so we can see Dad and catch up with everyone after jet lag has paid us a visit.
Here's to Flying Friendly Skies
Kelly & Siobhan
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Lost in Transit..........
Dear Frequent Flyers,
Woke to a text from Dad saying he had been discharged and was at home. So called him immediately only to also find out that Qantas has grounded all flights as part of the dispute with some of their unions over their new enterprise agreement- great!
Ty will be able to let us know more when he gets to work but we are booked, through Qantas on a BA flight from Rome to Heathrow tomorrow (5 pm our time) and then a Qantas flight from Heathrow to Melbourne. I sincerely hope that we don't have to live at Heathrow airport for days on end......we will end up being some poor facsimile of an episode of "Come Fly With Me"
We are already in that psychological place of having ended our trip and just want to get on with it, so we will do our last minute shopping today and wait to hear whether it is better to stay in Rome, or to book our driver to Rome airport and catch the first leg to Heathrow but as we will have cleared customs, will that mean we have to stay at Heathrow ? anyway, Ty may be able to advise us on the best course of action.
Will keep you posted. In the meantime, the lovely Lexine has headed to Thornbury to look after the puppies so all good from that end. W e are very fortunate to have such great people around us !!!!!!
Here's to being Airborne!!
Kelly & Siobhan
Xx
Woke to a text from Dad saying he had been discharged and was at home. So called him immediately only to also find out that Qantas has grounded all flights as part of the dispute with some of their unions over their new enterprise agreement- great!
Ty will be able to let us know more when he gets to work but we are booked, through Qantas on a BA flight from Rome to Heathrow tomorrow (5 pm our time) and then a Qantas flight from Heathrow to Melbourne. I sincerely hope that we don't have to live at Heathrow airport for days on end......we will end up being some poor facsimile of an episode of "Come Fly With Me"
We are already in that psychological place of having ended our trip and just want to get on with it, so we will do our last minute shopping today and wait to hear whether it is better to stay in Rome, or to book our driver to Rome airport and catch the first leg to Heathrow but as we will have cleared customs, will that mean we have to stay at Heathrow ? anyway, Ty may be able to advise us on the best course of action.
Will keep you posted. In the meantime, the lovely Lexine has headed to Thornbury to look after the puppies so all good from that end. W e are very fortunate to have such great people around us !!!!!!
Here's to being Airborne!!
Kelly & Siobhan
Xx
Moses, Chains and More Shopping
Dear Fashionistas,
We headed to San Pietro in Vincoli which means St Peter in Chains, a small basilica near the Colosseum where you can see a large statue of Moses done by Michaelangelo. This statue was meant to be one of 40 figures that was going to be a tomb for the reigning Pope of the day but he was called on by his patron to ditch that and paint the Sistine Chapel and then the Final Judgement wall painting hence the entire funeral piece was never completed and the Moses statue was installed at this basilica, so called because in a locked glass casket on the alter, are the alleged chains that held St Peter both in Jerusalem and again here in Rome prior to his crucifixion.
From here we headed back into the main part of town to wander. There was a huge crowd of what appeared like union members from all overItaly, Parma, Puglia, Naples, and all we carrying flags, wearing caps and scarfs and bandanas with the same logo. They were demonstrating in the streets near Parliament and were creating quite a racket using whistles which is the protest rally tool of choice with the Italians. Then they all neatly packed up and headed off for a long leisurely lunching At osterias and trattorias across the capital!! We didn't get any sense of danger as protestors were all ages and included children and much older citizens alike.
We spent the day doing some shopping and then headed home to start getting our packing into shape. Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and we will need a small carry on bag and some other small items. With our packing as near sorted as possible, we headed out for a lovely dinner.
Sleep well
Kelly & Siobhan
Xxx
We headed to San Pietro in Vincoli which means St Peter in Chains, a small basilica near the Colosseum where you can see a large statue of Moses done by Michaelangelo. This statue was meant to be one of 40 figures that was going to be a tomb for the reigning Pope of the day but he was called on by his patron to ditch that and paint the Sistine Chapel and then the Final Judgement wall painting hence the entire funeral piece was never completed and the Moses statue was installed at this basilica, so called because in a locked glass casket on the alter, are the alleged chains that held St Peter both in Jerusalem and again here in Rome prior to his crucifixion.
From here we headed back into the main part of town to wander. There was a huge crowd of what appeared like union members from all overItaly, Parma, Puglia, Naples, and all we carrying flags, wearing caps and scarfs and bandanas with the same logo. They were demonstrating in the streets near Parliament and were creating quite a racket using whistles which is the protest rally tool of choice with the Italians. Then they all neatly packed up and headed off for a long leisurely lunching At osterias and trattorias across the capital!! We didn't get any sense of danger as protestors were all ages and included children and much older citizens alike.
We spent the day doing some shopping and then headed home to start getting our packing into shape. Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and we will need a small carry on bag and some other small items. With our packing as near sorted as possible, we headed out for a lovely dinner.
Sleep well
Kelly & Siobhan
Xxx
Friday, 28 October 2011
Michaelangelo's Dome & a Sanctuary for a Fugitive Pope
Dear Stair Masters,
Back at the Big V to complete our tour of St Peter's Basilica and to climb the Dome due to the inconvenient scheduling of a Cardinal's Mass - like they don't go every day as it is anyway!!!!!
So we catch a lift which takes us to a third of the height of the church and the beginning of the Dome which is twice the height again. From here we have to come out of the lift to this outside area that has restrooms, a souvenier shop (natch) and a small cafe high high up on the flat roof of the Vatican surrounding the Dome. This area is now fenced quite highly as many people were committing suicide off the building which makes for a hazardous St Peter's Square down below!! Once here, we had to enter into the Dome structure itself and climb 320 steps. It was murder. The climb was steep and the passageway narrow but it was a once in a life time thing that we had to do. I can't tell you how grateful we were that we no longer smoked!! Once outside and on top of the Dome or Cuppola we could see forever albeit a tad obscured by the Roman Smog. Although only 3 million citizens, Rome, like Melbourne, has one of the largest urban sprawls. The Cuppola provided us with a very unique view of the Rome skyline.
The Church architect was Michaelangelo even though he was a sculptor and had never designed a building before - a man of many firsts! He died at 89 when the Dome was only just beginning to be built. The current design is not his original design, some Pope some hundred years later wanted the front end extended so it could be the biggest in the world and this is why you can't see the beautiful Dome as well as Michaelanglo intended.
The artwork in the church with the exception of MA's Pieter is copies of stuff onto hard plaster so it can be washed down regularly and that's why people are able to take photos here. The Pieter ( a beautiful statute of Mary and the dying Jesus) completed by MA when he was only 23 and unknown and finished it within a year, is now behind glass in the Basilica because some nutter in 1972 took to it with a hammer and lopped off J's hand and Mary's nose. Like the guy did with the David statue. Apparently they get a lot of that over here. The other day one bloke climbed the columns in St Peter's Square and burnt a bible while yelling at the crowds below. Never dull.
From here we walked a short distance to the Castello San D'angelo, so named because the Archeangel allegedly made an appearance here and ceased the plague in the 14th century that was wiping out the city's population. This fortified castle has a very high wall with a walkway that adjoins the castle to the Vatican and when some nasty Roman Emperor, Charles 1 invaded and overtook the capital in what is know as the Sack of Rome, the incumbent Pope Clement ( an indecisive and weak Pope who was in charge when Henry VIII was also trying to divorce his first wife, Katherine,) ran this wall and holed up in the Castle. Sounds good in theory but then Charles merely starved the old bloke out til he surrendered anyway. The wonderfully evil and corrupt Borgia Pope, Alessandro VI, had fortified this castle in his time a hundred years earlier, no doubt fully aware that with friends like he had, he didn't need to bother about his enemies. It is a fascinating place and was a great surprise to us.
After a Nonna nap we headed out for a terrific dinner at a place called Etabli - very North Fitzroyesque vibe with great food. Then to bed to rest weary legs.
Good cardiovascular health to you all
Kelly & Siobhan xxx
Back at the Big V to complete our tour of St Peter's Basilica and to climb the Dome due to the inconvenient scheduling of a Cardinal's Mass - like they don't go every day as it is anyway!!!!!
So we catch a lift which takes us to a third of the height of the church and the beginning of the Dome which is twice the height again. From here we have to come out of the lift to this outside area that has restrooms, a souvenier shop (natch) and a small cafe high high up on the flat roof of the Vatican surrounding the Dome. This area is now fenced quite highly as many people were committing suicide off the building which makes for a hazardous St Peter's Square down below!! Once here, we had to enter into the Dome structure itself and climb 320 steps. It was murder. The climb was steep and the passageway narrow but it was a once in a life time thing that we had to do. I can't tell you how grateful we were that we no longer smoked!! Once outside and on top of the Dome or Cuppola we could see forever albeit a tad obscured by the Roman Smog. Although only 3 million citizens, Rome, like Melbourne, has one of the largest urban sprawls. The Cuppola provided us with a very unique view of the Rome skyline.
The Church architect was Michaelangelo even though he was a sculptor and had never designed a building before - a man of many firsts! He died at 89 when the Dome was only just beginning to be built. The current design is not his original design, some Pope some hundred years later wanted the front end extended so it could be the biggest in the world and this is why you can't see the beautiful Dome as well as Michaelanglo intended.
The artwork in the church with the exception of MA's Pieter is copies of stuff onto hard plaster so it can be washed down regularly and that's why people are able to take photos here. The Pieter ( a beautiful statute of Mary and the dying Jesus) completed by MA when he was only 23 and unknown and finished it within a year, is now behind glass in the Basilica because some nutter in 1972 took to it with a hammer and lopped off J's hand and Mary's nose. Like the guy did with the David statue. Apparently they get a lot of that over here. The other day one bloke climbed the columns in St Peter's Square and burnt a bible while yelling at the crowds below. Never dull.
From here we walked a short distance to the Castello San D'angelo, so named because the Archeangel allegedly made an appearance here and ceased the plague in the 14th century that was wiping out the city's population. This fortified castle has a very high wall with a walkway that adjoins the castle to the Vatican and when some nasty Roman Emperor, Charles 1 invaded and overtook the capital in what is know as the Sack of Rome, the incumbent Pope Clement ( an indecisive and weak Pope who was in charge when Henry VIII was also trying to divorce his first wife, Katherine,) ran this wall and holed up in the Castle. Sounds good in theory but then Charles merely starved the old bloke out til he surrendered anyway. The wonderfully evil and corrupt Borgia Pope, Alessandro VI, had fortified this castle in his time a hundred years earlier, no doubt fully aware that with friends like he had, he didn't need to bother about his enemies. It is a fascinating place and was a great surprise to us.
After a Nonna nap we headed out for a terrific dinner at a place called Etabli - very North Fitzroyesque vibe with great food. Then to bed to rest weary legs.
Good cardiovascular health to you all
Kelly & Siobhan xxx
Copyright on the Sistine Chapel & an Audience with Pope Bono
Dear Faithful Followers,
Something I forgot to add after our day at the Sistine Chapel...... Did you know that Nikon, the Japanese camera company own the copyright to the artwork of the Sistine Chapel? Apparently in the late 70's or 80's Nikon paid the Catholic Church €18million to cover the cost of cleaning the chapel of candle soot and stuff and in return got the copyright !!!!! Now every time you see a picture of this place Nikon have benefitted !!!
Also another interesting fact, back in the day of Pope Julius and his uncle, the pope before him, some bloke called Pope Severis Sette, around 15 and 16 hundreds, they were short a few quid so they worked out a slight twist on the already accepted practice of making a donation for sins you HAD committed by way of atonement and forgiveness. Instead these two enterprising dudes decided you could buy Sin Insurance , whereby for a determined amount, paid by you to the Church, you could commit adultery, theft or murder and be re-assured of your place in heaven because you had the foresight to have taken out the comprehensive cover and could sin with impunity knowing that the Pope had absolved you of your crimes and sins in advance!!!! Our modern day entrepreneurs have got nothing on these blokes. What good and saintly men they were in the execution of their power!!!
With these fascinating facts swirling in our head we headed to our audience with the Pope- his weekly blessing of everyone at Saint Peter's Square. They have an amazing sound system that was playing beautiful music in the lead up to his appearance - very dramatic. There were a number of newlyweds in their recent wedding attire who if applying before hand, with proof of their recent marriage can get to sit up front near the main man. However, unlike the recently beatified Pope John Paul, who is on his way to Sainthood, the new bloke no longer individually blesses recently marrieds - apparently and I can't take this as fact, never having met the guy personally, but he isn't as sweet as the previous CEO of the Church. The gardeners made John Paul, a special praying place out of a beautiful old tree trunk because he used to come to the garden and pray as he loved being in nature but the new bloke insisted on a marble arrangement that is very grand. I think he likes the trappings of office with all the fancy bling and frocks very much and is less humble fisherman CEO and more of the Donald Trump/Sylvio Berlesconi ilk!!
And when he emerged , goodness, what a rockstar!!! Came out with the hands above the head like Bono at a U2 concert - did the whole 360 degree "I am here" "it's me you came to see" kind of thing, and the people - particularly the Germans went mad for him !!!!! It was all a bit much quite frankly! But we got our rosary beads blessed for Joyce, Dad and Margaret so that was the main thing.
I tried to buy some of that Sin Insurance because it is bound to come in handy when i return to work and may not be myusual serene self, but Pope Benny wouldn't be in it!!! So off to a great lunch at a place called Il Mattricianella- a long standing slow food trattoria that was simply heaven. Then more shopping.
Bless you my children
Kelly & Siobhan
Something I forgot to add after our day at the Sistine Chapel...... Did you know that Nikon, the Japanese camera company own the copyright to the artwork of the Sistine Chapel? Apparently in the late 70's or 80's Nikon paid the Catholic Church €18million to cover the cost of cleaning the chapel of candle soot and stuff and in return got the copyright !!!!! Now every time you see a picture of this place Nikon have benefitted !!!
Also another interesting fact, back in the day of Pope Julius and his uncle, the pope before him, some bloke called Pope Severis Sette, around 15 and 16 hundreds, they were short a few quid so they worked out a slight twist on the already accepted practice of making a donation for sins you HAD committed by way of atonement and forgiveness. Instead these two enterprising dudes decided you could buy Sin Insurance , whereby for a determined amount, paid by you to the Church, you could commit adultery, theft or murder and be re-assured of your place in heaven because you had the foresight to have taken out the comprehensive cover and could sin with impunity knowing that the Pope had absolved you of your crimes and sins in advance!!!! Our modern day entrepreneurs have got nothing on these blokes. What good and saintly men they were in the execution of their power!!!
With these fascinating facts swirling in our head we headed to our audience with the Pope- his weekly blessing of everyone at Saint Peter's Square. They have an amazing sound system that was playing beautiful music in the lead up to his appearance - very dramatic. There were a number of newlyweds in their recent wedding attire who if applying before hand, with proof of their recent marriage can get to sit up front near the main man. However, unlike the recently beatified Pope John Paul, who is on his way to Sainthood, the new bloke no longer individually blesses recently marrieds - apparently and I can't take this as fact, never having met the guy personally, but he isn't as sweet as the previous CEO of the Church. The gardeners made John Paul, a special praying place out of a beautiful old tree trunk because he used to come to the garden and pray as he loved being in nature but the new bloke insisted on a marble arrangement that is very grand. I think he likes the trappings of office with all the fancy bling and frocks very much and is less humble fisherman CEO and more of the Donald Trump/Sylvio Berlesconi ilk!!
And when he emerged , goodness, what a rockstar!!! Came out with the hands above the head like Bono at a U2 concert - did the whole 360 degree "I am here" "it's me you came to see" kind of thing, and the people - particularly the Germans went mad for him !!!!! It was all a bit much quite frankly! But we got our rosary beads blessed for Joyce, Dad and Margaret so that was the main thing.
I tried to buy some of that Sin Insurance because it is bound to come in handy when i return to work and may not be myusual serene self, but Pope Benny wouldn't be in it!!! So off to a great lunch at a place called Il Mattricianella- a long standing slow food trattoria that was simply heaven. Then more shopping.
Bless you my children
Kelly & Siobhan
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Garden of Eden oops I mean Vatican and Back to the Colosseum
Dear Garden Lovers,
Headed to the Vatican Gardens today. Fifteen full time gardeners keep this place visit-ready should the Pope decide on a breathe of fresh air. Whilst not over fancy or exotic, it is a very nice space with great views of the Dome (better than the front) and a ni e place to retreat from the rigors of waving and blessing the great unwashed.
Here the pope has a helipad- no surprises there but did you know he has his own train station with it's own train that then connects into the European rail system so he can travel to any European city with ease!!!
A recent gift to his garden was a 500 year old olive tree from Jerusalem that was pretty cool!
From there we decided to head back to and inside the Colosseum. It is an awesome building in design and to think it was once encased entirely in white marble, it must have been a most beautiful building at sunrise, sunset and any clear day! Walking around inside you can readily imagine the contests held there and the cheering and participation by the crowds.
From there we headed to look close up at the Roman Forum, Palentine Hill and the many relics throughout. This takes greater imagination but one cannot help be impressed with the level of sophistication and ingenuity that these early civic leaders possessed. It makes us want to watch every cheesy film based around Quo Vadis to get a feel for theopulance and grandeur ! Think Sunday Epic Theatre!!!!!! And Peter Ustinov!
Well that's it for today - tired and overloaded with history we head home . Rain is expected tomorrow so will wait and see what we can get up to. Dad has had his first stage surgery. And he is being bravely resolute and practial about it. I have to say he deals with stuff like this very stoically and sensibly. I admire how he justsgetson withit. They have pinned and screwed his ankle but he will need further surgery on his shattered knee cap. We are still waiting to here where he will do rehab but we will be home this time next week to give him and Margaret a hand.
Don't overreach on ladders!!!
Kelly & Siobhan xxxx
Headed to the Vatican Gardens today. Fifteen full time gardeners keep this place visit-ready should the Pope decide on a breathe of fresh air. Whilst not over fancy or exotic, it is a very nice space with great views of the Dome (better than the front) and a ni e place to retreat from the rigors of waving and blessing the great unwashed.
Here the pope has a helipad- no surprises there but did you know he has his own train station with it's own train that then connects into the European rail system so he can travel to any European city with ease!!!
A recent gift to his garden was a 500 year old olive tree from Jerusalem that was pretty cool!
From there we decided to head back to and inside the Colosseum. It is an awesome building in design and to think it was once encased entirely in white marble, it must have been a most beautiful building at sunrise, sunset and any clear day! Walking around inside you can readily imagine the contests held there and the cheering and participation by the crowds.
From there we headed to look close up at the Roman Forum, Palentine Hill and the many relics throughout. This takes greater imagination but one cannot help be impressed with the level of sophistication and ingenuity that these early civic leaders possessed. It makes us want to watch every cheesy film based around Quo Vadis to get a feel for theopulance and grandeur ! Think Sunday Epic Theatre!!!!!! And Peter Ustinov!
Well that's it for today - tired and overloaded with history we head home . Rain is expected tomorrow so will wait and see what we can get up to. Dad has had his first stage surgery. And he is being bravely resolute and practial about it. I have to say he deals with stuff like this very stoically and sensibly. I admire how he justsgetson withit. They have pinned and screwed his ankle but he will need further surgery on his shattered knee cap. We are still waiting to here where he will do rehab but we will be home this time next week to give him and Margaret a hand.
Don't overreach on ladders!!!
Kelly & Siobhan xxxx
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