Catch up part 2: Ciao Bella!

Apparently I went to Rome. But it's so long ago that I've almost forgotten I was there. It's not actually that long ago, it was 3 weeks. But given work and other stuff it feels a million years since I went. I do find that though, I can do something great, have an amazing time, and within a few days of being back to normality (or something that calls itself normality) in work, and it feels like I'd never been anywhere in my life! 

But, the joys of blogging will allow me to put myself back in wonderful, stunning, interesting, historical (and knackering) Rome. Fancy coming along for the ride? Ah go on. 

I first went to Rome when I was 5. I don't really remember it. I think it was the same holiday in which we went to Pisa, but I'm not sure. I remember Pisa as I was too scared to go up to the top of the Leaning Tower so I stayed on the lower level bit with mum. But I don't really remember Rome, I vaguely remember looking round in The Colosseum and thinking "This is big!" but beyond that, nothing. 

Fast forward 11 years and I'm 16, choosing my A-Levels. I'd done Latin at GCSE, and that class was shared with the Classics class. So during GCSE Latin I'd learnt a bit about Greek and Roman civilisation and mythology, purely by osmosis really. I chose to do Classics at A-Level, or to give it its proper moniker, Classical Civilisations. This encompassed quite a lot, and we covered Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, along with Greek tragedies, Roman satire, Roman annals and various bits of propaganda. We touched a bit on architecture etc but not to an in depth degree. I loved the subject and it was my highest grade at A-level. When the time came to look at universities I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life career wise. I had notions of being a teacher but I don't think I was ever serious about it. But, for various reasons I wanted to leave home, and I genuinely wanted to study Classics further. So I chose to do Classics & English, and after looking at a few institutions  decided upon University of Wales, Lampeter. Never heard of it? Not surprised, but here's a more in depth look at it for you!

So I spent 3 years studying Classics to a fair depth, including Greek and Roman Architecture, Roman Egypt, Roman Emperors and a whole raft of other stuff

All this story telling serves a purpose, it puts into context my interest in Rome, and why I've been dying to go back as an adult. 

Earlier this year, after Jo and I had planned our Spain trip, she mentioned that she was going to Rome in September with Blakey. Blakey is a friend of Jo's, who I've met a few times and we get on great. He's a total mentaller, which would explain why we all get on so well! Cue me inviting myself along on the trip, finding a cheap flight, sorting out accomodation, building an itinerary with the others and counting down the weeks until the trip. 

But, as is my norm, time ran away with me, and about ten days before we were due to leave, it dawned on me we were actually going to Rome. Although we'd built a rough itinerary back in the spring, and we'd booked certain things like the Segway tour and the Vatican tour, we'd not fully planned anything else. This may sound like overkill. We were only going for 4 days, did we really need to plan it so much? Yes. Yes we did. We wanted to see everything we could in those 4 days and that meant having an idea of stuff for each day. 

Jo was a star, she gathered info from Blakey and I, but she ultimately put the trip together in terms of stuff to do. We all had the bits we wanted to see and Jo included them all, in a very logical order, along with some other little bits that she'd unearthed. 

The trip arrived and we headed off. Jo and I were there for a day on our own before Blakey arrived. We didn't waste a second. We literally dumped our stuff in the accommodation and went off wandering. On that first day we left the apartment at 4pm, and got back about 10.30pm I think. 

We wandered round Santa Maria Maggiore, a stones throw from where we were staying. 

Santa Maria Maggiore

Then we pretty much mooched, we had a rough idea of where we wanted to end up, Campo Di Fiori. Our accomodation dude had recommended it for food as somewhere that we could get nice food and not get ripped off. 

As we mooched we fell across stuff. Jo had said she wanted to see Trajan's column. At the end of a street we came out into a little square, and ahead of us was "The Wedding Cake", the Vittorio Emanuele monument. But, right in front of us was a ruin of what looked like a forum. Looking on the map we realised it was Trajan's forum. Jo got excited and exclaimed "Trajan's column must be nearby!". I smiled and said "Erm, Jo, is that it?!, pointing to the huge column right in front of us. Sometimes you can't see for looking....

Vittorio Emanuele monument

Trajan's Column

After a bit more mooching we got to The Pantheon. I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed by this. I'm not sure what I was expecting, and don't get me wrong, it's a stunning building both inside and out architecturally. But, it's no longer a temple, it's a church, and is decorated as such internally, which to me, removes some of the mystique of it. The outside is obviously old, you can imagine how magnificent it looked in its hey day. But the inside is modern and, well, frankly quite gaudy. The inside doesn't match with the outside and I struggled to equate the two. 

The Pantheon

Inside The Pantheon

After the Pantheon we headed to Piazza Navona for a look at the amazing fountains there and to have a drink. It was our first drink in Rome and we paid a higher price because of where we were, in a touristy area, but it was worth it to soak up the atmosphere and take stock of the fact that we were in Rome. in Rome! A place we'd both wanted to go to for years, and it felt very surreal to be there. 

Dinner that night was lovely and we practically rolled home. Well, no, we didn't. We got a taxi because we were so full, and tired. We drove close to the Colosseum and both got rather excited in the cab so see it from a distance all lit up, knowing we'd be seeing it in its full glory the next day. 

Getting up early on the Saturday we jumped on the metro getting off with everyone heading to The Vatican, but we branched off and went to Castel St Angelo, the old Papal Fortress. Almost directly opposite Vatican City and an incredible building. We spent a good few hours in here, it's a bit like a maze and offers some incredible views of the city from the top. As well as some fabulous views of St Peter's Basilica from various points around the building. 

Panorama from the top of Castel St Angelo, hopefully you can zoom into this and see the detail!

View of St Peter's from the top of Castel St Angelo

Saturday afternoon hailed the arrival of Blakey and a trip to the Colosseum and the Forum. I loved the Colosseum, it's incredible. It's quite breathtaking really, the sheer scale of it. And it was only when on the second level that I realised just how magnificent the building is. From the second level you really get a view across the whole building and it's just, well, wow! This experience was marred slightly, or may well have been enhanced, by some American dude saying to his wife "A lot of men died here. A lot of animals slaughtered". Much to the amusement of Jo and Blakey. I unfortunately missed the comment, but it's still funny, and it became our catchphrase for the holiday. 

I must add at this point that it was warm in Rome. It was 32degrees on the day we were in the Colosseum. And there's no shelter. There's also no shelter in the Forum, which is where we headed afterwards. Immediately afterwards. The Forum is quite interesting. I'm sure that it is. But I honestly couldn't tell you much about it, other than that it's hilly. And it points you towards an exit where there isn't an exit. Resulting in a mini breakdown from me that prompted Jo and Blakey to walk off and leave me. 

We trudged round the Forum, barely speaking to each other, not because we were annoyed with one another, but because we were all hot, tired and thirsty. 

The Forum

What happened next none of us are particularly proud of. We headed in the direction of the Pantheon (so Blakey could see it), and fell into the nearest watering hole we could find. Which happened to be an Irish bar. Talk about a cliche. We paid through the nose for 2 pints of lemonade each but after an hour of sitting and rehydration we headed off. 

The rest of the day was lovely, but we walked A LOT. We visited the Trevi Fountain, which is stunning but oh, oh so busy during the day. We managed to throw a coin in the fountain though. Despite being no where near the water. Just lob it over your shoulder and hope you hit the water and not a Japanese tourist. 

Just chuck the coin and hope for the best!

Trevi Fountain

Jo and I both have pedometers on our phones, and during lunch that day we set them. When we got home mine read 25,000 steps, which equated to about 21km. Now, allow for a certain degree of error here as my phone was predominantly in my bag and swung a bit. Having said that though, this was just the afternoon, and didn't take into account the walking that Jo and I had done that morning around Castel St Angelo. I'd say that 21km was probably about right for the day we had. I'm not complaining at all, I might have been a little at the time as my feet were on fire, but it just highlights how much there is to see in the city. The transport in the city is excellent but if you wander around you will see so much without even really trying!

Sunday hailed the Segway tour. Ever been on a Segway? I urge you to. It's like real life Mario Kart. It's a hell of a lot of fun. Jo and I did a tour around Phoenix Park last year, and she'd done one in Berlin too.

4 hours on a Segway, up the ancient Appian way, which is predominantly closed to traffic on a Sunday. We were the only ones on the tour and our guide was great fun. We stopped by the Circus Maximus, and went up to see the Knights of Malta keyhole. Which is as it sounds, it's a keyhole. A keyhole in a doorway, that when looked through frames the dome of St Peters perfectly. It's a lovely sight. Close by is an orange grove that offers great views across the city, looking up the Tiber towards Vatican City. 

Segways!

The afternoon took us to The Spanish Steps and a bit more wandering. We had to be up early the next morning for our Vatican tour so we deliberately took it easy on Saturday night. 

Selfie on The Spanish Steps

Bright and early Monday morning we were up and heading to The Vatican for our private tour. We needed to be there for 9 and although I'd heard about the queues I was surprised at how long the queue was at 8.30 in the morning! We skipped all that though, met our guide and headed inside.

I'll be honest, I was the least bothered of the 3 of us about The Vatican. I'm not a religious person and I didn't have a lot of interest in going. But I realised I was being quite narrow minded and I'd be mad to visit Rome and not go to The Vatican. And the fact we had booked a private tour meant we'd get a personal touch. 

I wouldn't say it blew me away, I have distinctly mixed feelings about The Vatican. On one hand it's great to see all the artifacts in there, the statues and the artwork are incredible. But, on the other hand, a lot of the items in there, have been brought from other countries and civilizations. There have been 266 Popes and each one has added something to The Vatican, be it architecturally, through artwork or through additional artifacts. And the museum is jam packed with all this. Our guide told us it would take 15 years to see everything. That sounds unfathomable, but if you ever go you'll understand. We probably only saw 1 or 2% of the museum in the 3 hours we were there. I did walk around a lot of the time with my mouth open, being amazed at the stuff I was seeing. 

Papal apartment artwork

The artwork is simply incredible, and I've never been into art. The decorations on the walls of the Papal apartments, done by Raphael, are so bright and vivid, it almost doesn't seem real. It was great to see a lot of the statues and various artifacts from all over, although a lot of them seemed to be European in their style; Greek and Roman goddesses and mythological style statues, but there was a slight bittersweet nature to it. Knowing these items were no longer in their original homes. 

Cartography Hall. Stunning ceiling

Maybe I'm being overly sentimental here, there is something to be said for their preservation in the Vatican museum. And it's highly possible my own feelings about the Roman Catholic religion are causing me to think like this. However, it is the way I feel. 

Having said all that though, I did enjoy the Vatican. I'd love to go back without all the crowds (yeah, ok then!) and spend more time wandering round of my own volition. But I've seen it, and I'm glad I have.

Our last evening was spent having another wander, not too far from our apartment, close to the Colosseum. I'd not slept brilliantly most nights so had a nap in the afternoon as Jo and Blakey had a mooch. I met them early evening and we walked round little back streets filled with boutiques and shops full of character. It was like a little Camden. It was lovely and a perfect way to end our trip. We found an amazing pizza place for dinner before walking up to the Colosseum to see it lit up at night. The last walk back to the apartment was a quiet one. We were all exhausted after a great few days, but were all happy with our trip. 

Colosseum at night

In short, I loved Rome. I will go back one day. It's one of my favourite places and was one of my best holidays. There is so much to see, it's not possible to see it all in 4 days. We did a lot, we did a hell of a lot, and saw pretty much everything we wanted to see. Next time I'd like to go without a real agenda, and with a bit more time. Not that I didn't enjoy our agenda, not at all, it was needed and I was glad of the structure. But it was jam packed! It took me a week to get back to normal, but I wouldn't change it for the world. 

In other bits of news, I've recently found out I have an egg intolerance, and a sensitivity to gluten, corn and wheat. I'll expand on how this came about another time, but needless to say my eating habits have changed a fair bit and will continue as such until the new year. I am quite enjoying it though!

I was volunteering last weekend for Open House Dublin, at the only Greek Orthodox Church in Ireland, my first real volunteering 'assignment' and one I'll do again.

Greek Orthodox Church, Stoneybatter

One of the decorative domes in the church

Tomorrow I'm off to Manchester for the weekend for one of my best mate's 40th birthday celebrations. I've known Dan for just over 7 years and he's like a big brother to me. He'll probably hate me describing him like that, but he is. I see him as a male version of me in a way.  Jo (not Rome and Spain Jo!), Dan and I all worked together in 2006 and have stayed close. We're all together this weekend, along with Jo's fiance Chris(a new development that, and guess who's bridesmaid?!), Jo's sister Vikki and her husband Gareth. Carnage will ensue. It always does when we get together! 

As always, until next time, much love!
S
xx

Viva Espana!

I've been meaning to write this post about my trip to Spain for the last two weeks, but true to form, I've just not had the time. But my day today has worked out quieter than planned so I thought I'd take the time to regale you all about the wonderfulness of my holiday, whilst I sit here watching The Jungle Book; a film I'd forgotten how much I loved. Might watch Dumbo next..but, I digress. 

Sometime last year my best friend Jo and I decided we'd like to do a roadtrip of Europe in 2013. We looked at the places we'd like to go and did a bit of planning. But, a few things changed and we realised that it wasn't feasible. Jo's parents have a villa on the Costa Blanca with relatively easy access to Valencia and Granada, both places Jo and I wanted to see. So, back in January we decided that we'd take ten days, hire a car, and do a mini road trip around the south west of Spain. We sorted flights etc and an itinerary of where we'd go, Granada and The Alhambra being an absolute must see. Admittedly more on Jo's part than mine but I was happy enough to go, having heard a little about it. But I'll get to that later. 

Jo and I have been best friends since a fateful night at college when we worked a shift together at the Presidents Ball in our first year (May 2001). I won't go into details but we bonded over something and have pretty much been inseparable since. Having said that, we don't see each other too often. I live in Dublin, she lives in Dubai, and has lived in Bermuda previously. We talk over email or text almost every day though, so even though we might not have seen each other since Aug last year, when we met up in Alicante airport it was as if we'd only seen each other 2 days previously. 

I was looking forward to the holiday for a number of reasons;
1: I love spending time with Jo. It's always hilarious and we're so alike that spending lengths of time together is very easy. 
2: We both desperately needed a break from various things. 
3: I'd never been to any of the places we were going to so it was all new and exciting.
4: I love sunshine (who doesn't!), and although I don't deal well with heat I needed some top up on my freckles!
5: Jo and I going on holiday together has become a bit of a tradition ever since our trip to Egypt in 2007. 

After meeting in the airport, we collected the car and with a bit of a slight detour (no sat nav with the car, thank god for Google Maps on my phone!) we made it to the villa, just outside Torrevieja and so started our ten days of awesomeness. I'm not going to tell you every little detail, but I will run down the highlights of our visits. 

Valencia:
Valencia is about 2 hours north of where we were staying, but again, we took a bit of a detour and ended up driving up the coast, past Benidorm. No biggie, it was a lovely drive and we were in no rush. We found our hotel and headed out to explore after checking in. We were staying right in the centre, close to the Silk Exchange and the Cathedral. I'd not read much about Valencia, and Jo knew more than I did. But, we did the touristy thing and bought a hop on hop off bus ticket. We were both significantly more interested in the older history of the city rather than the newer stuff (a theme with us!), and had picked out some museums we wanted to see. We had a wander round the Silk Exchange, a lovely building, and then headed for the tourist bus. 

Valencia Silk Exchange

What Jo and I didn't factor in was that we'd arrived on a Sunday, and the museum we wanted to see was closed on a Sunday. But, we didn't realise this until we'd gotten off the bus. So we had a 20 min wait for the next bus, before we headed back to the centre and took a wander round the Cathedral. I'm not a religious person, but I quite like visiting churches etc in different parts of the world. Coupled with the fact that The Holy Grail is reportedly housed in Valencia we were eager to take a look. We failed to locate it in the Cathedral, although Jo did find a severed arm! Later that night we headed to one of the big squares to see the Super Moon, but were thwarted by clouds; what are the chances?!
As we headed for the bus the next morning we took a different route and pretty much fell across this little chapel behind the main cathedral. We decided to take a peek inside and discovered it was the Chapel of the Holy Grail! There was a service going on though so we didn't feel comfortable being all touristy with cameras. Decided to head off on the bus and come back later. Bus tour continued...but, we couldn't find one of the museums we wanted and with the same museum we'd tried to visit on Sunday also being closed on Monday, we were losing patience! Topping this off was our return to the Chapel of the Holy Grail only to discover it was also closed. Valencia it seemed, was against us. 
There was nothing else we wanted to do so we collected the car and drove back to the villa. 
Valencia is a beautiful city, with some stunning architecture and some real character. I was slightly disappointed we didn't get to see all the stuff we wanted to. But, it was enjoyable nonetheless. 
We had one day back in the villa before heading to Granada on Tuesday. 

Granada:
Granada was the biggest thing we were doing on the trip and we'd planned it well. We'd booked the tickets for the Alhambra for the Weds morning and wanted to explore the city on the Tues afternoon/evening.  It was a fair drive from the villa, 3.5 hours so we knew we'd have to leave earlyish to make sure we had enough time to do what we wanted. The drive was a long one but it was stunning, genuinely stunning. Driving through 2 national parks, one being Sierra Nevada, I was continually aghast at the scenery and taking lots of pics from the car as Jo drove. 

Sierra Nevada mountains (excuse the bug spatters on the windscreen!)

Arriving in Granada we tracked down our hotel (which I'd highly recommend by the way! http://www.hotelzaguan.com/indexingles.html), and went a-wandering. We'd booked a walking tour in the evening at 8pm and figured we'd do the bus tour and have a wander round the Cathedral. 

I came to Granada knowing very very little about the history, so when Jo  and I entered a little chapel and she let out a little squeal of excitement on reading the pamplet, I wondered what was going on. In very hushed and excited tones she told me that the chapel we were in was the final resting place of Ferdinand and Isabella. I admit I looked at her blankly but she explained who they were and I realised her excitement. Although not as excited myself I could understand why she was excited and there was a certain atmosphere in the chapel which I found rather emotive. The chapel itself is simple enough but quite beautiful at the same time. We weren't allowed to take pics so I have none to show you. 

After doing the bus tour we realised we only had 40 minutes before we had to be on the walking tour. It was a free tour and would have been 3 hours. But, we didn't fancy rushing dinner and decided to forego the walking tour and continue to wander at our own leisure before finding food. Directly opposite the royal chapel was a small entrance to something, we didn't know what, but we paid €2 each and wandered in. We were pleasantly surprised to find two utterly beautiful rooms in a stately home, shown to us by a local guide. The first room was very Arabian in its decoration and I was amazed at the intricacies of the decoration. The second room was now a lecture room used by the University but it had the most spectacular wooden ceiling. The photos of both these rooms do not do them justice. Jo and I both said that the viewing of that house alone made missing the walking tour worthwhile. 

Arabian decoration

Amazing wooden ceiling, it smelt incredible!

After sourcing some food and some utterly delicious churros, we headed to bed, knowing we'd have to be up bright and early for our trip up the Alhambra. We were leaving at 7.15am so needed rest. 

Churros!

I knew very little about the Alhambra, apart from the fact it was a Moorish fortress and had Catholic parts to it. I'd never even seen pictures of it, Jo had offered to show me some but I wanted to see it first hand. We collected our tickets and after waiting a bit were allowed into the complex. It was 8.15am when we walked through the gate and the temperature was just starting to rise. Although most of the complex is free for you to roam around, one part, the most restored part, the Nasrid Palaces, only allows a certain number of people so you have to go at your allocated time. Our time was 9am, so we strolled down and hung around before we entered the palaces. 

It's difficult to describe the utter beauty of the Nasrid palaces. Arabian in their decoration, the intricacy really has to be seen to be believed. Water is a common theme throughout, having been Muslim places of worship. I took a multitude of photographs and although you get the general gist from them, I recommend a visit. It's simply breathtaking. 

The rest of the Alhambra complex consists of the Alcazabar, the top of which offers gorgeous panoramic views of Granada and the Sierra Nevada mountains. And the Generalife Gardens and Palace. The Generalife palace is beautiful but in a very different way to the Nasrid palaces. It's Catholic in origin so very differently decorated but offers stunning views across to the Nasrid palaces and over the valley. 

Generalife Palace

View from the top of the Alcazabar

After 3 hours of wandering we headed back to the city centre on the bus. We'd been told to go up to Mirador San Nicolas by the lady in our hotel, as it offered amazing views of The Alhambra from the other side of the valley. So we got on another bus and headed up the other side of the valley. At the risk of sounding repetitive, oh my word, the views were stunning!! Standing in this little square, looking across the valley and seeing the entire Alhambra, where we'd been only 30mins before was rather emotive, helped also by the snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. Truly fabulous and a wonderful way to finish off our Granadian visit. 

The Alhambra from Mirador San Nicolas. Pic does not do it justice.

Because the trip back to the villa was a fair way, we'd arranged a stop off about half way, in a little coastal town called Almeria. Not much to see, it's a little off the beaten track and isn't known for tourists, but it allowed us to get a well needed rest after a fabulous but exhausting morning in Granada. I think we were both in bed by 9pm that night, and we slept until 9am the next morning. 

We took a trip up the Almeria Alcazabar, which offered lovely views over the town and was a mix of the restored gardens, the existing fortress and an archaeological site for the yet to be uncovered stuff. 

Almeria Alcazabar

Arriving back at the villa we had planned to take a trip to nearby Cartagena on the Friday for a trip to the Roman ruins but we were both so exhausted from the trip to Granada, and the knock on tiredness from Valencia that we sacked Cartagena off and spent 3 days resting by the pool and drinking in the local pub in the evening. A great way to end of the holiday, allowing us both to wind down and enjoy some quality relaxation time before we went our separate ways and traveled home. 

I loved every second of the holiday. It was great to see Jo and spend some time together and the sights we saw together just topped it off. 

I'd highly recommend Granada to anyone, it's full of character and the Alhambra really is breathtaking. 

As for upcoming plans, I'm home next weekend for a family dinner for Sarah's 40th, then I'm with college friends in Romford, then I'm seeing another very good friend, her baby, another close friend and my godson...then I have a friends wedding in Co Wicklow. 

All super exciting events coming up. Although I sometimes despair at the busyness of my social life, I love that I have it at the same time. 

So, until next time folks, stay happy, enjoy the summer, don't forget the suncream and don't do anything I wouldn't. 

Much love. 

Sandra. 

xx