Last Day In Italy - A Walk Along The Tiber River

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Although we have been quite busy the last few days here in Rome there was just one more historical item we wanted to check off the list, a walk along the Tiber River.  The Tiber River runs through the city and is crossed by many bridges.  The last one we would cross on this walk was built in 62 BCE and is still in use today.

The Tiber (Tibur or today Tivoli) is the third longest river and it flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea.  It was used as far back as the 5th century BC.  Ships would sail up the river as far as 100 km carrying grain and later timber and stone.  Homes for the wealthy were built on its banks as well.  Now that we have been to Pompeii we can imagine what the banks of the Tiber looked like in the 1st century.

There are also restaurants, bars, and some pretty good sized homes floating on the Tiber or docked alongside.  I checked the requirements for houseboats and they are very extensive and the permits cost quite a bit.

Of course, popes were involved in the improvements over the 17th and 18th centuries.  Silt build up kept it from maintaining its usefulness.  Under the supervision of the popes, dredging and shoring up embankments took place.

Romans were responsible for creating sewage connections to the river and also bringing water into the center of Rome.  (I see some conflict of interest there, yuck!).

Today the river is used for tourism.  Boats with bars, kayakers, and even homes are docked along the sides of the Tiber.  Some of the homes are quite impressive.  I did a search to see what was required to have a home on the water.  A long list of building restrictions, permits, and authorizations are needed not to mention lots of money.

This bridge goes to the Castle Sant Angelo.  It was originally built for the emperor Hadrian.  He planned it as a mausoleum for his family.  Later the popes took over and used it as a castle and fortress.

 

You can see Saint Peter's Basilica around the bend.

Flooding was very common and many times changes were made to the river and its banks to reduce the damage.  In the mid-1800s, major public works took place to create the walls which line the banks of the river today.  While we were there we saw crews in different areas doing maintenance to the walls and in some places where the very wide walkways were caving due to the heavy floods that took place from the north the weeks we were on the road.  

You can see that graffiti artists will go to any length to leave their mark.  Around the center tower below, they have found a way to crawl down and do their dirty work.

The graffiti in all the major Italian cities is some of the worst we have ever seen.  It doesn't seem to matter whether or not it is an historic building, monument, well to do neighborhood or not.  In the areas around Caesar's Forum, the Colosseum, cathedrals there are signs posted with fines ranging up to 15,000 Euros for anyone caught defacing those areas.  We even saw cars, work vans and delivery trucks completely covered in graffiti.  Here you can see crews down along the river attempting to remove it.

We passed the Sacred Heart of Suffrage (Sacro Cuore del Suffragio) across the river.  Finished in 1917.  I had to stop and do a Google search.  It looked just like the parish church of Guardian Angels where I grew up and went to school.  My grandparents were one of the fifty German/Austrian couples who started the church.  The masses were held in an empty grocery store until the basement was finished.  Construction started in 1910.  

Guardian Angels Church

After three hours we reached the first bridge built across the Tiber River.  Quite amazing to cross it on foot just as they did 1963 years ago.  How many people, carts and oxen, merchandise, thieves and soldiers made their way through here.  

As they say, all roads lead to Rome.  We ended up at the colosseum as we did just about every day.  Thousands of tourist on vacation.  The number of  languages you hear as you walk down the streets, and all the scam artists just waiting to point to your shoes and say, "oh, those are nice shoes".

Again, we ended up at the Colosseum and Caesar's gardens.  As they say, all roads lead to Rome!  We took the metro from here to the apartment.  Once home, a nice nap and then our final dinner out to celebrate the close of our trip.  There is still more to come.  Now that we're home I can post some more pics of places we've been.

Juan really enjoyed the gelato stops we made around Italy!

Back In Rome - Feels Like Home

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

View of our neighborhood from our balcony in Rome.

We did some more sightseeing in Naples the day after Pompeii.  It was still raining and it was a bit messy.  We went up along the northern coast with hopes of walking on the beach.  It was very hard to get to and we had to turn back at one point.  Google maps likes to play games sometimes and we really need to check before heading out.  What looks great on maps on the phone looks much different on the laptop.  

The coast just north of the city.  A huge port that runs ferries to and from the city to other nearby destinations.

The view hasn't changed much since this was painted in 1472.

The Castle Nuovo was built in 1279 and sits on the port that juts out into the sea.  Until the 1800s it was the home to the kings of Naples.  

Interior courtyard of the castle.

It's a huge castle with many rooms that has been modified over the years.

Front iron gates hit by cannon balls.

 

The castle now houses art that was taken from public libraries, offices, schools and more that were being demolished or remodeled.  The place in general is a mess and very dirty.  The art that was "rescued" has no protection whatsoever and there is little to no information about any of the wonderful pieces that are hung there.  I enjoy art museums but prefer to view a painting and then study about the artists and their lives.

Not sure what they were up to but it sure looked like they were having fun!

We had a path to follow but it turned out that our little car was barely small enough to make the turns.  We saw cars go down the winding and curving road and pretty fast.  Turns out they are all private compounds and you are pretty much stuck.  We got to the end of the paved road and a guard said we couldn't park there.  It was walkable but we had to turn back. 

Several cruise ships were in the harbor waiting to take on passengers for the next cruise.

We had our first encounter with a paid parking spot on the street.  As we were returning to Naples we found a small beachside town with public parking.   I couldn't figure it out even with Google translation.  I started asking and a guy said just enter your plate number and put in the coins.  I had tried the coin slot but it was broken later turns out it opens and closes.  Our plates have numbers and sometimes with letters you use the number corresponding to the three letters on the phone pad.  That didn't work.  After playing around for 10 minutes it was then obvious to enter only the three numbers from the plate, insert coins and out comes the ticket you put on your dashboard.  

The day after it was time to return to Rome.  Oh that felt good after driving in Naples and looking for parking spots.  We got off lucky the first three nights and found a spot right next to our building.  Parking rates are 25 to 35 Euros for 24 hours.  Take out the car before that and wanting to return, you start all over or pay by the hour.  The last day of beach driving and being plowed over by thousands (no exaggeration) of motorbikes I was through with looking for a spot.  Near our apartment was a parking lot filled bumper to bumper.  Risking a scratch or dent the attendant flagged me down.  He said that they had a covered parking garage in back.  35 Euros.  Forget it.  Then our Mexican negociation skills kicked in.  We ended up in a dry parking garage made for six cars for 25 Euros.  Deal.  When we drove we of course spoke in Spanish.  The guy was so happy.  He said he loved Mexico and we hit it off.  I told him we needed the car before 8 a.m. and he said 7:50 a.m.  I walked the three blocks and waited until 8:15 when his brother arrived.

I picked up Juan and the bags and off we went.  Navigating Naples traffic (not bad at that hour nobody works around here) and hit the highway.  Juan made a great torta for breakfast in the car and we stopped at one of the well-known auto servicio stops along the way.  We got to the toll booth and confused like never before we ended up in a lane for the telepeaje and no one would let us back up.  Screw it!   As we got closer to Rome we had to top off the gas tank and the attendant said "no problema" in a screaming voice.  Everyone here screams when they talk.  That's great if you have a hearing deficit.  

We drove on enjoying the scenery and exited the toll road just before Rome.  The guy didn't blink an eye.  He asked where we entered, calculated the price and gave us a receipt that I later showed to the car rental agent.   We dropped off the car and took the shuttle to the terminal.  The train back to Rome proper is every 20 minutes and we were back to the apartment before 2 p.m. 

We are in the same Airbnb in Rome where we began our adventure.  It's just like home and we know the routines of how to get there, where to grocery shop and so on.  The weather is so nice now with the trees in bloom, 22C degrees, and sunny.  We returned to the Vatican to tour the grottos underground and visit the tombs of many popes who were laid to rest there.   The crowds were even bigger than before and we did catch a Vatican mass and procession in the works.  Very interesting and more on that later.  When I enter a cathedral I always here Gregorian chant playing in my head 😎

Today, Friday, is a free day and we will spend the morning here at the apartment writing blogs and Facebook.

Translation below from top to bottom:

TO STOP THE UNITED STATES FROM IMPOSING TARIFFS ON MEXICO, ARE YOU IN FAVOR OR AGAINST THE FOLLOWING:

Mexico makes the necessary concessions to improve relations with the U.S.

Mexico and the United States will have joined operations to combate organized crime.

Mexico will abandon the practice of Abrazos no Balazos with organized crime and begin to fight back.

Mexico will extradite narcotrafficking leaders to the U.S.

In addition, we see that the changes in the U.S. have been good for Mexico.  Our president has made many of the requested changes for security, cartel activity and border reinforcement.  The border with Tijuana is now empty, 29 high profile cartel members have been extridited to the U.S., and it appears unoffically that this has brought the end to "Abrazos no Balazos".   We have to take the bad with the good and in a recent poll Mexicans agree.

A Lifetime Of Dreaming - We Made It To Pompey (Pompeya, Pompeii)

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Update:  Chatting with a friend, we had a discussion of how to spell the city name.  It's all over the map so I will leave the title as is and change the name throughout the post.

A comment before getting into Pompeii.  We have had a couple of Airbnb disappointments on this trip compared to all the other places we have used the service, Mexico, United States and Spain.  There are no written instructions in any of the places we've stayed.  It requires constant communication with the host and some take hours (according to their stated response time) to answer.

In Barrea, the wifi stickers are everywhere but the host said, "sorry" no wifi, have to use your android hotspot.  We have plenty of GBs so that isn't an issue but you paid for it.  

Here in Naples, it was specifically stated that there is a parking spot on site.  The day of arrival the host asked if we wanted him to reserve a paid parking spot.  Why?  Well the one available has no security and it may not be safe.  The day wears on and now, "you're on your own".  We went back in forth in Italian and Spanish to no avail.  Very few people outside a tourist venue speak English or Spanish.  He then asked to switch to WhatsApp.  Against my better judgement we did.  I did backup the conversation should I need it for proof.  By the end of the afternoon he would send messages asking if we liked the place and if all was fine.  I blew him off.  I cut the cord.  I won't give him an evaluation.  If I do, he will give me a negative one as well.  Never message with the Airbnb host via Whatsapp no matter how convenient it may be.  We've never had these issues before.  Anyway, on to Pompeii.

We took the 20 minute drive to Pompeii. The city opens at 9:00 a.m. and we arrived at 8:30.  As we were filling up with gas we asked the attendant a few questions on where to park, etc.  He has a paid parking behind his station which was less than half of what the others were.  His is offical and it is marked as such.  We walked the two blocks to the entrance and lined up. Less than 30 people were in line and all but four of us didn't have online tickets.  Many people paid online and many others bought a guided tour.  We do pretty well with reading the signs that are in English and Italian at each stop.  We also have a very good map which they give you at the entrance.  

My interest started in Pompeii when I was a sophomore in high school taking two years of Latin.  Stories ranged from Romulus and Remos, Dido founding Carthage, the Caesars, and Pompeii with famous people such as Mamia.  

We lost the tour groups in the first ten minutes.  We wanted the nitty gritty and we found it right away.  After all these years, we were finally walking the streets where Pompeians had once walked.  It gives  you a sense of how, in some ways, most of us are in significant and a few go down in history only to find out later they may not have been who they were reported to be.  

Monument to Apollo

Off of the main plaza (the Forum) was the Tribune.  Judges sat on the stage and listed the lawyers defending their clients.

One of the many streets lined with homes that people had lived in.

The first villa we walked into had an elaborately painted bedroom.  

This painting on the wall in the bedroom sends a message to people who misuse the internet and post risque pictures of themselves!  Some things will be there forever.  I don't know if the owners intended to share this with us almost 2000 years ago.  😅

Columns alongside the forum.  Very interesting to note that Pompeii wasn't the richest city at the time.  You see all the buildings public and private including columns in this picture.  They really weren't made of marble.  Even then, marble was hard to come by in this region.  Instead, they created a plaster made from ground marble dust and covered the brick with the plaster.

Here you can see an example of the use of the marble plaster.  Some pieces were made from a mold.

We enjoyed the first few hours on pretty much desolate streets winding in and out of the houses and public spaces.  By noon, the tour buses arrived and hoards of people began to flood the park.  We were very happy we chose to go early.  Many Asian and English speaking groups.  We were presenters for many years and we realize that each person adds their own personal touch.  In other words, quite a bit of exaggeration in some of the stories or I should say, ad lib.  

Streets, sidewalks, someone's kitchen, public bathhouses with painted frescos and statues.  All of this was buried under ash from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  It wasn't the first time or the last but this was did in the Pompeians.   The ash that covered the city was up to seven meters deep, that's roughly 22 feet.  Excavations began over three hundred years ago slowly revealing life in that time.  Unfortunately, after the earthquakes, human beings did what they do today.  The city was ransacked of many valuable pieces, tombs were robbed and housed gutted.  

What you see of the bodies today are actually plaster casts.  After the ash had settle, decomposition began and left pretty much empty shells that were filled with plaster.  There are a few examples in the city but it is not what you find of the online pictures, many which were taken in museums.  However,positions of the bodies are original.  I can't imagine the suffering and I'm sure it was fast.

After all these centuries or actually 1946 years, one third of the city is still buried and excavations continue.  We saw afew places where archaeologists were quietly and obscurely working to restore a couple  homes.  There is another city, Herculaneum, nearby.  Those bodies were preserved by a lave flow versus the ash layers in Pompeii leaving skeletal remains.   

22,000 people live in Pompeii today.  It is a thriving small town on the perimeter of the city.  Many people who live there have excellent views of ruins and the cemetaries.  

Here is the part I was truly looking forward to.  This is a section of the city that will cost you 4 Euros more but well worth it.  It covers the necropolis where many of the upper-class and well-known Pompeians.   The tombs and the villas are very elaborate.  The homes and their painted walls and frescos survived the eruptions as they were in a lower area on the outskirts of the city.  They were buried deep in ash as well.  It may have been due to the quality of materials and paint. 

It is hard to believe that these walls have not been retouched in any way.

Here there is no imagining what people looked like, how they dressed or how they lived.

Complete with a full tiled floor undisturbed for 2000 years.

It's so surreal.  A true picture based on paintings and not statues of what we might think life was like.

We finished the day with over 17,000 steps.  A long day but we made our way through.  Too much to absorb but I would do it again.  I would like the three-day pass and go early during weekdays and do a couple of sections at a time.  We don't have a bucket list but this portion of our trip fullfilled a dream.  We have more pictures and several of all the cats that live in the city.  

Lost In The Mountains - Barrea, Italy D'Abruzzo National Park

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A couple of pics from our Airbnb in Pescara on the coast, $37 USD

We had a great time along the eastern coast of Italy.  Our apartment was one of the best Airbnbs to date.  It was as if we were actually living there.  I could see us going there to spend the late Spring early Summer months there.  The host lives upstairs and answers every text in less than a minute.  She also came down our first night and got us started with the radiant heat.  It has been cold the last week.

Here we are, almost lost in the mountains and driving around on zigzag roads.  GPS showed the car just spinning in circles and there was a farmhouse along the road every kilometer or so.  We found an elderly Italian woman on her porch and stopped to ask for help.  We understood a few words but in essence she said to turn around and go back down the mountain.  We did, sent the map to the host and she got us on course.

We are at 3400 feet and it is 3C this morning.  Still dripping rain but not enough to keep us inside.  We met the host and she showed us around our studio apartment on the first floor of her house.  Very nice and warm.  We have had new things come up with Airbnb that we had never encountered before.  Here, she wanted to charge us for towels and we have to pay our gas usage which is on a meter.  We settled for the blankets and sheets and we pay the gas.  

We walked into the town, about three blocks away.  It is advertised as a medieval town.  Its roots go back to 700 BCE but the town as it sits today began to form around 1000 CE.  The church was built in 1300.  Barrea sits on a lake that was created in the 1950s, I assume as a resevoir.  The mountains above are covered in snow and the views are incredible.  

During the latter period the first feudal lords, Di Sangro family, began to take control of the region focusing on cattle production.  Sheep herding followed and opened up the pastoral routes, access to water, pastures and markets.  

The national park was established in the 1920s and at the start of WWII the town was evacuated.  During that period, Barrea was looted and robbed of just about everything.  At the end of the war, people began to return.  Today the population is around 720 people.  In 1984, the town was destroyed by an earthquake.  Again, the town was temporariy abandoned until reconstruction and today it is a well-known tourist area.

True to the culture, men gathering at noon while their wives shop in front for fresh bread, cheeses and salamis. 

We've come to the conclusion that Italians appear to be grouchy, never acknowledging you on the street or sayin hello.  The reason being are their pillows.  They must have continued to follow the Roman style of construction and make their pillows out of stone.  

Tomorrow we head for Naples for three nights and we will take a day trip to Pompei.  We were decided to go to Herculaneum but we have been told by many that it is run by the mafia and there are a lot of pickpockets.  Pompei it is.