First Rome Visitor

The initial few weeks here in Rome have been quite full on! For Allan it’s been a Prime Ministerial visit, a Royal Visit and a G7 Defence Summit. For me I’ve hosted an even more important visitor (my Mum) and I’ve been getting stuck in to two tour guiding jobs, one by bike around the city sights and the other a walking food tour. As you’d expect, I’ve taken the business of learning all there is to know about the Roman food and drink scene extremely seriously!

If I thought the few days of having my wonderful Mum visit would mean a slight pause and an opportunity to take the foot off the gas, I could think again! We walked, cycled and ate our way around the city. Mum had visited Rome before, so the touristy things weren’t too high on the priority list. With the exception of participating in one of my cycle tours! The sun was shining and the skies were blue as I led her and ten others through the packed streets of Rome to take in the main highlights. Cycling in Rome isn’t as daunting as it might appear but it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. Mum took it all in her stride though and was whizzing along with the rest of us; the rest being mainly Dutch who cycle literally everywhere!

The cultural highlights of Mum’s stay consisted of Galleria Borghese and a day trip to Castel Gandolfo. The former is a beautiful art collection housed in Villa Borghese surrounded by beautiful parkland. The Borghese family originated from Siena and is the family from which Pope Paul V (1605-1621) descends from. His favourite nephew, Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese was responsible for the collection of many of the masterpieces housed in the gallery today. The highlights of which include original Roman mosaics, pieces by Raphael, Caravaggio and my favourite sculptor, Bernini. We booked the last time slot of the day so the light was fading and as we approached closing time the crowds dissipated meaning we were able to enjoy these magnificent pieces of art in relative peace. The stand out piece for me was Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne. This jaw-droppingly beautiful piece of marble depicts the myth in which Apollo, the Greek God, belittles Eros (Cupid as he later came to be known) and tells him to leave war-like weapons to mighty gods such as himself. In an act of revenge Eros unleashed two arrows: one sharp and gold-tipped and another blunt and lead-tipped. The sharp, gold-tipped arrow pierced the heart of Apollo inflaming his love for Daphne, a beautiful nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus, while the blunt, lead-tipped arrow struck the nymph creating an intense aversion to love. As a result she was constantly trying to escape Apollo’s advances, to the point where she begged her father to help. In order to stop Apollo he turned Daphne in to a laurel tree (laurel as such became known as Daphne in Greek.) Apollo was heart-broken at the loss of Daphne and to remember her for ever, he made the laurel the symbol of tribute to poets. The Bernini creation really captures the movement of Apollo chasing after the nymph in a way that I’d never seen on a sculpture before. Furthermore, if you start on Apollo’s right hand side and walk around the statue it seemingly transforms from the complete female form of Daphne to a near complete tree, it is absolutely mind blowing!

Our second culture hit was out at the hill top town of Castel Gandolfo which perches on the edge of Lake Albano, less than an hour out of the city. It’s a quaint, picturesque village which houses the Pope’s Summer Residence. It was here where we spent a very interesting couple of hours learning about the Popes, touring the rooms and gardens and admiring objects such as robes, slippers and thrones. The site was originally home to Emperor Domitian’s Villa in the first century AD. Then the Pontifical Palace was constructed here between 1624 and 1626 by Pope Urban VII Barberini. The Papal grounds cover an area of approximately 135 acres and also include two convents, a school, extensive gardens, an observatory and even a farm which produces a basket of food that is delivered daily to the Pope’s table. Our tickets also included a guided tour of the Pope’s Secret Garden but the rest of the extensive gardens would have to wait until another day, as the clouds were looking rather threatening and judging by the grumbles from our tummies, lunch was calling!

We enjoyed the most delicious lunch of stuffed anchovies followed by divine hand made ravioli whilst taking in the view of the lake at Ristorante Pagnanelli. Afterwards we were invited to take a look in their wine cellar which was like entering a museum in itself. The spiral staircase descended down and down in to an endless network of tunnels and caves, all of which housed incredible collections of everything from corkscrews to coffee pots to kitchen utensils. The wine collection lined the cool, dark brick walls and on display were bottles signed by the likes of Keanu Reeves, Robert Duval, Kate Moss and many more celebrities. It really was most fascinating!

Unfortunately, it seemed that no sooner had it started Mum’s time here in Rome came to an abrupt end and we were heading back to the airport. The torrential rain that morning mirroring our moods. (Perhaps not Allan’s!) It was a fabulous few days full of laughter, love and creating happy memories. I’m looking forward to the many more trips like this that are to come! But for now, we were ready for a break (absolutely no reflection on my lovely Mum whatsoever!) It seemed like the last few weeks were non stop but a few days away in our favourite place would be very welcome. Look out for my next post to find out more.