Rome the 2nd time around we saw in a completely different light. We have now been to the ruins of ruins (Pompei) so had a real feeling of what ancient Roman towns were like in one big piece. So taking that knowledge back to Rome we were ready for something different. What to do whilst waiting for International Drivers Licences to arrive....There were a few palazzo's that we missed the first time so we headed for Palazzo Navona one of the largest. Then as we were walking back to Palatine Hill and Campidoglio for a closer look, we stumbled across an absolute treasure. If anyone reading our travel blog visits Rome this is an absolute must. It's called Area Sacra del Largo Argentina which is a square of ruins in the middle of buildings and busy streets that after realising this is normal in Rome you could easily walk past...and many do. It is right near Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum so easy to squeeze in to any schedule. Whilst digging for the foundations for new apartment blocks the builders stumbled across ruins (not unusual hence the lack of metro lines and plumbing) and found four temples from the BC centuries. Again normal. Then a closer look. These ruins are covered in sleeping cats. Being the animal lover I am... instantly fascinated and then a lady comes out and starts walking around in the ancient ruins which is a restricted area. Again fascinated. So we come back at 4pm for a free walking tour around the sacred area and what we got was better than any tour guide could have rattled off. We got an hour explanation of the ruins by one of the volunteers who had a historian background, why things are the way they are in Rome, she pieced together parts of history that you collect along the way in such a way that Rome falls into perfect sense and understanding in a matter of minutes. Also we find out that she is part of a volunteer run cat santuary for the cats of Rome - 49 ruins that are home to abandoned cats and their base is actually in the 4th ancient temple which you can visit the cats in. It was the most incredible thing to find in a bunch of ruins you would have strolled past. The explanation alone is worth a visit and also the real historians location of Caesar's death. Not the Senate's steps as the general tour guide will have you believe. The website is www
We also made it out to Via Antica which is where the ancient catacombes of Rome lie. Really amazing place and very religious to this day. There are 40 kms found so far of lines of catacombes with bodies stacked on top of each other down to 4 levels below the ground. You can walk around quite a large section of them with a priest who gives you a really good explanation of some of the ancient symbolisms of the church. It was fascinating to learn about Christian symbols that were used before we all adopted the cross as the sign of God. This sign actually was only adopted by Constantine when the Romans became Catholic not Pagans.
We headed off towards Venice via Treni, Assisi, and Bologna. In Treni we found a Roman made 3 level waterfall for a hydroplant that they established there. Really makes you appreciate what you have back home when you have to pay %uFFFD4 each to walk out to look at the lovely waterfall. Then on to Assisi for the pilgramidge of Saint Francis, where we discovered the beautiful hill town with a stunning Basilica dedicated to Saint Francis overlooking the countryside. The church is actually built with the remains of Saint Francis underneath the altar in a chapel which is very moving. The town itself was quite interesting with a lovely square full of tourists holding olive branches as we were there on Palm Sunday. After tearing ourselves away... we headed for Bologna which is the home of exquite food and the 2nd oldest university in Europe. It is the founder of Spagetti Bolognese (Ragu), which we had to try. It was delicious. Also realised as we travell around we see more and more leaning towers. It seems that Pisa just happens to be the tourist hotspot but there are many with just a big a lean.
