Travel
Every great journey starts with a small step. And then another, and another. Rome was our first honeymoon destination in a long list of cities. It was June, five years ago, it was hot and sticky and we couldn't have been happier. It was basically the beginning of our journey and we marveled at every small architectural detail and every painting, seeing the world with brand new eyes. And we still do. Crowded and full of crazy drivers as it is, Rome is still a romantic city. We checked out every museum, every piece of ruin, every church and every love fountain we could find on the tourist map in the three days we had in the Eternal City.
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Travel
My Musings: A Few Churches And A Rubbish Hotel In Rome
"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien
Every great journey starts with a small step. And then another, and another. Rome was our first honeymoon destination in a long list of cities. It was June, five years ago, it was hot and sticky and we couldn't have been happier. It was basically the beginning of our journey and we marveled at every small architectural detail and every painting, seeing the world with brand new eyes. And we still do. Crowded and full of crazy drivers as it is, Rome is still a romantic city. We checked out every museum, every piece of ruin, every church and every love fountain we could find on the tourist map in the three days we had in the Eternal City.
There are more than 900 churches in Rome out of which I think we saw about 10 or 15. From what I can tell, all churches in Rome are so richly decorated and covered in so much heavy gold that the equivalent of them in food would probably sort out world famine. We have not entered one single church and say: "Uh, this is not so interesting". They are all old pieces of architecture decorated by world famous artists. There's no way to grasp all details at a glance. All that beautifully colored marble covering entire churches on the inside, all the statues, the paintings... Gosh, so much riches gathered under one roof.
Anyways, we were young and this carved a deep impression into our memory. What I also remember is the strict dress code and that women were supposed to cover their head, shoulders and legs before entering the churches. Otherwise the guy at the entrance wouldn't have let you in. Imagine after walking in the hot summer sun for a few hours you finally get all excited about entering this cool church and chill down a bit and then this guy comes and asks you to wrap you up with a scarf like a mummy. The air is stale and you can hardly breath but you have to keep the scarf on, no matter your religion. It spoils a bit the fun. I think that and the fact that the interiors are quite dark are the reasons why it is very difficult for me today to pick a good photo of a church from Rome. Nevertheless, I will delight you with this ceiling in the Vatican Museum. Though it might seem a carved ceiling, it is not. It's trompe l'oeil, a painter's trick to fool the eyes. You're looking at a flat ceiling. Seriously!
Anyways, we were young and this carved a deep impression into our memory. What I also remember is the strict dress code and that women were supposed to cover their head, shoulders and legs before entering the churches. Otherwise the guy at the entrance wouldn't have let you in. Imagine after walking in the hot summer sun for a few hours you finally get all excited about entering this cool church and chill down a bit and then this guy comes and asks you to wrap you up with a scarf like a mummy. The air is stale and you can hardly breath but you have to keep the scarf on, no matter your religion. It spoils a bit the fun. I think that and the fact that the interiors are quite dark are the reasons why it is very difficult for me today to pick a good photo of a church from Rome. Nevertheless, I will delight you with this ceiling in the Vatican Museum. Though it might seem a carved ceiling, it is not. It's trompe l'oeil, a painter's trick to fool the eyes. You're looking at a flat ceiling. Seriously!
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| Vatican Museum, ceiling |
Now that you got an idea of all the riches in Rome, you can imagine my surprise the other day when I learned about the opening of a new hotel in Rome. Well, this hotel is like no other. No, it doesn't have fancy ceilings and it is not covered in gold. It is a rubbish hotel. Literally! This is the world's first hotel made entirely from rubbish. The walls are constructed using the masses of debris that are found on the beaches of Europe. The hotel is part of a publicity campaign to draw attention to the problem of pollution on the coastline. While I entirely support the Save The Planet cause, I still think this is a strange idea. Actually I'm in shock. Who would pay for a night here? I mean I would pay a 2euro fee to get inside and have a look, but to spend a full night here, hm... I wonder how much they are charging a night. If anyone knows, please let me know too.
The rubbish is really a problem. We are a consumer society and sometime I can't get it why do we need so much wrapping, but I guess I could find that answer in the dictionary next to civilized. Anyways, as a person who prefers to have her pockets full of garbage instead of throwing it in the middle of the road, I can say that many European beaches don't really have rubbish bins every five meters. So what are you suppose to do with all the wrapping when you are wearing a bathing suit? OK, it would be horrible to have to look high and low for a place to sunbathe that's not next to the bin, but for Gods sake, at least to have bins every now and than on the promenade. So yeah, the campaign is good. Please, please don't through rubbish on the beach, but God please give us some garbage bins too, or else... I would like to find out your opinion about this hotel in Rome, if you've been there, how is it, how expensive it is, how rubbish it is, etc. Have a great weekend!
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