Rainy Roma

October 6, 2012 § Leave a comment

The Flight to Dubai from Melbourne was over 14 hours long. After a four hour stopover in Dubai we resumed our journey, the flight to Roma Fiumicino Aeroporto was on the enormous Airbus A380, its the first time I fly on this plane and what a plane it is… more like a ship! The ride is smoother and quieter than anything I have ever flown on, but what really impressed me is the quality of the air, so much fresher and free of your fellow travelers farts! The cabin is pressurized to a point that almost equates our terrestrial needs. I was able to put my shoes on without thinking that my feet had grown two sizes on the long journey from Melbourne!

The courtyard of the Domus Australia

Looking down from the window of our room on the Courtyard at the Domus

We arrived in Rome on a rainy afternoon and checked into the Domus Australia owned and run by the Australian Catholic Church. The original Church and Cloisters have been completely restored to the highest standards. The breakfast was fantastic, our room large and filled with light. I had two showers and unlike most Hotels in Roma [and indeed Italia in general] instead of the water filling up to my ankles, at the Domus the water flushed away … a miracle! Recommend this Hotel to all.

As we do whenever we are in Roma we made our way to Augusto’s in Trastevere, had our favorite “Coniglio” [rabbit] con patate e’ insalata . After dinner we walked back across the Tevere, the night lights reflected in the soft rain polished cobblestones. We took in the sights of the Eternal City, its magic made more intense by the wood fired crusty bread and “Coniglio” still curling on our tongues.

The next day we hired a car and drove to our friend Neil Moore’s who lives in a medieval tower in Umbria. We were awoken in the morning by the crowing of a Cock and the clucking of hens, so much nicer than something digital! We rose with the light streaming over the mountains had our coffee and then decided to take Zeus Neil’s enormous St Bernard for a walk in the countryside. We breathed in the perfume of wild herbs brought by the breeze coming up the valley which somewhat ameliorated the pungent earthy smell of cow shit. As we walked to Zeus’s heavy breathing, my eyes were drawn to the designs tilled by tractor into Zen like patterns in the deep soils. The whole landscape has become a wonderful tapestry woven by the result of man’s intervention in the natural world.