Roman holiday: pizza, pasta and piazzas

Our campaigning columnist Ruth Patrick describes a trip to the Eternal City where, while fully partaking of la dolce vita, she wasn't quite able to leave behind her quest for benefits information

Facebook has great potential in one particular department – hooking up with old friends with whom one has lost touch. In the course of feeding my Facebook addiction, I have made contact with a number of old friends and colleagues, many of whom I thought I would never see again. One such friend is Arianna, an Italian woman and jewellery designer who I lived with many, many years ago, when I first moved to London. When she invited me and my partner to Rome, I leapt at the chance: an opportunity to see her again after all these years, and a chance to discover Italy’s great capital city.

We spent a glorious five days in a city which has almost too much to offer. Aside from the wonderful time spent catching up with Arianna and her son, we went to the city and saw just some of the many great sights.

Rome, in particular, has a glut of beautiful fountains, archaeological sites of Roman ruins and amazing museums and galleries. For anyone thinking of going, my advice would be to do your research in advance and develop an itinerary or must-see list which is realistic, flexible and catered to your own particular interests.

For me, an absolute must-do was to see inside St. Peter’s, the principle shrine of the Catholic Church. The dome of St. Peter’s or Basilica di San Pietro, to give its full Italian title, is visible from almost anywhere in Rome, and the church itself is situated at the head of the grand Piazza San Pietro. Entrance is free, another reason it was on my itinerary as my Scottish roots demand that free attractions always get very favourable treatment.

Arriving in the Piazza you cannot help but be struck by the grandness and historical significance of the building you are about to enter. Regardless of your religion, it really does feel like you have arrived at one of the most important sites of the Western world. Getting into the church involves passing through metal detectors and multiple, unsmiling, suited functionaries, who check that you are wearing appropriate clothes (men must be in trousers, whilst women’s legs, shoulders and chests must all be covered). Interestingly, my friend tells me that the clothing rules are rather more strictly enforced for women than men, and on the day we went my partner’s mid-length shorts passed through the clothing check without remark.

Once inside, we were overwhelmed by the grandness and ornate interior of the church: everywhere you turn there are intricate stain-glass windows, beautiful sculptures, golden inscriptions and impressive bronze plaques. Indeed, the mass of religious artefacts and evident wealth of the church can seem a little excessive, depending on your religious sensibilities. For us, it was certainly breathtaking and memorable, and I would recommend including a visit to St. Peter’s in a trip to Rome.

Aside from St. Peter’s, the other tourist attraction which is unmissable is the Vatican Museums close by, which the Rough Guide to Rome describes as housing the “largest, richest, most compelling and perhaps most exhausting museum complex in the world.” ‘Vatican Museums’ is in plural, not because of some Disability Now typo, but because there are several museums all accessed by one central entrance and connected by various courtyards and corridors. Getting inside the Vatican Museums is famed for entailing long queues, but we were incredibly fortunate to be in within ten minutes, where we paid our 15 euros and set out to see as much of the museums’ collection as our tired feet and growling appetites would allow. As with most tourists, we were most interested in seeing the Sistine Chapel, but there was much else to interest and detain us. In particular, the Egyptian artefacts are fabulous, as are the renaissance statues. One source of irritation and amusement are the tour guides and their customers, who crowd round the statues and paintings, whilst the guide loudly proclaims on the history and context of each famous piece. This becomes a cacophony of noise, with echoes of tour guides reading from slightly different passages of almost identical scripts a constant companion on the trip round the museums.

The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling paintings by Michelangelo, is incredible and it is no wonder that some 15,000 tourists trudge in to view them every day. The scale of the work is what impressed me most: it is reported that it took Michelangelo ten years to paint, and the finished work is testament to one artist’s great dedication and patience. You certainly wouldn’t get me to focus on one project for a decade!

Other than our exhausting, but rewarding, trip to the Vatican Museums, we also made it to the Colosseum, and trekked out to the Spanish Steps and Fontana di Trevi, Rome’s flashiest and largest fountain.

A bit of respite from the city chaos was found in the lush green of the Villa Borghese, Rome’s largest open space, where we were content to sit quietly and reflect on all we had seen. We were also glad to escape the city streets, where the traffic is frenetic and insensible, and where every time you cross the road you feel a little uncertain whether you will make it safely to the other side.

An “if only we could can it and keep it moment” was had in Piazza Navona, where we sat in a plush and expensive café, sipped our coffees, and watched the Italians going about their business, feeling very much the sophisticated and seasoned travellers. Indeed, hours could be spent in people watching, with the Romans providing a glamorous, stylish and, frequently, dramatic backdrop to the city. The passion for which the nation is famed is much in evidence, although it did not rub off on my own partner, who refused street sellers’ frequent attempts to sell him a single red rose.

One thing which I found rather unsettling was the begging on Rome’s streets, with many of the beggars having physical impairments and adopting dramatic, disturbing poses; lying on the floor, for instance, with arms outstretched. The extent of the visible begging, which is undoubtedly common in many European cities, got me thinking about the benefits system in Italy and the provisions made for disabled people in particular. Discussion with my friend and a bit of digging back home and I had my answer. Academics and campaigners in Italy argue that the available disability benefits are simply not sufficient to enable disabled people to live independently, who must rely instead on financial support from their family. Clearly, serious problems emerge where such support is not available or forthcoming.

An article on Rome is incomplete without paying homage to the food, and we were sure to invest plenty of time in sampling all the staples: delicious thin pizzas, pasta like none we had ever tasted, and gallons of ice cream. We dined in local restaurants and stayed well away from the tourist joints, which offer set, unappetising menus for vastly inflated prices. I enjoyed the dining culture in Rome, where families take their children out with them to restaurants, and where one beer is felt sufficient to last the whole evening (it must be said that my partner was rather less keen on this latter aspect of the Italian experience). Most of all, I enjoyed the chance to catch up with my old friend and to reminisce – though how wonderful to do that in a city as rich, interesting and beguiling as Rome.

Information:

Ruth flew to Rome Fiumicino with Jet 2 from Leeds Bradford (jet2.com)

The Consorzio Cooperative Integrate provides a 24-hour information line, website and guide to the city, Rome Accessible, which contains information on accessibility to major sites, museums, hotels and restaurants. Unfortunately, the website is in Italian: coinsociale.it

For wheelchair-users, this is a useful website with tips for getting around Rome in a wheelchair, written by a woman who has done it: slowtrav.com/italy/accessible/rome/index.htm