LIVING AN UNCONNECTED LIFE
ARRIVAL IN ROME
Back in April my wife Linda gave me the most marvellous birthday present: two and a half weeks together in Italy, staying at Rome, the Amalfi coast and Capri. We flew out towards the end of September and got the train into the Eternal City. When we got off, I realised that I had dropped my iPhone on the train. Panic!
I really did not expect that a lost iPhone on a train in Rome would find its way back to me, and I was right. But you have to go through the motions. First thing was to contact EE, through Linda’s phone (not a smart phone) who were brilliant at putting a block on the phone and giving me advice. Next to report the loss to the caribinieri (police).
We had booked a lovely little apartment in the heart of the Travestere district. It is a very confusing area, but Richard, the owner of the flat, had come out into the street to find us and guide us to the apartment. He also told us of the local police station, only ten minutes’ walk away, but we should get there before 8.00. We set off about 6.30, in the rain, crossing a stone pedestrian bridge, Ponte Sisto. On the other side we found a small bakery which sold only gluten free products – a real gift for Linda who is coeliac. At the carabinieri we joined a small queue of one man being dealt with by a police officer in the rain. When it came to our turn a more senior police officer brought us into the office, took my details and gave me a certificate. He said if it was handed in, it would be given to the British consul.
The next day we took a long bus raid to Termini, the main train statin. It took about half an hour to locate the Trentitalia customer service booth, who were most helpful and I filled in another form. We then started our Rome holiday!
WALKING THROUGH ROME
Our first exploration of Rome was different from most people’s, because we started our walk of discovery from Terminii. We took a bus going straight to the Laterano Metro and walked through a gateway in the Aurelian walls. These were put up by the emperor Aurelian around 275 AD and in use for the next 1600 years. We went into the Basilica of St John Lateran, (S Giovanni Laerano).
This is the actual cathedral of Rome, not the Vatican, and it is where the Pope has his seat as Bishop of Rome. It is the oldest basilica in the world, built in 324. Although damaged by fire twice and radically altered in the 17th century, it fills the same footprint of a rectangle leading to an apse. The mediaeval mosaic at the east end is wonderful. It also has two enormous bronze doors from the Senate House in the Forum, over 1900 years old. Next door is the Lateran Palace, the headquarters of the papacy until the Vatican was built. Around the corner is a 4th century brick baptistry – then the only place where Romans could be baptised.
From there it was a straight walk to the church of S Clemente. It was built in 1100 but on the foundation of a 4th century basilica, which in turn was on top of a temple to the god Mithras which was on top of a Roman mint (coining money). You can visit them all!
Straight on to the Colosseum and past the enormous Roman Forum. Then up the steep Capitoline hill, down other side and on to the Jewish Quarter. There I had the best Saltimbocca Romana of my life! Another 20 minutes walk to home and bed. We felt we had properly seen the whole heart of Rome in an afternoon! It only happened because we had to go the to train station to report my iPhone. You never know when an apparent curse might turn out to be a blessing.
TAKING PHOTOS
One of the things I was looking forward to in Italy was taking loads of photos on my iPhone. I had to do a radical re-think. I would clearly have to look more intently at things to be able to keep them in my memory. Maybe I could even do small sketches in pencil or biro. I did this once on a walking holiday in Greece when I ran out of film for my camera, (very pre-digital). But then Linda said I could use her digital camera and she would use her iPad for photos. So I did indeed take loads of photos.
The only problem is that the digital camera uses a small screen to show the image that is being taken. The screen was not very clear, and in certain light impossible to see. Not an improvement on the small viewfinder in older cameras which you held up to your eye. I generally had to point it in the right direction and hope for the best. It worked out pretty well. But one photo I did of some amazing mediaeval decorative mosaic work didn’t. See the attached!
However, it was great to have the camera. I got over 200 photos which I simply uploaded at home from the small memory stick. Thank you, Linda!
LOSING CONTROL
A major result of losing my iPhone is that I had to surrender control. I could not check on what the weather was going to do; nor on the train, and bus timetables, nor on the exact location of our next accommodation. For all this I had to rely on Linda and her iPad. I think it resulted in a more relaxed holiday for me, as well as for Linda with me out of the driving seat.
And I could not keep checking Wikipedia to find out exactly what we were looking at and its history. For instance, just five minutes from our apartment in Trastevere was an ancient pedestrian stone bridge. This was built, according to the inscription on the northern end, by ‘Cyztus IV’. Who was he? Only when I reconnected with my Mac in London did I discover that it was an ancient Roman bridge, rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV around 1480.
Did I miss not being able to be Mr Know-All? Actually, no. Specially as Linda is usually much more switched on than me. In fact it made it a more relaxing holiday for both of us.
TOGETHERNESS
Another consequence is that I could not phone Linda if I lost her. So it meant that we did everything together, which was more than pleasant. If we did different things, we had to know where and when to meet up. On our last day in Rome I went to a classical music recital in the Church of Sant’Agnese at 5.00. We arranged to meet at 6.00 at the spot where we had our picnic lunch. The recital overran and I got to the spot at 6.15, to the second that Linda arrived! No iPhone could have managed it better.
On our last day on the Sorrento coast we visited the Bagni Regina Giovanna, a cove where the14th century Queen Joanna would go bathing in the nude with her multiple lovers. Afterwards we dozed on deckchairs at the very laid-back Tana eco-café nature spot. When we had walked back up to the main road Linda went home to the villa. I went into Sorrento to buy bus tickets and have a bit of an explore. I discovered the Museo Virtuale de Sorrento, which had the most amazing CGI experience of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. Well worth the €13. I then missed two buses, but still got back in time for a wonderful last dinner in a restaurant under the stars. At the end I asked for an espresso, which the waiter refused to give me as he said it would disrupt my sleep. He gave me a limoncello instead. That’s service!
BEING PRESENT
What could I find to do if I could not plan or control or investigate? The answer was simply to be present in the actual moment. The villa we had near Sorrento was a massive help. It had the most beautiful view of Capri, and I found myself simply being there, letting it into my eyes and mind. It was not intentional enough to be called meditation but something akin, allowing myself just to be. Other times like that were sitting at S Maria de Travestere – inside in the morning and outside at night- and in Rome having my first caffe corretto for 40 years (espresso and sambuca). Wow! On our last evening on Capri I had salted cod, with overflowing with tomatoes, onions, capers and black olives. We are definitely going to go back!
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