Marina's Bloggariffic

Jerrick is in Rome for a short break at the moment before his graduation to hang out with Cart and me. But since he’s already been in Rome before and has seen almost everything, we had to scan for a little bit for the places which we’ve never been to before. And that’s when I remembered the Cimitero Dei Cappuccini (Quick trivia : Cappucino the coffee drink is actually named because of the brown colour of a Cappucin monk’s robe)

And so we took the metro to Piazza Barberini and immediately found ourselves in front of the Santa Maria della Concezione church. And like other churches here, it was tranquil and peaceful in here.

Cute baby angels

But what sets this particular church different from the other’s that I’ve been to is that there is a crypt below it with bones from about 4000 friars as well as poor, religious folks who cannot afford proper burial. As there were so many bodies, there were not enough space and thus, were used as decorations depicting religious scenes instead.

As the cemetery was part of the church, it is compulsory for visitors to be attired modestly (like how to dress in San Paolo) and then hand a small donation of  one euro at the front table before you are allowed inside.

The first feeling that I had while entering was how rather creepy the place is – the entire cemetery is ornately decorated. And in the hot summer heat, the air felt rather stuffy. You are surrounded with bone dividers, bone lamps, bone murals as well as several complete skeletons with robes … It felt so much like Diablo as you go down one level.

Since almost everything was covered with bones, it was relatively easy to reach and touch them. Not that I wanted to! Some would find it scary to be in here, but I found it tolerably creepy-cool. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be walking here by myself at night time!

The cemetery is divided into 6 rooms – crypt of resurrection, mass chapel, crypt of skulls, crypt of pelves, crypt of leg and thigh bones, and crypt of the three skeletons. I can’t take pictures here, and I noticed one person who tried, got reprimanded and had his photo deleted on the spot. Nevertheless, you could find quite a number of pictures online.

Cart tells me that the intention of the cemetery was not to scare but instead be a form of devotion as well as a reminder to all friars that life is not eternal and one day too, our lives will end. Which is probably the most apparent in the last room, which had the message :

“What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be…”

Not quite a touristy place, but it’s definitely something to be seen

Last weekend, Cart and I spent the afternoon together with some friends over at Martignano. There is an agriturismo here which is in the area of Bracciano which where Cart and I visited some while back.

To get here, we had to pass a rather out of place, steep, hilly area which reminds me so much of a dustier version of Cameron Highlands.

Anyway, agriturismo is a farmstay where it is basically a type of operation that brings visitors to a farm where you could do activities such as picking fruit, feeding animals and buying handmade produce.

We stopped by a bottega which sells food stuff like handmade cheese and fresh produce.

Here Cart bought for himself some freshly made ricotta cheese (good for making lasagna) as well as a type of square sheep milk cheese. Both directly made from the farm’s milk.

I  took this picture of basil which was sitting on the produce shelf because it looked really fresh.

We also saw a couple of fruit trees along the way, like this pear tree.

Luckily it wasn’t ripe enough or it’ll be already plucked and eaten before I could snap a picture! We also saw this amarena tree.

Amarena is a type of cherry and the tree happened to be full of fruits. Cart’s friend Fabrizio started to pull the branch to grab at the fruits and then not too long after, two little boys started to climb up the tree to get to the fruits.

Suddenly I remembered the days when my family would go Alexandra Hospital. There used to be a cherry tree along the entrance road and loads of people (including us) would pick at the fruits. It was so funny to see. But sadly, the tree has been chopped down since the last time I’ve been there.

Anyway, back to the amarena, the fruits were so ripe that my hands look bloodied when I accidentally bursted one.

And the colour really stained my hands. Strong natural dye, this amarena. Hm, and the colour reminds me a lot of something little vulgar at the same time.

ANYWAY, for me, I’ve always had this dream of milking a goat or a cow. I think that it will be quite an experience. But unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to do it. So, hopefully, the next time round

But in any case, the main reason why we were here was to spend time at the lake.

The water here is quite clear as precipitation is accumulated in a crater. And unlike the sea, there is no such thing as a high or low tide. (which made me question why there was a jetty at least two meters higher than the water being made in the vicinity)

Nevertheless, the water was very cooling and it was a perfect weather to get away from the crazy hot summer that we’ve been having.

Fabrizio tells me that for people who wants to cool down during the summer comes here in Castel di Martignano if they did not want to deal with the crowds at the beach. One needs to pay 7 euro per head though, which might be a little on the pricey side, but the place was really tranquil and comfortable with the green grass and relatively gentle winds.

Check out Cart (before he got sunburnt) and Fabrizio playing with a remote control boat. Alessandra and her friend in the background (covered by these men) are lying in the grass, suntanning.

The way people were lying down looked comfortable. It was so comfortable that I even saw a woman suntanning topless, hehehe …

What was interesting for me was that people with dogs had their own special area to be at, so even dogs could dip and cool down during the summer.

But apart from swimming, you could also go kayaking, paddle boats and catamaran here – basically any boats without an engine to protect the water from being polluted here.

So I did kayaking! It’s been a while since I did it and naturally I was very excited to give it a try again.

I almost didn’t get a chance to as I didn’t pack my swimming gear. Luckily for me, Alessandra lent me her t-shirt and I was off!

Kayaking is a skill that one doesn’t forget. Like bicycling! And I paddled and paddled to close to the other side of the lake, curious to see what the strange creatures are, by the edge. Was it horses? Was it sheep?

Nope, it was moo moo cows! At least 30 of them! There is hope for me to milk a cow yet! And I went back inland before the afternoon winds got too strong for me to paddle back.

After spending time at Martignano, we then drove to Trevignano which was located on the side of the big lake. It was such a charming small town. And in a way, had quite a different feel from the area that we visited the other time.

Cart tells me that this was the regular uniform that Italian soldiers used to wear.

It’s a little like Lake Como but a little more rustic. Everything about this town was so charming and pretty and well taken cared of, with all the pots of flowers and plants around it.

I have to say that anyone who are living in this area are very lucky to be able to wake up to such a beautiful sight every morning.

And while walking in one of the lanes in the town, we stumbled upon a lot of interesting and lovely things.

One of them were this art gallery/shop. And here is the hensem owner posing with his hammer.

Check out some of his pieces! I’d love to own one of his artwork. But I’m afraid to ask because something tells me that I cannot afford it yet

And we then took a stroll by the jetty. But even as beautiful and tranquil as it looked, I had a small phobia of looking at large open water like this. It always makes me realise how small I am and how easily it can cover and envelope me.

Anyway, while we were walking, it happened that there was a boat which stopped by. I think it would be nice to take a boat ride the next time and just chill out. And speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to our trip to Capri for Alessandra and Fabrizio’s wedding next weekend!

Do check out the logo on the boat …

NLB = National Library Board! HEHEHE! I didn’t know the Singapore Library had a boat?! *nerd giggle*

We then stopped by a bar to get some drinks and I had this :

This is a caffe granita with panna. It’s kind of like a coffee slushie with cream. And it’s wonderful and perks you right up on a hot day. Speaking of which, I could do with a caffe freddo at this point of writing. It’s so very hot in Rome right now.

And we went out of the bar to see some swans which were conglomerating outside.

When you think of swans, you’d think elegance and gentleness. And then you go closer to feed these elegant creatures with some bread.

But these geese are ferocious! A lot of them will bite each other and pull the other’s feathers so that they wont get to the food!

Scary animals!

And that was how we spent our day, in lovely Bracciano. It was definitely worth to spend some time here. It was such a lovely day

And to end this post, I’ll put up a picture of me!

This is a perilous shot since it was windy and I was hoping that I don’t get an upskirt action going on. But I’m quite proud of my legs and how they look like now, after a couple of months of jogging

Hopefully I’ll go down to my pre-wedding weight in a few.

Claire and I went to hydromania last Tuesday. It’s been a while since I’ve last been to an open pool, but I’ve had to much fun that I didn’t feel any sunburn till hours later.

Hydromania is a large water park in Rome with several pools like a semi-Olympic sized pool, a wave pool, a massaging pool, kiddy sized pool and all surrounded by different rides.

To get here, it’s pretty easy. Despite what the website suggested, we found an even easier route to follow. First, you take the Metro A line and make a stop at the Cornelia station.

From here, you should be able to see an open bus interchange. Walk towards that direction but don’t stop there. Instead cross to the road and find this bus stop – Cornelia / Caprara.

Take the bus number 906 and simply exit the bus as soon as you see the hydromania tower on the left hand side.

We reached there at about 1 pm and while at the ticket counter, initially, I thought that I could get a half day pass for 11 euro. But it was valid for only 9 am – 2 pm. It wouldn’t make much sense to be inside for only an hour.

The fortunate thing was that at this point of writing, there is a promotion going on that if you showed your metro/bus ticket, you could buy a full day ticket and your friend enters for just 1 euro.

17.50 euro instead of 33 for two people!

There were ample changing stations there where you could change although I think one needs to be extremely vigil as there are openings at the top where anyone could just climb up and take a peek)

For another 2.50 euro you can leave your stuff with the “armadio” guy for safekeeping and have no limit in asking him to retrieve or keep the bags. The only thing I was thinking that could be improved is that, instead of giving us paper receipts, they should use a stretchy wrist band with a number instead so you could swim, have all your valuables safe and not worry about risking the paper receipts getting soggy or stolen. Plus, with the wrist band, it can be re-used again and again which is more environmentally friendly 🙂

After giving our items to the baggage station, Claire and I jumped in the the wave pool. It’s been such a long time since we’ve last been to an open pool. But as soon as we dipped ourselves in, the water was so cold! Almost ice cold! It was such a sharp contrast to the super hot afternoon that we were experiencing.

It was interesting to see so many women wearing bikinis and Claire and I were practically the few who wore one piece swim suits. The guys on the other hand, most of them wore board shorts. And I don’t think I saw anyone wearing speedos.

By this time, I was feeling rather hungry since it was lunch time. Luckily, I packed a meatball sandwich and a bottle of water as I was afraid that the prices here could be touristy expensive.

But I was relieved to find the prices at hydromania while slightly more expensive, was still reasonable.

Two slices of pizza, french fries and a can of drink of 8 euro

Like a cup of grattachecca, was 3 euro and a pair of nice slippers would cost around 10 euro. Not the cheapest, but definitely not a rip off.

While we were soaking, I was puzzled at first as to why the rides were empty, but Claire said that they are possibly starting only after lunch. And precisely as what she said, at about 2.30 ish, water streamed down the rides and people started to queue up.

One that I tried was this blue slide, but honestly, it was a little mild for me.

And then I thought that I’d give the tobbogan a whirl, but there were so many people queuing up here. The lines didn’t go fast because the safety personnel had to check that everyone went down at the exit safe before the next batch enters.

Which is good because I do have fear about getting stuck in the tube and then another person comes sliding down fast and kicking me into a concussion. Moreover, I’ve already experienced this in Fantasy Island, Singapore before, so it wasn’t really anything new to me.

Nevertheless, the long queue turned me off so I sat in a hydro-massage pool for a while and then looked around me. I saw this in front of me.

This ride looks intimidating. This is like what? Four or five storey tall with a 40 degree slope.

But then slowly I thought to myself, we’ve travelled all the way here and I saw a grandpa looking man doing it, so if he can do it, I can do it too.

And so I climbed up the stairs. There weren’t that many people up there. And when it was finally my turn, I was still feeling confident. It was only till the split second when I felt the inclination was when I thought to myself, “WTF ARE YOU DOING TO YOURSELF MARINA!” and as I descended, I gasped and my heart stopped for a moment.

Luckily it was over soon and I was in one piece. But it was such a thrill that I had a head rush for a full hour and had to sit down on the deck chairs to rest a while.

By this time, it was 4 pm and more and more guests trickled in, and more activities started. It was so festive in there! There was a foam party!

Oh, and if you notice this lady in the green top in the above picture, she’s one of the official photographer and I could be wrong, but I think she goes around snapping pictures for best swimsuit etc.

And towards the end of our stay, there was this couple of dancers doing some samba-pool-dance. It looked so much fun, and still from my rush, I was keen to jump in the water and dance a long too.

But we were both nervous to be stuck in the after work traffic, and reluctantly, we had to leave. Next time I’d like to spend more time in there because I think very worth it

And remember wear more sunblock the next time 🙂

Related links :

Hydromania Water Park – Vicolo del Casale Lumbroso, 200
official website | facebook page

Sidenote : By the way, if you want to shower at the end, you need to have thick skin. Just like the pool near my house, there is a communal shower. This means that there are no dividing walls and no curtains either. Everything is in the open.