Pride and Prejudice

When I arrived in Rome, my hostel was literally just across the road (along with about 7 others!). The area, however, was distinctly dodgy, and I was rather concerned about the severe smell of urine permeating the place. Not exactly beguiling Rome, as you would think. Anyway, I puffed my way up 2 flights of stairs (didn't trust the lift), to find a less-than-helpful assistant who had lost my booking. Once she collected herself and found it, I had to pay an extortionate amount of money, and then I set out to see if there was some charm to Rome.

Colosseum

Turns out there is. The second you roam from the Termini station area, things improve a great deal. I wandered along until I came upon the majestic site of the Colosseum, which really did stop me dead in my tracks (the hordes of tourists may have something to do with that though...). Some guy talked me into doing a tour with them, which got me in straight away, avoiding a 2 hour wait. Although the building is greatly damaged, it still made a big impression on me. It was difficult to imagine that so many people died there in that very spot, being jeered at by crowds who took their lives for little more than entertainment value.

Free water

My tour also included a tour of the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, which was later in the afternoon (a very good idea, as the heat would have been unbearable). I was very glad I did a guided tour, because without it much of the history would have been completely lost on me. The remains of the palace are sparse, but some of the marble flooring is exquisite.

And so I made my way through Rome. It is the only city so far that I have completely underestimated in size - I normally walk everywhere, but here it never seemed to end! I faced the hordes and visited the Spanish Steps, which would have been rather more impressive had the church behind it not been covered in scaffolding. I lay on a park bench during the warmest part of the day, and then walked discovered the Trevi fountain, which is really impressive and much bigger than I anticipated. After I chucked in my 2 cents for my return to Rome and so forth, I just continued walking and finding so many more little squares and fountains. The best things about Rome is the free water supply, which at least meant that I wouldn't get dehydrated.

Michelangelo´s Pieta

The Vatican was rather overwhelming. I did get the feeling that the Sistine Chapel had rather too much art - I ended up leaving with a severe neck ache caused by staring at the ceiling whilst my audioguide babbled on. St Peter's Basilica is HUGE (and rather show-offy!). There is a bronze altar type thing in the middle, which is partly made of bronze stolen from the Pantheon - imagine. All the sculptures in there are made to fit perspective - ie the ones higher up are about twice the size of the ones at eye level, so they seem the same size! Michelangelo's Pieta was stunning and really got me thinking.

I know I've said this already, but there were just way too many tourists. Hypocritical, but it still bothered me. Especially the people going round in packs. In the 3 1/2 days I spent there I hardly heard any Italian. However, I still had a great time, and have so much more I could say here, if I wasn't so afraid of the imminent rheumatism threat.

Roman Forum

Spanish Steps

St Peter´s Basilica

Star Wars??

The original Pantheon

The Swiss Guard

Trevi Fountain

Vatican queue

Vatican Secret Archives