When In Rome...

Rome can basically be described in a single monosyllabic outburst: WOW! This city has more history and culture crammed into every square inch of it than I thought was possible. Unfortunately, its also home to a bunch of jerks: nearly every Roman we met was either downright rude, or completely indifferent. Thankfully there were exceptions, but not many. (Staff of Museo della Civilt Romana, go straight to Hell.) You'd figure that, considering how much money comes into the city, and indeed, all of Italy from tourism, that people would be a bit friendlier to tourists. I guess that since they have so many amazing sights here, that people will just keep coming regardless of how they are treated. There is an absolutely beautiful fountain called the Fontana di Trevi we visited that, legend says, if you throw a coin in, you'll get a speedy return to Rome. I made sure to keep all my change very far away from it.

01 Collosseum

We got into Rome in the evening, and met a nice couple from South Africa that we chatted with for a while. We struggled to get transportation to our campground, but finally made it JUST before check in closed, so all was well. Along the way, we picked up a stray Canadian called Nick who was travelling with just a paperback book, and had no hostel reservations or anything. Being the kind, caring people we were, we made fun of him, then told him he could tag along with us to our campground. Apparently there was a mixup booking his flight, and he had to run to the airport with just the clothes on his back to make his flight. Funny stuff.

02 Collosseum

We visited the Colosseum on our first full day. Getting off the Metro to see that huge building was quite incredible. It was absolutely rammed with tourists (not surprisingly) but was well worth the wait. Pictures or film of the building really don't do it justice, and it is much larger than you might think. The architecture of the building was stunning - being inside it, we could imagine how it must have been 2000 years ago - watching the Gladiators fighting, the wild animals tearing people apart, all that stuff. It was amazing. After that, we visited the Roman Forum, and Palatine, a hill where the Emperors lived. Both sites were in the shadow of the Collosseum and all contained some great ruins.

03 Roman Forum

On day two we visited the Vatican. We spent several hours wandering through their museums, which had a massive collection of sculptures and paintings, as well as religious artifacts from ancient Egypt (although no contemporary religions). The Sistine Chapel was incredible, and despite the staff's best efforts, it was so crowded we were able to take a few pictures of it. Even though Michelangelo didn't want to paint the Sistine Chapel because he thought his skill was better expressed in sculpture, that guy did one fantastic job. Photos just don't do it justice. The artwork inside was haunting in it's beauty and realism. St. Peter's Basilica was our last stop in the Vatican. We had to wait out in the hot sun to get through security (they only had 2 scanners for hundreds of people in the queue) but it was well worth it. Much like everything else inside Vatican City, St. Peter's was enormous, and beautiful (I suppose you couldn't expect less for the final resting place of the first Pope, the guy who holds the keys to Heaven and all). It probably took us an hour inside just to look around and take in all the sights. While we were there, shafts of sunlight were shining right down on the altar. Really cool stuff.

04 Lion

Day three was a bit of a write off, but we did visit the Pantheon, a massive Roman dome about 2000 years old, that was consecrated as a Catholic church a few hundred years ago. The dome is something like 50 metres high with a huge opening in the centre allowing sunlight in, constructed out of poured concrete - apparently modern architects have no clue how it was built, and it would still be nearly impossible to build today. The entire building is aligned in such a way that the sunlight pouring through the opening in the dome identifies the solstices as well. Incredible stuff. The more modern Catholic additions were quite beautiful as well.

We did plenty of walking in town, toured around a bunch of lively squares, saw tons of fountains, statues and monuments. We ate real thin crust pizza (spectacular stuff) and had actual home made gelato, which was really good as well. Aside from the jerks, Rome made a great vacation stop. It's a must stop destination, as long as you have a thick skin.

05 Michelangelo's Last Judgement of Man

Next stop: Venice.

06 St. Peter's Basilica

07 Tomb of St. Peter

08 Fontaine de Trevi with Terri

09 The Pantheon