Ok so I’m back in the swing of things, trying to come back to work with a positive attitude rather than be manically depressed that I’m stuck in High Wycombe as opposed to wandering round the delights of Italy’s capital city. Not easy but I’m determined to give it a go.
Last week really was brilliant, the sights of Rome were just breathtaking, and the sheer history facing you sometimes blew my mind. Perhaps now I can have some empathy for an American faced with sites such as Hadrian’s wall and Shakespeare’s cottage. Standing looking at the Colesseum, and also the historical Forum area, the magnitude of it all was quite hard to comprehend at times. The best bit for me was definitely this historical part of Rome, although the rest of it was pretty amazing too. Siena was also lovely, and a bit more relaxing which was needed after 4 days of exploring Rome.
Bits of Rome that weren’t so great -
- The transport systems which were erratic to say the least, they closed the Metro early 2 nights in a row for no apparent reason!
- The mob of demonstrators (possibly to do with the problems in the government) who prevented us getting to the station on our bus – causing us to have a mercy dash in a taxi to catch the train to Siena, making it just in time!
Best bits –
- The eternal “pizza or pasta tonight?” debate… yum
- The Gladiators which hung around outside the Colesseum, smoking and having their photo taken with tourists – now there’s a job.
- Large amounts of red wine
- Seeing the Pope! – we’re top buddies now, I’m sure he waved straight at me….
- Seeing a dog with a floppy sun hat which bounced around as he ran about.
- Watching Paul trying to persuade an impatient Japanese guy not to enter the automatic toilet until after the door had shut and it self-cleaned by spraying water all around the cubicle. I wanted him to let him go in, it would have been bloody hilarious!
- Watching rain coming in the hole in the roof of the Pantheon
- Reading over an American's shoulder at their Rome guide book which had a chapter called "All Roads Lead through Rome" , now is that a language thing or is it the US-centric version of the old saying which basically means all roads go via Rome but end up in Washington DC, as it clearly is the centre of the universe??
We didn’t make it to the Sistene chapel (went to say hi to the Pope instead) but at least that gives us an excuse to go back again, which I really hope I get to do. It was by far the best city I’ve ever visited. But for now, I need to think about the next holiday…… hmmmm. Prague anyone?
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