Rome
Rome: The Eternal City. And in this city I eternally walk. I've spent every day with some people from the hostel checking out various revered structures, all significant to various degrees. Everything is ancient and dirty and amazing. The streets are cobblestoned so the cars and motorcycles rumble over them with a low staccato, a sound that is joined by the constant refrain of Rome's police force. There's a haze that kicks in at about 11am, which I'm presuming is pollution, but it's not so bad. It's been wonderful weather, a brief bit of rain a coupla days ago aside, but I can certainly see how hot the summer is going to be.
If you asked me to name the places I've been, I couldn't. My Italian is no better than it was when I got here so all the names kinda just slipped past me. Rest assured, dear reader, I saw them all. My sore feet can attest. The Colesseum is amazing, the Pantheon absolutely brilliant and the streets themselves are gorgeous. They seem designed to give you glimpses of upcoming architecture and then suddenly open up onto a vista. Walk as much as you can and be prepared to sweat if you take the train.
The traffic is not nearly as bad as I was lead to believe. I'd suggest that the traffic in Cusco and Malaysia was far crazier but, like those places, the drivers are much more aware. So despite the narrow streets and everyone's habitual stepping onto the streets into traffic, I haven't seen a single accident. There are plenty of scrapes on bumper bars though, so perhaps I've just been lucky, because I've certainly been stepping into traffic as I haven't yet get my head around people driving on the right hand side.
The people seem to be quite friendly (and not the savages waving spears I'd been led to believe). I haven't actually asked for directions (being 1. male 2. stubborn and 3. in possession of three maps) or had any need to talk to any one out of turn, but I'm pretty confident they wouldn't yell at me and poke me with sticks. Have no fear, my friends. We managed to get by and order pizza and wine with really bad pronunciation, and they took our money; always an effective carrot.
But you want to know what I didn't do? I didn't go to a single museum and I didn't get to the opera. Yet I'm fine with that. I can firmly say I've "done" Rome. Four days is about the right amount of time here. Yes, you could be more thorough. Yes, you could have doubled your time with cultural activities. But I'm ready to move on, and that happens tomorrow morning when I fly to Vienna.
For those of you fortunate enough not to be on Facebook, here be some pics:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150239610438475.364790.535023474&l=036d8f9b6d
Ben.
If you asked me to name the places I've been, I couldn't. My Italian is no better than it was when I got here so all the names kinda just slipped past me. Rest assured, dear reader, I saw them all. My sore feet can attest. The Colesseum is amazing, the Pantheon absolutely brilliant and the streets themselves are gorgeous. They seem designed to give you glimpses of upcoming architecture and then suddenly open up onto a vista. Walk as much as you can and be prepared to sweat if you take the train.
The traffic is not nearly as bad as I was lead to believe. I'd suggest that the traffic in Cusco and Malaysia was far crazier but, like those places, the drivers are much more aware. So despite the narrow streets and everyone's habitual stepping onto the streets into traffic, I haven't seen a single accident. There are plenty of scrapes on bumper bars though, so perhaps I've just been lucky, because I've certainly been stepping into traffic as I haven't yet get my head around people driving on the right hand side.
The people seem to be quite friendly (and not the savages waving spears I'd been led to believe). I haven't actually asked for directions (being 1. male 2. stubborn and 3. in possession of three maps) or had any need to talk to any one out of turn, but I'm pretty confident they wouldn't yell at me and poke me with sticks. Have no fear, my friends. We managed to get by and order pizza and wine with really bad pronunciation, and they took our money; always an effective carrot.
But you want to know what I didn't do? I didn't go to a single museum and I didn't get to the opera. Yet I'm fine with that. I can firmly say I've "done" Rome. Four days is about the right amount of time here. Yes, you could be more thorough. Yes, you could have doubled your time with cultural activities. But I'm ready to move on, and that happens tomorrow morning when I fly to Vienna.
For those of you fortunate enough not to be on Facebook, here be some pics:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150239610438475.364790.535023474&l=036d8f9b6d
Ben.