When in Rome

So it was time to don the sandals and togas and board the 50 pound Ryan Air flight to Campino Airport in Rome.


We got there at about 10pm on Wednesday night so there wasn’t much to do but check out the hotel and enjoy an Italian Wine before bed. The Hotel wasn’t too bad for a 3 star. We had a great little balcony that squeezed 2 people in for a great 4th story view of a typical roman street.

Thursday we headed down to see the Colosseum. What can I say…. Amazing. The Romans had there blokey entertainment totally sussed out. A massive stadium the size of the MCG which twice a week displayed a group of blokes and animals smashing each other death. Who needs action films…. In all seriousness though, the actual structure really makes you really think what happened between then and now. They seem to have been a lot more advanced socially and politically than the empires of the later centuries.


Friday we did the spiritually correct thing and checked out the Vatican. As far as buildings go it is a pretty impressive group. The actually church or St. Peters Basilica and its grounds are about the size of 2 and a half footy fields. I guess I was bit disappointed to find out that a lot of the materials used to build the Basilica were actually gold, marble and iron taken from the Colosseum which at that point was neglected by the then Christian (Catholic) ruler.


Saturday we walk from the Hotel over to where the Pantheon was located. The Pantheon meaning "Temple of all the gods" is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Ancient Rome. It is the best preserved of all Roman buildings, and perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world. It has been in continuous use throughout its history. Although the identity of the Pantheon's primary architect remains uncertain, it is largely credited to Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus. Since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Christian church which is probably why it hasn’t deteriorated as much as the non-Christian buildings.

Sunday we checked out the Spanish Steps and then the Roman Forum. The Spanish steps were a bit lame. Just packed with tourists, beggars and scam artists. A group of the scammers tried it on with me by tying some friendship string thing around my wrist so tightly that I could get it off so I was then forced into buying it for like 10 euros. Little did they realised that I would ark right up at them and advise then in a less than polite way that ‘I was an Australian and I DO NOT GET SCAMMED’. It turned out that I ripped the string off of my hand and didn’t pay which led to me being told that ‘Australian’s are fucked.’ Ah well. We know the facts, so that’s OK.


The Roman Forum was amazing. It was generally the site of the government sector of the day with the remains of the Senate and most of the other government departments and buildings located there.

Anyway that’s about it folks. I will say that Rome was definitely one of the best cities I’ve seen so far. Great food, great sights and a great climate. Talk to you soon.


BD