I've been drowning under the weight of academic work recently and, as a result, my blogging has slowed down. Fortunately my essays are all completed now, so I finally have some time to share my adventures in Rome last week.
Alex and I haven't seen too much of each other recently. Not surprising given that we currently live many hours drive/train away and are both busy people, but we decided to celebrate a little milestone together by taking a trip to Rome. Alex organised most of it and came up trumps with a gorgeous little B&B just outside the heart of the city. We were just a walk or short metro ride from almost everything that Rome has to offer, and could spend cosy evenings in peace and quiet.
Our first day was spent... walking. A lot. Funny how much closer things look on a map isn't it? With a few insider tips from the B&B owner we worked out a short (we thought) walking tour of the city, that would take us from the Piazza del Popolo (above) to the Pantheon, hitting a few must-see spots along the way. We were planning a few hours of walking but with detours, wrong turns and miscalculations we clocked maybe six hours walking and about 25,000 steps round trip! A deficit for the pizza to come I suppose!
Rome is breathtaking, not just for its beauty but also for its activity. The city is in constant movement with pickpockets loitering in every crowd and you can't stop to enjoy a view without a selfie stick extending across your eye-line and someone whispering "5 Euros" in your ear. But the bustle and chaos just emphasised what a special place the city is, and that so many of the sites are not just pretty buildings, but parts of a crucial era of history. There was something about that feeling of constant flux and change around buildings and statues that have remained static for thousands of years that was just magical.
We caught our breath at several spots, enjoying bruschetta in a little restaurant for lunch, and a cone of gelato each hidden down a cool narrow side street. Although I loved the hive-like business of the city, I feel like those moments of calm were really important to truly drink in the experience, and appreciate where we were - rather than trying to keep a handle on where we were meant to be next.
Our second day we decided to save our feet and take the metro halfway across the city. We came up about ten meters away from the Colosseum, with the incredible Roman Forum just a a little further. The Forum is a long stretch of ancient government buildings and monuments and the Colosseum is, as most people know, and ancient arena where Romans would watch gladiators and wild animals fighting. Think BC-style I'm a Celebrity...
Alex treated us to a walking tour around the area, and it was such a good decision. Instead of queuing for hours then walking blindly around the place - impressed but utterly ignorant - a guide took us around in a small group, explaining the history and significance of the buildings. During our visit to the Roman Forum, we sat in a beautiful spot on sun-warmed slabs of rock, with parrots in the trees above us, while the sassiest tour guide I have ever met explained the grislier bits of Roman history. She had no problem pointing out bits of the structures and going "See that obelisk? We stole that from Egypt. Oh yes, that bit? Oh it's just lovely, isn't it? It was also built by slaves and the home of a tyrannical leader." It was so refreshing to feel like we'd gained a more involved, nuanced understanding of the history, rather than a sterile Primary school version all about shiny armour and spreading civilisation.
Our last evening was spent cosied in the corner of a tiny family-run restaurant, where I had the best spaghetti carbonara in existence, drank a little too much, and finished off a huge pile of sugared strawberries for dessert.
The fast frantic tourist-style will never be for us but I think that seeing less of a city allows you time to appreciate it all more. We got a lot done and still had time to catch our breath, and if we return we'll still have plenty more to see and do. Rome is almost three thousand years old - it isn't going anywhere.
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