Ciao from Roma

Today we arrived in Roma, which of course means we have left Napoli, hopefully for good! It was, quite possibly, the worst city I’ve ever visited (yes, even worse than Yarrawonga). It is filthy beyond belief, and full of seedy looking men who stand around idly looking you up and down as you pass by. The roads are absolutely chaotic, and the drivers and riders act as if there are no road laws at all. In fact, being in Naples you could well understand what human civilization would be like if it were indeed uncivilized.

 

Yes, I know you've seen better photos than this one, but we had to include it just to prove we were here (there is a conspiracy theory circulating on the Internet that we've spent the last nine weeks somewhere in Albury).

These are either ancient ruins 2000 years old, or a DIY project that went horribly wrong.

We have tried to put our experience in Naples behind us, and enjoy our last few days in Rome. AAMI informed us that we were not covered for our lost cash or our Travel and debit cards, so we are now in the lap of the Bank as to what happens. We are hopeful that it will cover our losses, but this is by no means certain. Our last cash is holding out, and we are having to be judicious about what we see and where we go. We are also a bit more careful about spending on food, which means three meals of toast and jam each day (although we’re not skimping on the jam).

 

I think archeology must be the most popular course at Uni here - certainly no lack of fieldwork.

In contrast to Naples, Rome is lovely and we don’t feel at all nervous here. Coming from Naples, we had prepared ourselves for the worst, with backpacks carried on our chests, everything of value moved to where it would be most difficult to steal, etc. In reality, we didn’t need to worry. The railway station was fine and we made it to our lovely accommodation without any problems. The people in Rome are very friendly, and the use of English far more widespread, which makes it easy for us to get around.

Rome looking from the beautiful Borghese Gardens.

Same gardens, different view.

We’ve seen much antiquity since we left Australia, but nothing prepares you for Rome. Everywhere you look, every road you take, there are ancient remains. Alison has wired up a makeshift brace to keep my jaw from dragging on the ground. In around four hours we walked around The Colosseum, The Forum, The Palatino, and more statues than you could shake a stick at. One remain which particularly caught our interest was The Circo Massimo. According to our research, this was the largest entertainment complex ever built by the Romans. The Circo Massimo was used for chariot racing, and even today you can see where this would have taken place – sort of like the MCG minus the goal posts and massive scoreboard.

 

An ancient Roman road marker - I think this one says 135 km to Florence, 245 km to Venice, 345 km to Milan and DON'T, whatever you do, go to Naples!

Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Vatican and the Borghese Gardens, the favourite place for contemporary Romans to relax with nature.  When one of the reception guys at our hotel in Naples heard we were going to Rome, he asked us to say hello to the Pope for him (actually, ‘Pope’ and ‘bongiorno’ were the only two words we understood from him, so god knows what he was asking us to do) . Of course I agreed, and not being one to renege on my word, I am going to see if I can call in on Francis and pass on the good wishes. I know he is a busy man, and it’s not like I’m going to ask him to kiss my feet or anything, so I’m pretty sure he sets aside an hour or so a day for such visitations. I guess we’ll soon find out.

A bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius - the only Roman Emperor ever to appear in a statue on horseback.