ROME!
It hadn't been the most comfortable of nights I had ever had.
The bed was fine. It hadn't been too noisy outside our window (No riot, major crime, collisions that sort of thing), but did I mention the heat? On our Honeymoon the previous year we had gone to Rhodes, the hotel had air conditioning and yet I was still too hot. Nothing to do with sunburn I shouldn't think!!
Still here we were in the one of the most famous world cities there is with thousands of years of history, the good and mostly bad. There were only a few places on my hit list. I wanted to see the Coliseum. Throughout my life if a TV or film producer wanted a go to image to specify the action had moved to Rome there would be a 5 second image of the Coliseum with or without traffic and the capitalised word ROME at the bottom of the screen. If I was to take one image of this home it was to be THE Coliseum.
Apart from that the Coliseum is a reflection of what Roman culture could be. The building of incredible edifices that would not be carried out for at least 1500 years in Europe but built to showcase the most carnal of Roman needs.
My wife was a little more read up on Rome than me and wanted to see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain. And there was always Vatican City.
All this awaited us from our sweaty slumber so we showered and dressed and went to Breakfast. I love a holiday breakfast. Well I love food but IF you have booked a room with breakfast I intend to get my monies worth,It was with some trepidation that I accompanied my spouse to the breakfast room. My first impressions of the hotel, what with the lift incident and the key snapping in the lock were somewhat lukewarm. If the breakfast was below par I really would be paying the price for NOT paying the price,
Happily the breakfast room was full of Germans. Not a sentence I thought I would say very often! However, the presence of Germans at a hotel has, in my experience, meant that it is a worthy venue. As was the breakfast. There was a plentiful collection of sliced meats, cheeses, rolls, croissant, pastries etc.etc. Coffee too. Good coffee, although from a machine. I pretend to myself that if I pig out at breakfast I can go through till teatime. I would need feeding before then. I wanted to find out if ice cream in Italy is as good as they say!
Having obtained our monies worth we repaired back to our room and prepared ourselves for the day ahead. I have a silly hat - a trilby that I bought in Rhodes. It is now my holiday hat. I only wear it when out of the country. We slapped on sun cream checked our phones were charged and we set off into the hot Roman Sun.
It was straight back to the Termini. We descended into the metro. We were to go 3 stops up the line to Fermini. Which was the best and closest stop to the Spanish Steps. I am not sure why they are so famous. I know they appear in romantic literature and films, and they are quite an impressive set of steps but still....
It was on these steps that we came across our first group of tourist feeders. Those people who make a living ripping off tourists. In our case he thrust 3 roses into my wife's hands and then offered to take few photos of us in various poses in the scenery. I was afraid this was all a ruse to steal my phone. Until I remembered that my phone was rubbish and he would be doing me a favour if he slung it into the river Po. He then charged me too many euros and we had been mugged for the first time. I kept my phone though.
We ascended the steps to the church at the top (Trinità dei Monti if Wikipedia serves me!). We were in Rome, the home of the Roman Catholic church, so we decided to go inside for a gander. However our access was barred by burly gentleman who suggested we were improperly attired. Bare legs and arms were not allowed. We were directed to a box that contained bits of material until the gentleman deemed us suitable. Then charged us 5 euros each to get in. We had been mugged for the second time. I made that up. The entrance fee that is. We were made to dress up like a pair of scarecrows and that was more respectable than shorts and vest! And I was off on one. Don't get me started on organised religions - just an oppurtunity to fleece you. My wife though was having a moment and I completely missed it so when she asked for 2 euros to light a candle I was less than charitable about Roman Catholic pricing policies. And I ruined her moment. Well serves me right for being such a cynic!
Happily the breakfast room was full of Germans. Not a sentence I thought I would say very often! However, the presence of Germans at a hotel has, in my experience, meant that it is a worthy venue. As was the breakfast. There was a plentiful collection of sliced meats, cheeses, rolls, croissant, pastries etc.etc. Coffee too. Good coffee, although from a machine. I pretend to myself that if I pig out at breakfast I can go through till teatime. I would need feeding before then. I wanted to find out if ice cream in Italy is as good as they say!
Having obtained our monies worth we repaired back to our room and prepared ourselves for the day ahead. I have a silly hat - a trilby that I bought in Rhodes. It is now my holiday hat. I only wear it when out of the country. We slapped on sun cream checked our phones were charged and we set off into the hot Roman Sun.
It was straight back to the Termini. We descended into the metro. We were to go 3 stops up the line to Fermini. Which was the best and closest stop to the Spanish Steps. I am not sure why they are so famous. I know they appear in romantic literature and films, and they are quite an impressive set of steps but still....
It was on these steps that we came across our first group of tourist feeders. Those people who make a living ripping off tourists. In our case he thrust 3 roses into my wife's hands and then offered to take few photos of us in various poses in the scenery. I was afraid this was all a ruse to steal my phone. Until I remembered that my phone was rubbish and he would be doing me a favour if he slung it into the river Po. He then charged me too many euros and we had been mugged for the first time. I kept my phone though.
We ascended the steps to the church at the top (Trinità dei Monti if Wikipedia serves me!). We were in Rome, the home of the Roman Catholic church, so we decided to go inside for a gander. However our access was barred by burly gentleman who suggested we were improperly attired. Bare legs and arms were not allowed. We were directed to a box that contained bits of material until the gentleman deemed us suitable. Then charged us 5 euros each to get in. We had been mugged for the second time. I made that up. The entrance fee that is. We were made to dress up like a pair of scarecrows and that was more respectable than shorts and vest! And I was off on one. Don't get me started on organised religions - just an oppurtunity to fleece you. My wife though was having a moment and I completely missed it so when she asked for 2 euros to light a candle I was less than charitable about Roman Catholic pricing policies. And I ruined her moment. Well serves me right for being such a cynic!
We emerged into the daylight from the cool of the church. Did I mention the heat? it was hot. Our next destination was the Trevi Fountain. All we knew was that it wasn't far away. Well in relative terms anyway. In the heat it might have seemed a million miles. Step forward our friend Google. Up came Google maps, we typed in the fountain and up popped a route, walking naturally, off we jolly well went.
The fountain was just where Google Maps said it was. The route we were set demonstrated that either we couldn't follow simple instructions or that Google does not know the local topography as well as it thinks! I know which version I prefer.
The Fountain is a beautiful sight rightly made famous in the film "3 Coins In The Fountain"
However I find that wherever I go as a tourist I am confounded by - other tourists. The square was awash with them. And when did tourists prefer selfies to just taking pictures? My wife and I struggled to find a space to throw our coins what with these tourists not only getting their pictures of the fountain but also "artistically" composed pictures of themselves AND the fountain, in a variety of poses preferably.
We nourished ourselves emotionally around the fountain, coins thrown etc, and felt it was time to move on and "nourish" ourselves with ice cream. To this end we wandered off the square and followed the crowds down the narrow alley ways.
We wandered amongst the throng of tourists and sellers of tat and felt the heat of the midday sun bearing down on us. Did I mention how hot it was out there? As a result of this sudden recognition of thirst, we called in to a cafe and partook of some excellent (code for costly) chilled beverage of the lager variety!
It was not an unpleasant situation. Sunshine, company and inebriation.
In the next issue...
