Rome
I arrived in Rome in the evening of 31st July, to a great hostel and a free concert in front of the Colosseum. What better way to start my stay in Italy! The Colosseum is amazing - you just turn the corner and there it is at the end of the street. The police had cordoned off the street, it was packed. Bryan Adams played and was great, all the classics - Summer of 69 etc. Billy Joel also played but he wasn't that good.
Tuesday morning I headed to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. It seemed like everybody else in Rome had the same idea! There were about a hundred tour groups. Lots of them were German, they seemed to be some kind of youth group - but more on them later. It was really hot... I walked around the outside of the Colosseum, but didn't go inside because the queue was a mile long. The Roman ruins were interesting, but unfortunately there were no information boards or anything so I didn't really know what I was looking at. The only way to know was to take a guided tour, which were expensive and looked kinda boring - so I just wandered around. I then walked to the Trevi Fountain. It is really amazing - very beautiful. Despite the crowds. I did the obligatory toss of the coin over the shoulder (with your back to the fountain), which is meant to ensure you come back to Rome. I walked from there all the way to the Spanish Steps, which are a huge flight of stairs leading up to this church on a hill. It was nice, but again crowded. I walked to the top and alongside a hill- nice views of Rome. Later in the evening I then went to the Piazza Navone, which has at its centre the 'fountain of four rivers'. There are lots of cafes all around, with outdoor tables, lovely atmosphere. I walked along the Tiber River as well, where I also saw an absolutley massive group of German youth again, all chanting German songs and overwhelming everything in their path - traffic stopped, buses were swamped, gelati shops were over-run... crazy Germans!
Next day I headed to the Vatican. Wednesday is the day that the Pope gives his weekly address. I thought that maybe the Vatican museum would be quiter then, as everybody went to watch him. But, no such luck... as we just happened to stumble upon some huge congress thing of European Catholic youth (this is where the Germans fit in!), all gathered in the piazza in front of St Peter's Basilica singing hymns! Walked through the Vatican museum, after about a hundred rooms finally came to the Sistine Chapel - very beautiful.
In the evening went back to the Spanish steps hoping it would be quieter than before. However, the Germans had taken over. By this stage those kids were starting to annoy the hell out of me. There were literally about 200 of them sitting on the steps chanting 'Deutschland Deutschland'. needless to say there were some very pissed off Italians on the sidelines. Probably some kind of German revenge because Italy won the world cup. Decided to walk to Trevi fountain - pretty at night time. But as we approached... what did we hear... more German chanting. Then we saw the big German flag and knew it was a lost cause. They had taken over the Trevi too...
Observations on Italians:
- The majority of Italians are very good looking, especially the women. They all have really nice olive/brown skin. but they don't look as if they would ever deign to sunbake (plus there are no tan lines), so either its genetic or from a sunbed. Either way i am jealous! They are very well groomed. Women usually wearing heels despite the crazy cobblestone streets (which make walking quite tiring)
- Aviator sunglasses) have never gone out of fashion in Italy. Even the police wear aviators, they look like that guy from the Village People!
I'll put up photos at some point... I have taken a ridiculous amount!