Rome in a rush!

Visits to the Vatican, the Forum, and Colosseum are musts. Ostio Antica, outside Rome near the coast, is another Roman city worth a visit, as it has well-preserved Roman ruins. The Trevi fountain is probably best visited at dusk, when the lights have just turned on, but there is still sufficient daylight to allow good photography.

Quick Tips:

Save a bit of money by staying at one of the Mercure hotels, away from the city centre and main tourist attractions. Use their shuttle to get around (for free!). We stayed at the Piazza Bologna, but the Mercure Corso Trieste looked very comfortable, well appointed, and lists a cheaper tariff. They are also on the shuttle run, so they may be worth checking out!

Best Way To Get Around:

The public transportation seems to be fairly efficient, and there is station near the Colosseum. There is a train going directly from the airport to Termini Station. We used a shuttle bus and were delivered to the wrong hotel. From the Colosseum it is easy to walk around Rome, although when we were there, it was quite hot. (Make sure you take plenty of water with you!)

The room was reasonably sized and quite comfortable, with a Queen Size bed and ensuite with bath. It was located out of the city in Bologna, quite close to the Metro station and not all that far from Roma's attractions. Just a little beyond comfortable walking distance.

The hotel ran a shuttle service between the other Roma Mercure hotels and also via Station Termini. Handy for those willing to battle public transport after a long flight. There is a direct train from the Airport to Termini.

One of the Mercure Hotels (Mercure Roma Delta Colosseo) was a block from the Colosseum and Forum. The shuttle bus ran about every hour and ten minutes and was freely available for hotel guests. (Guess how we got from Bologna to the Colosseum!) We used a small shuttle bus from the airport, which unfortunately delivered us to the wrong Mercure hotel. Thus our knowledge of the shuttle bus!

Breakfasts were as good as any we have had in hotels both at home and abroad, and much better than many we have encountered in other European cities and in the UK. The variety of foods was excellent and the yoghurts and cheese (yes.... cheese for breakfast!) was very tasty.

The tariff was much lower than the Mercure Colosseo, but with the shuttle bus service it was no less convenient. However, as a schoolteacher on holiday, a room that did not look out on the local school would have been preferable. The hotel had non-smoking rooms. Quite important given the number of Europeans who seem to smoke.

The hotel also had free internet access. Nice to be able to keep in touch with home!

Dining in Rome generally does not start before 7:30 pm. It’s a long wait after a day walking the Roman ruins, so we were ravenous. As a pizza lover from way back, I was looking forward to sampling the local fare. It was tasty enough, but had nowhere near the amount of filling we have on the Aussie pizzas. Surprisingly, also, was the relative lack of garlic. It was there, but more subtle than I would have expected. Service was prompt, and we sat at tables outside the restaurant to eat and watch the world go by. Parking and driving in Rome is, of course, an entertaining spectacle. There was also the usual parade of pretty young things walking past to do their shopping. Dogfights, road rage arguments... we saw it all!

The food was both tasty and reasonably priced. Given the difficulty of finding a restaurant open early enough for tired tourists where we could make ourselves understood, this one stood out. The waiter understood sufficient English for us to cope with ordering and paying, and we were seated and fed early enough to suit our schedule. An attempt the previous night to find local cuisine was less successful. We found a sort of pizza cafe, but were unable to successfully place an order for food. (English was neither spoken nor understood.)

Traditional Italian cuisine with a musician (who also busked for tips) to set the atmosphere. Food was excellent, but the waiter.... let’s just say he was a bit of a wag with the women. He pushed the boundaries a little, but good-naturedly enough to get away with it. All the ladies were given the roses from the table at the end of the evening. The expected reward was a kiss.

The food never seemed to end. Good thing we had done a few laps of Rome during the day to build up our appetites. We also needed to do a few more the next day to work off the dinner. The only criticism of the evening was that coffee stopped after one table (not ours!) and the waiter started the rounds of distributing the flowers. Seemed to lose the plot and we missed out on our coffee. Coffee, of course, is one of the things that they are good at in Rome!

Funny, one feature of the Roman Colosseum that is lauded is the ability to get people in very quickly. With 80 entrances they could get 55,000 spectators in very quickly. Of course, with modern progress and technology the time to get in has... well, we were there very early in the morning, just after its opening time, and still queued for an hour! Perhaps they could learn some lessons from 72 AD! The ticket office lady was unimpressed with my observations regarding getting people in now versus 72 AD!

Still, it was well worth the 8.00 Euro entrance fee. A truly amazing structure. The Romans certainly knew how to build things. We spent about 2 hours here and were certainly impressed.

We also spent a few hours walking around the Roman Forum. Another impressive Roman structure. Photo opportunities abounded. I also like the way later Christian cultures recycled the Roman temples. (Although marks on the columns around one recycled temple indicate that they would have preferred to start with a clean slate!)

We managed to find someone offering a free tour. He explained (in English, thankfully) a lot of the historical aspects of the Forum. The only catch was the advertising of an evening tour for which one had to pay. We were heading for bed early to recover from the flight so were not planning to do anything!

No expense was spared in the construction of this church. Hope the poor people were being fed well! Our visit coincided with a religious holiday and an address to the masses by the Pope. Thus, the black St. Peter was suitably attired in full papal regalia!

The church compared itself favourably with other churches around the world. Larger than Westminster Abbey.... they had a mark on the floor to indicate the distance from the entrance of Westminster Abbey to the altar. It was well inside the church entrance!

Some popes were arranged in glass cases in alcoves around the church. Their faces were covered with either wax or silver masks. Strangely, not all popes were accorded this privilege. Some were buried under the floor in catacombs marked by a circular cover. No one could explain why some got the wax treatment whilst others were given the silver service.

Still, as an example of how to spend absolutely obscene amounts of money on interior decoration, St Peter's Basilica has to top the list (followed closely by the Sistine Chapel).

If you are not completely churched out, this one is a must see! (Along with the Sistine Chapel, also in Vatican City.)

We visited the Trevi Fountain as part of an evening tour of Rome. It was beautiful in the early evening, with the lights in the fountain providing a welcoming glow. I waited patiently for my turn to throw money into the fountain. Yes, I lined up the throw away good money! (Although I must confess, my contribution was at the bottom end of the Euro scale.) It seems that I am now destined to have a romantic and happy return to Rome. (Hmmmm. Maybe that means I'm going to win a lottery... otherwise I'll be much older and wiser before I have the money to go again!)