Roaming the streets of Rome

There are the obvious highlights in Rome - the Colosseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter's, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain - and the not-so-obvious highlights - like the unlabeled ruins that serve as foundations for modern buildings, numerous churches not in the guidebooks, countless shops to wander through, and strolling through the city by street light. Try to enjoy some of both.

Quick Tips:

Rome in August is unbelieveably hot - my first trip to Rome was unfortunately during the first week of August, so I got to enjoy the Colosseum in 90+ degree heat. This time, we were smart enough to go in March. By all means, if you can go in the off-season or "shoulder" season, do so. Hotels are cheaper, flights are cheaper, the weather is better and there are a lot less people.

The budget hotels in Rome are near the train station. It's easy to catch the metro or bus to anywhere in the city from the train station or nearby Piazza Republica. If you are looking for more ambiance and can afford + a night, try to stay closer to the sights. There are some nice hotels near Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain. For super-deluxe accomodations, try the area near the Spanish steps down Via Condotti and Via del Corso.

Best Way To Get Around:

We did a LOT of walking. The metro coverage is a bit sparse in Rome, but buses can get you just about anywhere you want to go. Taxis are readily available, but make sure you take a marked taxi that you picked up at an actual taxi stand. Unmarked or "gypsy" cabs will rip you off.

This is a small, clean, and friendly little place several blocks from Termini Station. Run by the friendly Carmella and her daughter Rosanna, the rooms are small but comfortable, and even the cheapest room has a built-in safe, telephone and a 13" TV. We stayed 4 nights and negotiated a rate of L110,000 a night for a double with a shared bath, paying cash.

The furniture may be mismatched slightly, and the rooms on the small side, but we thought the place was great. We had our own sink and miniscule shower (the water pressure and temperature varied considerably during the course of a shower, but it gave us something to laugh about), and the "shared" toilet two doors down didn''t appear to be used by anyone except us.

The walls are a bit thin, one night we could hear the people across the hall (they left their door open) until about 10:00pm or so, but nothing after that. We had fun with the TV - we watched "Armaggedon" and "Hot Shots" dubbed into Italian and got quite a kick out of it.

Two words of caution however - Carmella speaks VERY little English, and if you can''t speak anything in Italian other than "grazie" and "prego", you may have difficulty communicating. She knows the basics needed to run a hotel, but it might be a little shaky if you didn''t know how to make a reservation or tell her what time your train arrived using Italian. Also, the hotel has a midnight curfew. This was no problem for us as we''re not late night partiers, but if you want to check out the club scene this could be a problem.

There is nothing quite like the Forum. It's an amazing sight, but it helps to know what you're looking at. If you don't have a good guidebook, pick one from one of the many street vendors in the area.

Entrance to the Forum is free, but check the hours. We were there in March and it was only open until 4:00pm. You can start your tour of the Forum at either arch - The arch of Titus (the end towards the Colosseum) or the arch of Septimus Severus (towards the Campadoglio). See the gigantic ruins of the Basilica of Constantine (for a truly amazing sight visit the Capitoline museum for a peek at pieces of the HUGE statue of the Constantine himself that once stood in the Basilica). Stoll down the streets that Caesar once strolled down. Speaking of Caesar, visit the spot where his body was cremated. Peek inside the Curia to see where the Senate once resided. Wonder at the marvel of what the street looked like 2000 years ago.

The Colosseum is an amazing feat of architecture. Before you go into the building, stand outside and stare up at the massive arena contemplating the fact that the structure is over 2000 years old. That fact alone is always enough to blow me away.

After waiting in the line to buy your ticket (and turning away numerous people selling cheesy postcards and other souveniers), you enter the interior of the arena. The arena floor is gone, exposing the subterrainean passages used to move and house people and animals. They have recently built a metal walkway which allows you to walk out over the passageways and across the area where the floor once stood. Personally, I don't think the ability to walk through the middle outweighs the ugly metal path that now appears in any picture of the center of the Colosseum. But such is the nature of tourism, I suppose. Climb the steps to the second level of the arena, and walk around the perimeter. There is a great view of the Arch of Constantine from the arches on the side near the Forum.

Entrance to the Colosseum is L12,000 but combo tickets covering other sights are available as well. We bought the combo ticket.

Villa Borghese is Rome's disheveled version of Central Park. I love to go spend a few hours in the afternoon people watching in the park. When my feet are getting tired after a couple days of wandering through Rome, the park is a great place to rest my feet. If you're looking for something a little more active, you can take a row on the small lake/pond in front of a ruined temple (I think it may have been a temple to Artemis, but I'm not sure). Or take a quick jog along one of the paths.

If you're just looking for a rest and some great people watching, bring a snack of fresh fruit or some bread you picked up at the market that morning and lean back and enjoy. This is also a great spot for catching up on your personal travel journal or the book you've been reading.

While you're there, you can also check out the Borghese Gallery, housing Bernini's David and his statue of Apollo chasing Daphne. Reservations are required for the museum (in high season you are best to make them at least 3-4 days in advance), though any no-shows are released just after the top of the hour. Supposedly reservations are tightest at 11:00am and on the weekends.

This is one of the greatest collections of art in the world. Too many people rush through the rest of the museum just to see the Sistine Chapel, however. For a good overview of the museum, you'll need to allot at LEAST 2 1/2 hours to see everything. For art buffs or those whose feet are more up to the task, plan on 3-4 hours.

If you are a budget tourist and happen to be in Rome the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican is free. If you plan to see the Vatican on the Sunday that it's free, get to the museum at least 1/2 hour before it opens if you don't want to stand in line for up to 2 hours just waiting to get in. In the off season it's not so bad, but I still recommend shelling out the L18,000 and going when it is less crowded. Since the museum is closed Sundays, Monday's seem to be busier than other days. In off season, you can show up about the time the museum opens and only have about a 10-15 minute wait.

Aside from the Sistine Chapel, Raphello rooms, and the Borgia's Apartment, there are scores of other religious art. There are halls of tapestries, map rooms, Greek and Roman statues, a very interesting gallery of modern religious art, a surprisingly unbusy gallery of ancient Eutruscan artifacts, and a Pinacoteca full of paintings of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Museum hours are 8:45 - 16:45 from April 1 -October 31, and 8:45-13:45 from November 1 - March 31. The museum is closed Sundays and all federal and religous holidays (if you don't know your Catholic holidays, you'll need to get a guidebook that lists them or call ahead to make sure it's open). From personal experience, March 19th is a religous holiday. I couldn't tell you which one, but we showed up at the Vatican to find it locked tight.

St. Peter's church is definitely awe-inspiring. Now out from under the scaffolding that covered it's facade on my first trip in 1998, the church is the high point of Rome - literally. (A city ordinance makes it illegal to build any structure taller than the dome of St. Peter's.)

Enter the church and find the burgundy colord marble circle near the rear of the church. Stand here (on the spot where Charlemagne was coronated) and survey the immensity of the building. Imagine what it might look like had the architech's original design prevailed - a symmetrical Greek cross with a center dome rather than the Latin cross design that was actually built. The nave (center aisle) would only be half as long!

To your right (behind bullet proof glass - some crazy guy attacked the statue with a hammer in the late 70s) is Michelangelo's Pieta. Straight ahead in the center of the church is Bernini's canopy. St. Peter himself is said to be buried underneath. Rub the foot of the statue of St. Peter (on the right before you reach the canopy) for good luck. (This statue is the only remaining item from the original St. Peter's church.) Survey Raphaello's "paintings" on the walls, which if you look at closely you will notice are not actually paintings at all but mosaics.

See everything you want to see in the church, then decend the stairs into the crypt housing the bodies of many of the deceased popes. Make sure you visit the crypt last, as the exit leads outside the church.

Now little more than an oval shaped dirt track in the middle of a grassy field, it's a bit difficult to imagine what the Circus Maximus once was. However, I think it's still worth a visit, even if just to walk a lap on the same ground that chariots once raced 2000 years before. Join the locals and lounge on the grass at the edge of the track (we found this was a perfect spot for a mid-afternoon siesta).

If you're hungry, there is a great little sandwich shop across the street from the Circus at the opposite end from the metro stop. I forget what it's called, but it's a little snack bar or gastronomia in a brown building on the right hand corner. They had great ham and cheese sandwiches and pizza, heated up the old fashioned way - on a grill (vs. the all too common microwave). Grab a sandwich and a drink and sit on one of the sets of steps in the Circus and have lunch.

This is an amazing fountain, which like many of the fountains in Rome, is still powered by the original ancient aqueducts running into the city. (The aqueducts were destroyed when the Goths sacked the city, but one of the popes had them rebuilt during the Renaissance.) Every time I visit, I am amazed at how such a large fountain fits into such a tiny square. If you press your back against one of the shop windows opposite the fountain, you still can't fit the entire fountain into the viewfinder of your camera.

The fountain is very romantic at night when it is lit by the surrounding floodlights, however my husband was so bothered by the guys selling roses to anyone who remotely looked like a couple that we only stayed for about 5 minutes. I might consider buying a rose just to get them to leave you alone, or pack a silk one in your suitcase to carry with you. They are also all over the Spanish steps, Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori.

Legend says that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain it will assure your return to Rome one day.

Most people consider Pompeii a side trip from Naples rather than Rome. However, on my first trip to Italy I had a few extra days on my railpass, and decided to use one of them up by taking a day trip to Pompeii from Rome. I caught an early morning train to Naples (about 8:30 am or so) which is about 2-3 hour long ride, then switched in the Naples train station and bought a ticket for the Circumvesuviana train that runs from Naples to Sorrento, stopping at Pompeii along the way. (The Circumvesuviana train is not covered by your rail pass, you'll need an additional ticket for it, in 1998 it cost about $3 each way. The trip from Naples to Pompeii is about 1/2 hour.)

Make sure you get off the train at the Pompei Scavi stop, not the Pompeii stop. (Scavi is the ruins, Pompeii is the modern day city). Entrance to Pompeii was L12,000 (in 1998), and I strongly suggest you rent an audioguide for a good understanding of the ruins if you do not go with an organized tour. You get a detailed map with your ticket, and there is a baggage check near the entrance.

I was completely awestruck by how well things in Pompeii were preserved. There were walls with paintings that looked like they could have been painted just a few hundred years ago, shop counters that were still standing in one piece, marble baths still intact. The audioguide was full of good information, and it was pretty easy to go at whatever pace you chose.

If you get hungry or thirsty while in the ruins, there is an (overpriced) snack shop/cafe near the entrance. It closes a few hours before the ruins actually close - around 3:00 pm if I remember correctly. Hours for the ruins are 8:30 am-7:30 pm Mar-Sept and until 5:00pm Oct-Feb.

I really enjoyed the trip to Pompeii, but I only recommend it as a side trip from Rome if you have railpass days you want to use up. Otherwise do what most people do and see Pompeii as a day trip from Naples or Sorrento.