"Roma" a Rome Travel Page by cheekymarieh

Rome has a population of almost three million and is the capital city of Italy – and the capital of the Lazio region (now we know where Gazza's old team get their name from!). The city is built on the River Tiber on the Seven Hills of Rome - the Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Palatine, Aventine, and Caelian.

According to legend, in 753 Romulus and Remus asked the gods which one of them should rule. Remus climbed up the Aventine Hill to await the outcome while Romulus went up the Palatine Hill. Six vultures flew over the Aventine and twelve over the Palatine and each thought that the gods were favouring them. Romulous began building his city, but his brother jumped over the walls and killed him. Romulous’ settlement grew and prospered and the Palantine became covered with palaces and gardens.

From the 6th century it has been the centre for Christianity, and more recently Roman Catholicism in particular. There are reminders of its rich heritage all over the city of Rome and also in the independent Vatican City. You will find many references to the city in the New Testament.

As well as religion, the city is famous for the three F’s – fashion, film and football! Lazio and Roma are the major teams to be found here. Unfortunately I didn't get to a game when I went during the close season in July 1993 but this year I will rectify this (and update my page after the event.

The centre of Rome is a world heritage site (there seem to be a few of those about these days!) and there are lots of well known monuments ranging from the ancient ones like the Colosseum and Pantheon to the more modern ones such as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

Pollution is very noticeable in the city especially when I was there in the height of summer. It was actually worse than I have ever encountered in Athens so be warned. I am hoping that on my next visit in March that it will be less noticable.

Some famous quotations:

'I like this city. It is full of the sound of water, fountains everywhere, amazing and beautiful - big things full of marble - gods and animals, naked girls wrestling with horses and swans with tons of water cascading over them'
William Faulkner (1954)

Rome wasn't built in a day!

All roads lead to Rome.

In July 1993 we had a full day to see the city, though I must recommend a little longer if you wish to be able to walk for the next few days afterwards (fortunately we had almost 2 days to recover as we travelled to Athens next by train and ferry). In that one day we managed to see:
The Colosseum
The Pantheon
The Spanish Steps
The Trevi Fountain
St Peters
Trajan's Column
Castel S Angelo

My one regret was that we didn't get to see the Catacombs, but the one we wanted to see was closed on a Wednesday (and still is so I won't get to see it again).

During this trip we walked everywhere because we didn't want to miss the chance to stop and see everything of interest on the way to our chosen spaces. In hindsight I wouldn't recommend this because of the impact it has on your feet! I hope I have learned my lesson for the next visit and will use some public transport to get around.

I was dressed without football colours and could easily have passed for an average tourist in the city with my friend Tanya. However, from about 4pm in the afternoon as we headed towards the Villa Borghese area I felt as if I was treated like a criminal (with the exception of one small bar down a side street with a pleasant barman ... even when he realised we were football supporters there for the game (he must have been a Lazio fan!). One bar refused to serve us alcohol when on a nearby table we could see others drinking beer!

The police have left such a lasting impression that had my trip to the city that it will be a long time before I return ... if ever. They seem to have one law for their own fans and one for visitors. Don't allow visitors to take anything into the stadium with them but allow the home fans as much ammunition as they want and allow them to throw it.

I don't know if it was just Middlesbrough supporters who have experienced this, or other football supporters as well. I'll be interested to hear the views of others.