"When in Rome" a Rome Travel Page by Callavetta

What can I say about Rome? I so want to love it, but I just can't quite get there. I admire it and respect it but there is something that keeps me wanting to keep it at arm's distance. I picked up a book in my apt., left behind by a previous visitor and came upon this paragraph that eloquently describes my feelings:

"I had been to Rome several times before, and never much liked it. Italy is without a doubt one of my favorite countries in the world, perhaps my single favorite, but I've always found Rome grimy, congested, and despondent. Beautiful, yes --- Michaelangelo's Campidoglio, St. Peter's, the Villa Borghese, the Via Veneto, are all striking in different ways, ancient, luxuriant, opulent--- but overwhelming, threatening." - Joseph Finder, Extraordinary Powers

Whatever you say about Rome, it's a tale of many cities; the ancient, the modern, the Catholic, the poluted, the protected, the laid back, and the hectic..... There's a Rome there for everyone.

Rome is a city of monuments. Certainly Il Vittoriano, or the Victor Emmanuel Monument, takes the "cake". Ironically dubbed the "wedding cake" or "typewriter" (nicknames intended to be insulting) this edifice, completed in 1911 took 26 years to build.