"Eternal City" a Rome Travel Page by SPW

We knew we had reached in Italy when we were waved through immigration with only a cursory galnce at our passports and then out into an area of dramatic chaos: reunions, tour groups...and us.
Driving into the city was enlightening. Our driver recounted his life story, sometimes with no hands on the wheel as he gesticulated and then as we approached Testaccio, ancient ruins began to appear among the more conventional modern shops and apartments, culminating in the huge complex of baths of Caracalla, city gate and ancient walls.
We arrived at our apartment, in a small street running from the market, in full mid morning frenzy, and as I clambered from the back seat of the van I caught my foot and arrived on the streets of Rome on my knees!
Leaving our bags we quickly regained the street, on foot this time, and started to explore, practising our elementary Italian in the market, goggling at the sight of ordinary Italians going about their business and wondering vaguely where we were in the great Eternal City.

After our siesta, we returned to the wakening streets to explore a little of the area.
In historic Roman times, Testaccio was a port area and Monte Testaccio was a grassed over, huge mound of broken and discarded amphorae. More recently it had been a working class area housing workers from the nearby slaughter houses, but now it has seen a gradual change as people have taken advantage of the cheaper (comparatively) housing and it is becoming gentrified.
The area still retains very much a local feel, with women in the house dresses shopping at least once daily in the markets, and then donning their good clothes to engage in the afternoon passeggiata when whole families would parade the streets, the market and the park/children's playground.
On our exploration we discovered a small British War Cemetery, as well as old city walls and gate.

On our first full day, we took our courage and jetlag into our hands, and ventured beyond peaceful Testaccio. We walked past the Pyramid built 1st Century BC as a tomb by Gaius Cestius and his descedants (who were bankrupted by the process) to the underground station, caught the train to Colosseo, walked out from the station and there it was: the Colosseum!
This magnificent ruin was surrounded by all the trappings of modern tourism: gladiators, tour groups, horsedrawn vehicles and hordes of tourists from all corners of the globe. With the summer heat and wanting to conserve our strength we only examined the outside, but also walked around some of the other sights eg Archs of Costantine and Titus, Imperial Way.
Hopping on to the bus we made our way around the major sights, resting our feet and oohing and aahing as we went. We eventually alighted in the Tridentine area, where we wandered the back lanes, had lunch and found our way to the Spanish Steps and from there to the Trevi Fountain. Exhausted we were heading back to the bus when I felt a slight bump and turned to find my backpack open and newly bought gloves missing, a dampener on an otherwise enjoyable day.
Next day we headed over to the Trastevere area where we found St Cecilia's beautiful church and were rewarded by an organist practising for the Sunday service. The laneways and nooks and crannies of this fascinating area presented constant cahnges of scene and we promised ourselves we would return when we came back to Rome at the end of our holiday.
Friday morning, with our bags and a picnic for the journey, we headed for Termini station for our trip to Venice, only to be caught in an appalling traffic jam, police diversions and genral chaos, only just managing to board the train in time.