"And so.....to Rome again......." a Rome Travel Page by leics

I always wanted to go to Rome because of the archaeology. I wasn't disappointed when I first visited in 2003, and had to go back in 2004 to see more.

Four years have passed since I wrote this page, and I've just returned from taking my colleague for her first Rome experience. I've got a digital camera now so I've been able to take lots more photos. And my friend's interest in things other than archaeology and history (which she can tolerate, but only in small doses) meant both that I had to think hard about my 'guiding' and that my eyes were opened to other aspects of Rome; no bad thing really.

But I was so pleased to find that Rome still was as I had thought it was: still noisy, though far less traffic now. Still absolutely fascinating. Before my first visit I hadn't realised quite how much of ancient and Medieval Rome survived, or how seamlessly it joins with the modern city. This time I found even more of its past hidden away in quieter quarters.

I always walk whenever I can. One misses so much otherwise. My friend feels the same, so we walked from 9 till 6 every day, exhausting ourselves before an early meal and early bed to rest our weary muscles!

Walking allows you to see so much: glimpses of cool garden courtyards through apartment gates (I'm building a travelogue of these glimpses),

chunks of Roman masonry stuck into walls (and another travelogue to see how the old joins the new),

tiny parts of other people's real lives (taking the children to play in the park after school, greeting old friends, giggling at the local boys, drinking coffee with mates),

watching the pretty carabinieri pose and smoke on street corners (though the standard seemed to be lower this time....surely 'they' haven't stopped the carabinieri from posing?)

and continually being amazed at the huge variety of nuns, monks and priests sight-seeing, or working, or going about their daily lives.

If you just uses buses and coaches and cars you'll miss all of that: the only way to see Rome is on foot.

Ancient buildings, or their parts, are incorporated into more modern ones everywhere you walk. This picture, taken near the Teatro Marcello, is a good example, but I saw hundreds more. So I've made a travelogue (not hundreds of photos!).

Archaeology is much of central Rome. It's not just the main touristy sites either, although you have to see those, of course. But walk down the side-streets and you'll see Roman columns, chunks of masonry, odd sculptures and statues, carved marble slabs re-used as lintels..........walk into the older churches and you'll see marble stripped from the Forum (S.M. Maggiore in particular). Even St.Peter's was partially built with travertine stone blocks taken from the Forum: the past has contnually interwoven with the present in Rome, even if that present now seems like the past to us.

Try to find time for a visit to Ostia Antica because it is a wonderful example of a Roman town, easy to get to (by local train) and as good as Pompeii but without the hordes of visitors (you can even 'lose' groups of French schoolchildren on site!).

The catacombs (you have a choice of three) offer a glimpse not only into the burial practices of the early christians in rome but also into how the more organised Roman church subsequently interpreted and absorbed those practices.

And the Via Appia lies as it did 2000 years ago (if you walk far enough away from the busy P. San Sebastiano area), its sides lined with tomb ruins, its fields farmed almost as one might imagine they were when the thousands of slaves from the revolt led by Spartacus were crucified along its length...........

I find the city fascinating. There's still the vibrancy and disregard for rules and conventions that appealed to me so much on my first visit (I spend my working life acting very straight-laced).

My friend was astonished at how Romans cross their roads but once she got over the initial shock (and listened to my advice to 'follow a nun whenever you can') she soon got used to it and, by the end of our visit, was braver than me (she's about a foot taller than me, so I suppose she's easier to see!).

But she said (and I had not consciously thought this although I now realise its truth) that Rome seemed to her to be a 'comfortable'city. Pople are as they are; there is no real pretence, no 'swankiness'; plenty of posing, of course, but Rome's ordinary day-to-day life is very visible and comforting in its visibility.

Of course, one of the best things about Rome (and Italy) is the gelati and the dolce. But I would say that, wouldn't I, given my travel motto? :-))