Omnes Viae Romam Ducunt (All Roads Lead to Rome)

Rome was near the top of my list of places to visit and the city provided a great opportunity to escape the chilly autumn in Paris. The temperature in Rome was between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius during my three day visit but what surprised me was how most of the locals were already wearing light winter jackets! The residents must be acclimatized to more tropical weather and this choice in outerwear made all of the tourists easily identifiable as we were all wearing short sleeve shirts.

I made this a three day visit so that I wouldn't have to rush through everything like in the Munich and Barcelona trips, and I could use the November 11 Armistice Day holiday in France to rest and recover.

Like earlier weekend excursions, the plan was to see the major attractions, catch a football game and take in the local culture.

Day 1:

My focus for the first day was to see the major sites of Ancient Rome. Fortunately, all of the main attractions were in close proximity, so I was able to complete all of my sightseeing on foot (although it was a lot of walking).

A photo of me outside the Colosseum. Construction was started in 70 AD by Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD by his son, Titus.

The interior of the Colosseum. Most of the ground level has been removed to reveal the tunnels and prep rooms where gladiators and wild animals were held prior to their matches. On the left, you might see a cross, which Pope John Paul II installed in commemoration of Christian martyrs (although the extent to which Christians were killed here is debatable).  



The Palatine Hill was originally the residential area of the Roman Emperors. Most of the sites in the area have been worn away to piles of stone or have been grown over by grass. Pictured is the Peristyle of the Domus Flavia, with the Triclinium in the center-right background.

 

The Roman Forum contained the government administration buildings of Ancient Rome. The columns in the center-left are the remains of the Temple of Saturn and to the right is the Triumphal Arch of Septimus Severus. The Column of Phocas stands in front of the Temple of Saturn. The well preserved building in the background is the Tabularium, the official records building of Ancient Rome.

 

I was able to see the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum throughout the morning and middle afternoon because I bought tickets in advance. This enabled me to skip the lines, which were very long and slow-moving. This also freed up some time to see a few other attractions in the area.

 

Since the Circus Maximus was right next to Palatine Hill, I decided to quickly walk over and take a look. I was curious as to why none of the other tourists were going to such a well known site of Ancient Rome, until I got there and discovered that there was nothing left of the arena except the worn out tracks where the chariots used to race. Even then, it appeared the grass was slowly growing over the chariot track. 



The Circus Maximus, home of Rome's largest chariot races. Now it is an open park with a long gravel track.

After seeing the major sites of Ancient Rome, I walked north to see a Renaissance era site: the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately, the fountain was under renovation and it is expected to be closed until late 2015.

The Trevi Fountain, under renovation.

Day 2:

Since many of the Vatican's sites are closed on Sundays, I used the second day to see a bit of everything around Rome (including the football match).

The Fontana della Barcaccia and the Spanish Steps. At the top of the steps is the church of Trinità dei Monti, but it is under renovation and some large fashion billboards were placed over the scaffolding.

The front of the Pantheon. This was a Roman temple originally built during the rein of Augustus and then rebuilt by Hadrian around 126 AD. It has since been converted into a Roman Catholic church.

The interior of the Pantheon, which contains Roman and Catholic statues as well as a Catholic altar.

The Piazza Navona, with the Fountain of the Four Rivers in the left foreground.

After some quick sightseeing in the morning, I made it to St. Peter's Square in Vatican City in time to receive a Papal blessing.

A photo of me receiving a Papal blessing. I had to crop the photo so that you can recognize the window from where Pope Francis makes his speech.

 

I spent the afternoon seeing Villa Borghese (a large park), getting lost, discovering the best gelato in Rome (at a small shop near Piazza del Popolo) and then figuring out my way to the Stadio Olimpico to see AS Roma play Torino in a Serie A match. 

Stadio Olimpico during the match between AS Roma and Torino.

This football match was different in a few ways. First, the security at the stadium was much heavier than the German, Spanish and Belgian games that I've seen. I had to pass through two security checks where my bag was searched. Despite this, a few people still managed to get flares into the stadium. Second, the home crowd was much louder than the other matches I've attended. There were ultras on both sides of the stadium waving large flags and starting different chants, and whenever the Torino fans became noticeably audible, the home fans would quickly whistle, jeer and drown them out with their own song. Third, AS Roma tried to make the atmosphere more of a family affair, including holding a fan fest outside the stadium and showing shots of the crowd on the big screen. This was slightly mitigated by the heaving jeering when the announcer had to recite a disclaimer warning against racial chanting and aggressive behaviour.

AS Roma won the match 3-0 and the whole crowd (except the small contingent of heavily guarded Torino fans) had a good time.


Day 3:

For the third day, I had just enough time before my flight to see a few sites at Vatican City. As with the Ancient Roman sites, I saved a lot of time buying tickets in advance, which allowed me to pass some very long lineups.

The Gallery of Maps, my favourite room in the Vatican Museum. The one annoying part about the Vatican Museum is that some rooms (including this one) have gift shop counters right there in front of the artwork. 

 

Photos were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but while I was turning off my cellphone, I "accidentally" took a photo of the ceiling.

While the advanced ticket allowed me to skip the line for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, it did not provide any shortcut into St. Peter's Basilica. So I had to wait in line at St. Peter's Square. Fortunately, it was already afternoon and the line had shortened considerably.

The exterior of St. Peter's Basilica, shot from St. Peter's Square.

 

The interior of St. Peter's Basilica. This was taken from the main entrance, facing towards the main altar, although there must have been at least five other wings with altars that could easily make for an impressive church on their own.

 

After visiting Vatican City, I went back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and along the way I decided to rest at Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle II. There happened to be a cat shelter in the plaza (although it did not appear to be an official cat shelter like the one at Torre Argentina) and within 30 seconds of sitting down near a fountain there were two cats approaching me. Most of the cats in the shelter were grey tabby cats with black stripes.

A cat from Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle II.

 

That was Rome in three days. The extra day allowed me to move around the city at a more comfortable pace and see most of the interesting sites. The other fun part is that I noticed that food in Rome is much cheaper than elsewhere in Europe, so I got my fill of pizzas, calzones, paninis and gelatos, and fortunately all of the walking helped me burn off the extra calories!