Even as I set off this morning I could feel my legs. Yesterday was just too far and I found myself gingerly walking up hill to cut round the back of the Roman Type Writer so I could get the The Pantheon.  By the time I got to the otherside the worrying feelings were near gone and so I proceeded on to my target.

Where as The Colosseum left me neutral and The Trevi Fountain was nice but over-rated, The Pantheon from outside is just wow.  Not quite the wow of Todai-ji or Qtab Minitar, but not that far off.  Inside is equally impressive, but it could be argued all the Christian symbolism inside does ruin it a little.  Also I noticed European’s seem to have less respect for ancient religeous buildings (and in this case one still in use) than the Japanese. Actually come to think of it, my experience of Indian UNESCO World Herritage Sigths is that they will do the minimum to keep them going, so at least it’s better here.  The Pantheon is a must see when you’re in Rome. Continue reading →

I decided, or more acurately my tired limbs decided, that I would eat locally so I hit Trip Advisor.  My original choice was furthest away and listed 22nd in Rome for Trip Advisor restaurants.  Needless to say it was full.  The next place was no where in sight (perhaps it’s now closed) and so I went to my third option, Osteria della Suburra down the road from the hotel in via Urbana.  It’s a local’s haunt.  When ever I’ve set off for food around 6/7pm it had been closed, but on return it’s been full.  I got there around 21:!5 and only just got a table.  The food was decidedly average, nothing special, but this is the sort of safe place you keep in your back pocket and where locals will awlays go.  The atmosphere was decent and I did recognise some of the other diners from workshops and shops in the street.  Over time more people came in, this is obviosuly the sort of place that stays open late, real late.  Interstingly enough, not long before I left (around 23:00) an American couple sat down next to me.  Turns out they lived in this area for 5 years many moons ago when he studied at Rome University and that in recent years they have always come back to this place.  As I said this is a restaurant for locals who want a safe reliable meal.

Right now yawning.  Tomorrow is my last real day here so there’s a few places I want to hit, plus I’ve got psotcards and souveniers to buy so ciao.

I’m knackered.  I’ve been walking near non stop for over 7 hours today.  In the heat.  32 degrees C heat.

So I set off around 11 a.m. to wander up Via Urbana, on to Via Madona del Monti, past the forums, on to Piazza Venezzia and past the Roman Type Writer (Il Vittoriano), round the back, up the steps to Michalangelo’s Piazza del Campiodoglio, round back past the forums to the entrance to Palatino, lots of Roman ruins including various arches, the temple to Saturn, temples to Castor and Polux, Romulus & Remus, and so on.  Afteer having covered the entire area and taken lots of photos, I then left and went to ll Colosso, The Colosseum.  The ancient ruins are well worth wandering round, ust take a bottle of water with you (there’s a few spots in the zone where you can fill up for free, plus there’s various toilets dotted around) and expect to spend at least a few hours. Continue reading →

As ever I had plans, though part of them were in black and white.  I set off for the station and the main museum.  It was due to close at 19:30 so I had a few hours spare.  On arriving I wandered round the gardens outside and decided to leave it till tomorrow or Saturday as I was not sure I’d have enough time.  I thus wandered.  I reached Piazza Espagn, better known as The Spanish Steps.  The bottom level and the piazza were full of gawkers, hawkers and beggers (reminding me some what of Park Guel in Barcelona).  From there I went on to a back street restaurant recommended by an ex-colleague of mine, L’Enoteca Antica in Via della Croce.  While in a touristy area it was maily full of locals, always a good sign.  The food there was good and not ‘stock Italian’ (except for the dolce). Continue reading →

Round the corner is the magnificent Basilica Di Santa Maria Maggiore, a large domed church/cathedral with a cavernous, gilt filled interior.  It shouts grandeur, highlighting it’s importance before the Vatican came in to being.  The entrance is actually on the other side from Via Cavour, with the piazza on each side being separately named.  It is large and impressive, but the outside is nothing compared to in.  The main part is a single pillerless hall with chapels and confession booths off to each side.  The ceiling is high with plenty of gilt, but it’s not quite as bling or in your face as my description may sound.  You will need to check out the pictures once posted. Continue reading →

I should quickly point out that the late start was not due to getting up late, in fact I could have grabbed an extra half hour or so in bed if I’d thought about it (wish I had).  Internet here at the hotel is patchy and slow,so on deciding to upload the RAW pictures from my camera to a cloud site (MS Skydrive) it should have taken just a few hours maximum (it’s only about 0.5 GB), however I still have 3 files uploading and 1 to start out of 40 !! – it’s actually sped up this morning.  Once done I can delete the files from the camera (they are already on the laptop but I just want cover).

Waking up this morning the leg felt fine, but as soon as I wandered down to breakfast I could feel a slightly worrying stifness.  Thus my plans today will be a cautious wander.  Basilica Di Santa Maria Maggiore is just round the corner and is meant to be rather spectacular.  From there I have options in 3 directions depending on the comfort factor of the leg.  I fancy wandering back to and along the station to get to Porta Maggiore, though there’s not that much else around that area. From there I could hit Termini and get the metro up to Piazza Barbrini (Trevi Fountain) or Spagna (Spanish steps).  I’ll play it by ear.  Still need those uploads to finish ….

I know I said I’d probably finish the wedding photos before doing any of the others, but now in Rome I’ve part changed my mind and have uploaded the photos I took this morning.  I had already processed 57 wedding photos, and that count now stands at 70, with about 160 left to go,

Photos are at my Webshots account

Update 2019

Webshots closed down their hosting (and then tried restarting it in an odd format).  I moved my photos to Photobucket, which was slow but worked well, even paid for an upgrade until they dropped the lower end ones.  Recently they also reduced the free account capacity to 250 photos (was already down to 2,.5 GB) so I’ve been forced to move again.  Now the photos for this holiday can now be found at my Onedrive Holiday folders

So I set off this morning towards the Colosseum, but cut east of it, up some steep interesting steps, through an arch to St Pietro in Vincoli, past the university building, past Parco Traiano and on in to Domus Aurea and Cole Oppio.  This is meant to be a pay to enter area, but unless I missed some thing (google spy-sat maps to be hit) then it was mainly an open park used by many for lying in the shade, while most the ruins looked to be shut off for archaelogical or repair work.  Still is was a pleasant treck,  I then wandered down to the Colosseum by which there is a fenced off area of ruins that do not appear on maps.  I took some photos of here, turned around and …, pain, sudden sharp at the back of my right knee. Continue reading →