#TravelThursday: Rome, Italy

Of all the (few) cities I have been to on my travels, Rome remains my absolute favourite. I love, love, love Rome for the ruins and all the history. There was something almost electric about walking down the various streets of Rome and imagining what it must have felt like to live in those times of chariots and horses and gladiators and shields. Rome feels like it was suspended in time. I mean save for the trains and electricity and tarred roads, I may well have been back in 6^th century ancient Rome, under the governorship of a Roman emperor given how the ruins have been preserved. Fantastic stuff, I tell you.

I remember stepping out of the Colosseo train station and catching the first glimpse of the Colosseum and my goodness! Boy, was it breathtaking! The Colosseum is such an overwhelming, magnificent, gorgeous structure that takes your breath away upon first sight. Remember all those gladiator movies where men would fight to death in a large amphitheater made of stone walls with different ledges? That’s exactly what the Colosseum is. You’d spend hours walking around it and feel like you did a bit of time travel.

The Colosseum is not even the only ancient structure standing in that axis. There were so many others, names of which I cannot recall but they do a number on your heart, that’s for sure. So if you’re ever in Rome, be sure to check it out. Although it goes without saying that it is the primary tourist attraction of the city.
Asides, the Colosseum, another structure that stole my heart was the Trevi fountain. I love water and I strongly believe I will have a fountain and a pool in my house someday but that is besides the point. LOL. The Trevi fountain is beautiful. It was crowded with dozens of tourists and the water was so clear and refreshing. No, I didn’t take a dive in. LOL. Interestingly, the fountain is built from Travertine stone, same material used in the reconstruction of the Colosseum.

At the Trevi Fountain, lots of tourists throw in coins because it is believed that if you do so, you’ll be guaranteed to come back to Rome. Yours truly in typical Alaroro fashion did not throw in anything but best believe I’ll be back to Rome again sometime in the no distant future. Lol. I did learn recently however that the coins that are thrown in are gathered at the end of each day and given to an Italian charity. So I guess next time I’m there I’ll toss in a coin or two.
Of course there were a bunch of cathedrals to be seen. Goes without saying. Rome is like the heart of the Catholic Church and it’s about an hour or so away from the Vatican City which I will write about in another post.

If you ever visit Rome, I very highly recommend the Camping Village Roma for accommodation. Rooms are decent, there’s an outdoor pool open in the summer and it’s right in front of a bus stop so transportation is easy and accessible. For food, buffet lunches work wonders. You eat a lot of food for really cheap and you’re good to go.
I noticed a lot of graffiti around Rome as well. I guess the most shocking was the one I caught on the walls of a train and that’s because I am more used to seeing it on streets and walls of buildings but certainly not on something so ‘official’. Still feels weird.

And of course there were street guys pulling off amazing optical illusion stunts on tourists. People are creative sha. But the picture below is the most interesting one.

Here’s your genie, you’ve got 3 wishes!
Hehe. Have a fab weekend.