In September I visited York and enjoyed a fascinating hour at the Roman Bath (underneath the public house of the same name) listening to a history PhD student talk about Costantine, Maximus, and even how the Bible was brought together. I also learned that the hot baths they had - the sweat houses - helped reduce internal parasites.
I have always been fascinated by ancient history so after my short visit to York (and I've been to Bath very often as well) I was all fired up for a visit.
Rome! Gladiators, emperors, and orgies. Well, maybe not quite what I had planned, but certainly part of the story of this amazing city.
What intrigued me was how much was still intact, or still around even if in ruins. The ancient architecture is integral to the city. You can sit on a plinth that probably held up the statue of a Roman god, you can run your fingers across the cool marble of a pillar that has stood for two thousand years - and that's just walking down the street.
I could diarise our weekend - a long wait for a non-appearing bus from the airport, the first night visit to the small church to watch small ballet and opera, the constant charging around to visit one or another of the wonderful sites, and the amazing restaurant recommended by our quaint little hotel. We visited the Vatican, saw the Sistine Chapel (worth it!) and enjoyed mild weather and copious rogue salesmen.
But all I need to do, really, is show you. My recommendation for Rome is to go... you will not regret it.
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| The Coliseum |
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| Statue from the top of one of the more modern monuments |
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| Palatine Hill |
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| Titus' Arch |
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| Palatine Hill |
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| Don't ask for a light in Rome... |
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| Ballet |
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| Opera |
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| St Peter's Square |
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| St Peter's, looking down from the gallery |
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| Little statue by Michaelangelo |
All photos are my copyright. For more, visit my Flickr site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8100559@N04/
