Rome

I know Florence is on the way to Rome so I don't remember why it appears first in my photos. I may have spent a day in Rome and not stayed overnight but proceeded to Florence in the evening, simply because I didn't feel like working out the local transport to the hostel.

I parted with Doobie at this point. We exchanged addresses. Malaysia didn't have any diplomatic relations with Israel so I was not able to correspond with him after my trip. I sent him a postcard sometime later during a visit to another country. I lost his address later. I hope he had a good life.

Naturally when in Rome, one must visit St. Peter's Square.

It must have been early in the morning because the square is not crowded at all.

This is the inside of St. Peter's Basilica. Having only one day, I was rushed for time so I had to decline the Pope's request to have an audience with me. :)

The only way to see the inside of the Vatican City, including the Sistine Chapel, is to take a special bus tour. This is one of the stained glass windows.

Michaelangelo's frescos are the main drawcards. The chapel was crowded and filled with the hubbub of hundreds of tourists. Every now and then the PA system would boom out Silencio! and the equivalent in other European languages.

We were not allowed to roam the grounds so this was taken from the bus as we drove past.

The Colosseum, of course.

I visited a catacomb, that of St. Callisto it would seem. Probably it was recommended as the most promising and most convenient. The stone road in front of the entrance is the Appian Way or Via Appia Antica.

The Spanish Steps. You can see I am hitting all the tourist spots.

The Piazza di Spagna, at the bottom of the steps. That's the Fontana della Barcaccia in front.

The Fontana di Trevi. Popular tradition holds that if you throw a coin in the fountain you will return to Rome. I must have tossed in a small coin because I did pass through Rome again if only briefly in 2007.

The trendy Via Veneto.

I probably have not done Rome justice. I visited all the typical tourist sites, but I did not spend time to discover her subtler charms. I think big crowded cities intimidate me. Perhaps I should remedy the injustice to her.