The Roman Experience- My Travelogue. Review on Rome

It?s very rare that you get to witness historical beauty at such gigantic levels, bricks echoing myriad tales about legendary figures whose footsteps romped the earth some time ago. It?s also rare to find any European city with so much life and colour, whose surrounding seven hills symbolise the scattering of the light into seven colours of the rainbow, and whose roads are so confusing that it is almost impossible to get away (in fact masters have commented ? All roads lead to Rome?). It?s another matter that you would not like to go away.

Rome or Roma fascinates the mind and encapsulates uncountable human emotions in its streets, monuments, people and food. From the moment Romulus laid the stepping stones to this great city in 7th century BC, innumerable history has been witnessed by the Tiber, which flows motionlessly crossing the St Peters Basilica (The seat of the Pope in Vatican) and the Coliseum. The neat porticoes in the streets, the downtown fashion stores of Armani, the ruins of Coliseum, the Vatican, the huge lush gardens; these are some of the images which will stay with you forever, fascinatingly interposing modernity with the grandeurs of history.

Places to See: People have been heard saying ?Even a lifetime is not enough to completely cover what Roma has to offer?. Lesser mortals like us had a horrid time covering the magical beauties within two days, that too on foot (certain acts of protection of Heritages prevent outside cars inside the city). You can start off with the Coliseum, which is near the central station; lazily strolling around the grand monument, amazed at the arena inside where Gladiators once fought for supremacy and Caesars addressed their armies. The entry fee is 13 ? (pretty high, even by European standards); note of caution: never pose for pictures with men who pose as Roman soldiers outside Coliseum, they demand a lot of money afterwards for the picture (I had a horrible encounter).

Past the Coliseum, on the main road walk along chapters of history as you see the ruins of the once great Roman empire. At the end of the street, you see Piazza the Venezia, the museum on Roman military fare; the front of the museum is laced with fountains and white marble steps, one of the best places to get clicked.

About a kilometre north off the museum is the Pantheon, centre of Roman learning and Philosophy (the structure that White House and several other buildings have copied). It has one of the tallest domes and some of the rarest paintings on walls (we saw some of the pictures later in Louver in Paris), the centre was later converted into a Church past the fall of empire, later converted into a museum post renaissance.

From the Pantheon, you can walk till the Tiber, which is about a Km away and you start seeing the domes of St Peter. As you approach Vatican, you are greeted with a huge round arena surrounded by marble pillars; it is the same place where the Pope greets the world on Christmas eve. Inside the Basilica, strict demeanours are expected of the visitors, so high decibels and low cut clothes are to be avoided at any costs. One can also visit the gardens inside the Vatican, although there are restricted areas for visitors.

Near the Coliseum there are some of the largest gardens in Europe, offering you the best of the sun and the shades, resplendent with greenery.

Surviving Rome: Rome in many ways is atypical of Indian cities (in fact the closest that any European city would come to), it is full of people, speeding two wheelers, colourful clothes and also, pickpockets. Make sure that all the valuables like Passport, Credit Card and Cash (do not carry much in first place) are in safe places; avoid travelling in buses and metros, do not carry valuables like Camera in pouch belts.

After Paris and London, it?s the biggest European city and hence people from subcontinent abound in here. We tasted some excellent Shahi Kofta and Chicken at an Indian joint near the central terminus. As usual, trust the desi people to help you out in trouble. We got some real help from the Indian embassy ( Mr Johnson, the officer in charge fixed an accommodation for us), later from a warm hearted Punjabi, Mr Singh, at whose place we stayed for the night.

Food: In Italy, if you don?t taste Pizzas and Pastas, your trip is incomplete. Choose from a wide range of Pizzas in the Pizzerias, as you do get some cheap deals at about 2 ?, my personal favourites were the ones with Mushroom and Ham, and Spicy Margheritta. One can also try Spaghetti, Lasagne, Broccoli Pasta and range of delicious Pastas. Vegeterians will not have any problems in Italy as most dishes are stuffed with vegetarian delights with no meat at all.

For details do have a look at Lonely Planet for Europe, the bible for travelling.

Visiting Rome is a once in a lifetime experience, whenever in life you are visiting Europe, mark few days in red for Rome, you?ll never repent it.

Thank you for reading my travelogue, I hope to share some more in coming days.