All roads lead to Rome

TIME FOR THE ROMAN TO STEP FORTH!

This living city of history! Equiped with local knowledge we soon found our pace.

ITALY WINS!

The final strike of the net sealing France's Fate was met with the sudden explosion of Rome. Cracks like gunshots, and car horns, and shouts, and random flashes, and more shots. I thought at first that Rome would burn to the ground. To no avail the city was still standing in the morning, and some Locals even bothered to go to work.

Again the weather was hot, but with the heat came the real discovery of what it is to be Roman. Rome is for the enjoyment, not the working. it is for drinking and eating, and most importantly Bathing. Each fountain in Rome is not just something to look at. The waters run fresh from the mountains, and are not recylced over and over. It is quite acceptable to drink from, splash around in, and even dive into the many fountains of cold, fresh exilerating water. This is a nessescary survival tactic given the heat of the roman summer. It is rare to travel long without comming across even a small fountain splashing away. I don't think the locals have ever heard of water restrictions.

What to describe, what to recite.

We crossed and recrossed the city on foot, travelling each morning and evening by Train. From plazza to ruin, to gallery, to forum, to coluseum, to island, to streetscape. Its all good.

My favorite was the Pathenon. It is a huge brick vaulted Dome, a grand place to worship the pathenon of gods, all of em. The single central orifice at the dome's apex sends a brilliant spotlight like ilumiantion to the walls, which in turn higlight the marble nad remaining bronze (another roman building that has suffered from looting)

Rome has no shortage of amazing buildings, Bromini and Bernini had their hand, as did post war ugly apartments, but beneath all is a continous history of ruble, foundations, and catacombs. There is nowhere in Rome you can dig without finding previous inhabitation. I have no idea how civic services could begin to function. The two main sewer lines built by the romans that run along the tiber, still function. Try getting an architectural drawing of that edifice.

We took time out to see the vatican and itswealth of treasurers. Finaly I have been so see the one thing in Europe I always wanted to visit. Micheloagngelo's Last judgement on the end wall of the Sistine Chapel. You can begin to see how a ope kept the poor artist slaving night and day on this work, all the time in fear of judgement day. the tortured figures, the skin of michelangelos own carcass being presented drooping from a big fleshy fist.

The appian way

A surprising highlight of Rome is the Appian Way. It is the single most important road in Rome. As straight as an arrow it heads South East an on to Bari. This was the path you took to go to the eastern empire. This was the path that the marching armies of Rome traversed. This was where you returned bearing slaves and lions, and plunders of War.

The origonal road is still navigable, and little wider than a bus. In places the megan could do little more than a couple of km's per hour as the coble stones were that worn. After traveling a little distance from the city centre, the countryside becomes visable, as do the many piles of masonary and rock. these are the remains of the many tombs and villas that lined the road. We stopped next to two large mounds built to the southern side of the road. Here were burried the sons of two waring families. To put the feud to rest, four brothers from each family met in a duel. Unfortunately for both familys, all 8 died, as did their line, and all that rtemains are the two burial mounds.

The atmoshphere is plesant along the way. For the first time we can see fields of grass. The sounds of the city are gone and silence envades. In many ways it is a sunny graveyard of what has past. Still i can imagine the prowd warriors on chariot parading past, and the merchants and slaves hounding their donkey carts along the rutted stones. How plesant it would have been to have a villa outside the city, to avoid the stench and crowds.

We have enjoyed our stay in Rome as we have enjoyed good advice and friendships found. But we have booked tickets for a chocolate train in Switzerland and must depart.