Travellers in Roma

This photo should have accompanied my paragraph about empire at the end of this blog. Sorry.


Successfully negotiating by Mussolini’s rail from Amalfi to Rome we completed our journey, as advised in our guest house’s website, by Metro to Vittorio Emanuel which turned out to be a charming park surrounded by colonnaded buildings such as these that I photographed from our window.

These buildings were as sumptuous in scale inside as well as out. Our room, one of four, in a converted flat which was one of two per floor serviced by a small cage lift, was as big as my entire flat in Stanmore. With twelve foot (3.6m) ceilings, terrazzo tiled floors and grand windows they were delightful.
The view in the other direction down our street.

With only one full day in Rome we opted for the novelty ‘Roman Holliday’ self guided tour suggested and laid out in three pages of the Lonely Planet which retraces the steps of Audrey and Gregory in the movie of the same name. With only the three pages cut from the ‘Planet’ and thus reducing this days load by as much as two kilos we set out by metro for St Peters Basilica, the starting point.
I’d always wondered about the form of this square which had always looked muddled in pictures. I discovered that this was because it is muddled in reality. Surrounded on two sides by the most over done pergola it’s possible to imagine,



which at least provides a place for these posturing ponces to stand without providing them with individual columns,


the Basilica itself is a hodge podge of civil architecture with an obsession about time and some more ponces. The bloke in the foreground looks reverend enough though.
It’s well guarded


but the best aspect is really this from far down the street (um Via) where we were headed on our strictly timed tour,

to this um bridge

near this um fort come castle thingie

I wasn’t surprised that it also had ponces, this time with wings


By this time the Tiber was looking quite attractive for a swim or maybe a suicide.


Come away from there Alice!

Here at last, a recognisable church

Proceeding from the Tiber toward the Spanish Steps, just as in the movie we began to find things much more to our liking.

Maybe a message for you Kell

As you see, the Smart money is on Tiffanys.

Now the Spanish Steps which Lonely Planet explained had some confusing conception that reminded me of Vientiane’s version of the Arc de triomphe built with concrete donated by France for road building and bridges but your right I’m drifting, and without the now discarded pages from the Planet you’ll just look up in Wikki if your interested.

About this time we both discovered we were hungry which put us perfectly in synch with Lonely Planet who suggested that here we should stop and dine. Unfortunately though it was not the Europe on a dollar a day version from which these pages were torn. This version like the best tourist brochures had dumped us to dine in the most expensive part of town. With a combination of animal cunning and science we proceeded in a straight line on the most level trajectory to save vital energy and in some five blocks time past galleries where this self portrait artist exhibited,

we found this delightful and economic restaurant totally occupied by the armed services.

Fortunately for us Italians in uniform are chivalrous and insisted that we precede them.
Thus fortified we retraced our steps and could climb the steps which while quite formidable seem to achieve little, possibly even less than a London Underground escalator. Of course, the tourist loves them, and it is impossible to imagine them sitting on a London escalators for a photo op. There was certianly something about all this art that I was yet to grasp.

I don’t know why there all looking at me.

Next it was off to The Trevi Fountain along the way to which we stumbled across this, whatever

And past these wonderful buildings that look like Uncle Scrouges Money Bin and I guess thats just what they are

Now maybe I’m beginning to get it because if you look close this Trevi Fountain is actually the front of an apartment block or office building. The people who live here would always wonder why the tourists are always staring at them and why its always raining and you need your galoshes every time you go out. Rising damp must be a colossal problem abrogated only by the coins they dredge from their door step each morning. Its really all about art and ponces. Give them ponces and they will come someone said, or if they didn’t, I just did.


People will pose for anyone in front of these things.

We were sucked in and stated throwing coins. By the look on our faces I’d say our wishes were already granted.


It’s hard to find Japanese who can frame a shot.

The Romans like their scooters

And a collum never goes astray

Burlisconi might rule or at least govern his girlfriends from here

There are many good gift shops close by, an asset to one running more than one love life i believe.



And with all that governing these things are essential
It’s a bohemian chic part of town

And caters to all tastes




It certainly got these guys interest

Well that was just about it and we were well worn but you dare not sit on these steps.

Or these guys will soon move you on with a spear jab

These delightful white marble wedding cake stairs with their own ponces are a tourist trap for sure and rare in this part of town where it’s mostly ruins but you better not sit down fo this is also the tomb of the unknown soldier and you’ll quickly be moved on.

For all my mocking tone, had I dreamt, as the Romans did of empire, I cannot imagine a better located one than this. Oh and I haven’t even mentioned the wonderful food or the wine or the toilets. I loved Rome.