Italy - Rome

First stop in Rome, Vatican City

I had a hell of a night train from Verona to Rome. The train was packed with people and the air conditioning had broken down, so it was hot, cramped and noisy. Needless to say my sleep was light and broken so I needed plenty of coffee to keep me going the first day in Rome. I arrived early in the morning and went straight to my campsite about 20 mins from town. After dropping off my stuff I headed back into town and made the Vatican my first stop. I had just finished reading Angels and Demons, the Dan Brown novel based in Rome and in particular, the Vatican. It was pretty funny to go around and try to find all the places mentioned in the book.

All style, the Swiss gaurd at the Vatican

The Vatican was pretty interesting but for me the highlight was the Swiss Guard.. Their uniforms designed hundreds of years ago by Raphael reminded me of a big pajama party.

The Pantheon was one of my favorite buildings in Rome

After the Vatican I jumped on one of those open bus tours which turned out to be a bad idea. It was really hot, up in the late 30's and sitting up top in the sun my water ran out quickly. It was close to wheather I would survive the tour without getting heat stroke. I was keen to check out the Pantheon for its engineering significance as one of the first ever dome structures. I was not dissapointed, it was impressive and in great condition considering it being over 2000 years old.

The Roman Forum

You can spend days in Rome looking at ruins and in particular the Roman forum and Colosseum. It was interesting to see the size of the Roman Forum which was the centre of ancient Rome but it had been reduced to ruins by centries of plundering. It was also interesting to discover that most of the original marble was taken to build the present icons of Rome including the Vatican.

The Colosseum by night
Rome was interesting but I would not recommend July as the time to visit. It was hot and busy with tourists and after two days there I was ready to head for the beach. I jumped on a train and headed back up north to the Cinque Terre.