The Eternal City

Since my girlfriend is Spanish, could I take her to Italy yet again without stopping for a few days in the most beautiful city in the world???... besides, for me it's enough to see 2 stones and I'm already happy... As for the flight from Barcelona, no problem at all. I don't know how many airlines, scheduled or low cost, cover this route....and so we arrive at the awkward Fiumicino airport on a scorching late-July day, and we stay in one of the many hotels in the Roma Termini area, an area that besides wonderful historical remains also offers a glimpse of the typical life that flows around a railway station.. in central Italy.. and in Rome, no less.. you get the idea... Without wasting a moment we throw ourselves straight into churches, monuments and every kind of "stone".

We start with the nearby church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which besides its artistic wonders also gives us a bit of shade on one of the hottest days of the year. Having picked up a couple of city maps we walk down the lovely Via Cavour and reach the Imperial Fora, and after the usual postcard photos the scenery offers we head towards the Colosseum. Saying "Colosseum" seems a small thing for Italians, since for us it's almost part of everyday life. But I see Yoli's eyes — she was born in Spain — and I realise what it must feel like to see such wonder, always appreciated only in books or on TV... and it has the same effect on me... but I'm a special case... The girl at the ticket office for the Flavian Amphitheatre (I like calling it that!) reminds me that I'm in Rome. I manage to "haggle" over the ticket price and we go in as students, both Yoli and I...

never mind northern Italy, but these things don't happen even in Spain!!! but I love them!!! From the Colosseum (where it feels like leaving Tokyo rather than Rome!) we walk up and enter the Imperial Fora, and there I start taking about 40 photos to capture every single corner of such a marvel. I sit where Caesar was cremated and, closing my eyes, I still try to hear the sound of the wood burning beneath his body and the weeping of the people present. After more than 2,000 years that event can still move you... We then walk up to where the mayor has his much-envied office and, turning the corner, we find ourselves on the Capitoline Hill. We realise once again that walking through a sort of open-air museum can happen in only a few cities besides Rome, and finding them of such beauty is perhaps impossible.

After having about ten photos taken with the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius as if he were my cousin, we go down to Piazza Venezia, where Yoli falls in love with the Vittoriano (or the typewriter, the wedding cake, etc...). This time it's her turn for the photos... But the tour resumes and we go down Via del Teatro di Marcello, where we find the building of the same name, the temple of Portunus and the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin with its famous Mouth of Truth. From there we reach the Circus Maximus, where we finally sit down and rest. Well deserved. After a bit of rest, in the evening we have no strength for anything but eating a fine carbonara and the legendary bucatini all'amatriciana.

This is the sort of thing they can only dream of in Spain!!! The next day, having filled our stomachs and pockets at the hotel buffet, passing through Piazza dei Cinquecento and its ancient Baths, we go down Via Barberini and Via del Tritone, where we soon realise that the tourist-trap shops, and not only those, have absurd prices. If the water pen with the pope who "swims" costs you at least 3 euros... Thank goodness that, for now, the open-air works of art Rome has are still free. And so we first go to see the Trevi Fountain (Yoli's favourite monument, along with the "panettone" of Piazza Venezia...), where besides the usual photos we throw the classic coins..

Then, passing in front of Trajan's Column and deliberately skipping Montecitorio (and not because of the splendid building, but for fear of seeing one of the local "employees"...) we head to pay homage, at least on my part, to the Mausoleum of Augustus. The greatest of them all. From there we then walk up to Piazza di Spagna with its famous staircase. There I'm astonished to see that the church of Trinità dei Monti is being restored, and to cover it up they've put up a big sheet with a car advertisement. An absolutely horrible thing. What nerve... We continue on to the fantastic Piazza del Popolo, with its Baroque churches, its Egyptian obelisk and the staircase leading to a lovely panoramic terrace on the Pincio.

Then we walk down, passing and doing a bit of shopping among the nice shops of the centre (avoiding, of course, the luxury boutiques and the tourist-trap shops for foreign visitors..) until we reach the wonderful Piazza Navona, where I'm seized once again by a photographic frenzy... In the evening we decide to have dinner in the lovely, lively little square of Campo de' Fiori. Full of young people and tourists, here eating a pizza and a Nutella gelato is something not to be missed... and don't forget a romantic stroll along the Tiber... these Italians!!! That same evening we're joined by our inseparable travel companions and friends Benny and Andrea. They too, as always, from Barcelona...

On Saturday morning, after explaining to our friends how a hearty breakfast at the hotel's expense can reflect positively on the whole day's budget, we decide to spend the entire day at the Vatican, already knowing it won't be enough......the first surprise comes when, after visiting the square of St. Peter's Basilica, we obviously decide to go in to see the largest Catholic church on the planet. And yes, they won't let us in because we're wearing shorts. What a great show of disrespect towards God! And we'd even thought of wearing long trousers, a scarf and a hat on a cool late-July day in Rome!!! We buy a piece of cardboard shaped like trousers for 5 euros at a nearby newsstand, and so, after this robbery, we manage to get in... Well, St. Peter's needs little introduction or account. You just have to step inside to be left totally open-mouthed.

Michelangelo's Pietà and Bernini's baldachin are just 2 of the countless artistic wonders inside this enormous basilica. After a wander around the enchanting bookshops all along the route, we reach the Vatican Museums, where, even at a brisk pace and skipping a great deal, you need at least half a day to get even a quick look at this marvellous museum... Once again in the evening we pass by Campo de' Fiori and then go and have some fun in Trastevere, another area of the capital famous for its nightlife... On Sunday we visit what's left of the "important and unmissable" in Rome.

San Giovanni in Laterano, the ancient papal seat, the beautiful church of San Clemente, the unmissable Pantheon, the Domus Aurea, Castel Sant'Angelo and a thousand other palaces, buildings and little squares, which perhaps pass unnoticed among other works of art scattered around the city, but which would easily be the main attractions in lesser places... Unfortunately Monday comes too, and we have to go back. It wasn't the first time in Rome, but it was the first time after having had the chance to visit many other places... and the city confirms itself once again as unique. Its people, its culture, its history and wonders... well, Rome is and will always remain the eternal city.