Gladiatorland is expensive, but for a weekend easily worth it. I was prepared to be pretty non-plused at how small everything was going to be after assuming that years of Hollywood inflated Rome had given me too many expectations. But I was wrong, those guys could build. 2000 years of looting and 'recycling' in Rome still hasn't reduced the big impression that the Romans made there. The Circus Maximus might be completely gone, all that remains is the outline of the chariot track and embankments on each side where once stood a huge stone grandstand. But the Forum is really impressive and the centrepiece Colleseum (call it the Flavian Ampitheatre for extra points) blows your mind even when you think you're ready for it.
Walking the streets is a barely organised choas of traffic chicken where the pedestrians get to play too. Everywhere you look is a traffic violation that almost ends in disaster, but only almost. Pizza and gelato on every corner, business suits on Vespa's, 1000euro shoes.
We stayed on Via de Ripetta, just down from a huge piazza sporting a massive Egyptian obelisk, twin churches, fountains and 4 or 5 trattorias. The veal in butter was insane, worth every artery clogging mouthful. The location put us in the north of the old city, near the river and walking distance to everything assuming the kids could be kept fueled on the aforementioned pizza and gelato. But walking wasn't the plan on day one as we had booked a personal tour guide who would drive us between the sites. I found Marco on TripAdvisor and he turned our exactly as advertised, very friendly, knowledgable and fun as well. We started at the Forum, then onto the Colleseum, gelato stop, Catacombs, a 2 hour tour of the Vatican mueseum, Sistine Chapel, St Peters and finally the Pantheon. Marco was happy to keep going but it was approaching 18:00 and we were pretty toasted so we called stumps.
The next day we took a very fast train down to Naples, totally worth the extra for 1st class (it wasn't much more). We all loved the leg room and the service (restuarant and bar car, xlnt) plus the four seat table compartments. Once in Naples we negotiated the challenging signage to the local train and rode for another 30 minutes to Pompeii. We met an aussie family on the train, about 2-3 weeks into an 8 week euro-odyssey and had a nice chat.
Another personal guided tour for 2 hours was great fun and very interesting but I think by the end we were all 'ruined' out. It was a little disppointing also that the Italians have pretty much just plundered Pompeii, leaving the walls and the roads and taking everything else to Rome or Naples etc. They also haven't done much to re-build or take care of what remains. Our guide said that it was much neater and more interesting when he first came as a boy. Even the famous plaster casts were very badly displayed and showed much neglect. It was very cool though to see Vesuvius in the distance, the top third blown off in the eruption and imagine what it might have been like for the locals... Pompeii used to be a seaside port, now it's a few k's inland...
Sunday we finished up walking to the sights we had missed on Friday, catching the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain (ubiquitously coin tossing to ensure our return) and ending with a great lunch in Piazza Novona (kids by now looking like pizzas) and the obligatory gelato.
We had a great time and it's bitten everyone with the train travel bug, so the next trip might be to Barcelona on the Ave or maybe overnight to Paris on something slower. But maybe not too soon... it will take a little while for my wallet to recover, it just stares in shock and keeps mumbling "...the horror... the horror...'. I need a transfusion here, stat!
Andy, out.
