Despite the risk of ‘best laid plans’ and all that, we found that working out what we wanted to do and when, was well worth the effort. There is so much to do in Rome. We had just the weekend so we found it best to pick out several things we definitely wanted to see. The Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and the Vatican were top of the list.

The Trevi Fountain
To say the Trevi Fountain took us by surprise is a bit of an understatement. One minute we were negotiating small streets with the aid of a map, then the next minute we quite literally bumped into it while we were still trying to work out where we were.

The first thing that crossed our minds about the Fountain was ‘how?’. It’s an unbelievable work of art and no matter how much of that you see in Rome, you can’t help but be impressed. At every turn in the city, we were reminded of Rome’s importance as one of the world’s leading artistic centres.

And yes we threw a coin into the fountain.

The Colosseum
For the first time that weekend, I was glad of the rain. The Colosseum is the city’s main tourist attraction but thankfully the weather put most people off that day. Instead of the expected fight for prime camera position, it was easy enough to find a bit of space and appreciate where we were.

The Colosseum is one of the pinnacles of Roman engineering. Seating up to 50,000 spectators, an estimated 500,000 people died in this building. It’s as spectacular-looking today as it was bloody in its prime. We stood where those spectators once stood and looked down to where the arena once was – which has now crumbled to expose a network of underground tunnels. It’s in those tunnels where people waited for their unknown fate.

The Vatican
First stop was the Sistine Chapel and one hell of a queue which snaked through countless rooms full of various art before you reach the Chapel. When we finally reached the Chapel, we saw what we came to see – the work of Michealangelo including the famous image of God giving life to Adam.

We queued at St Peter’s Basilica to see the tombs of previous Popes. Then we queued to climb the top of St Peter’s Basilica for impressive views over the city. Then finally we queued to get into the church. The church was very grand and well worth a visit, which was a bit of luck because we weren’t quite sure what we were queuing for by this stage.

Again, unsure of what we were doing, we waited outside St Peter’s Basilica because that’s what everyone else seemed to be doing. Then from a high up window, Pope Benedict XVI appeared and prayed. It seemed a fitting end to a weekend in Rome.

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For more information on what to see and do in Rome, visit:  www.romeinfo.com

Getting around
Rome city centre is quite small and it’s easy enough to visit all the main attractions on foot.  The subway system is also easy to use and convenient. Tickets can be bought for anything between a single trip (1Euro) or a week’s travel (16Euro).

Pros

• Visitors are spoilt for choice when it comes to things to see in Rome.
• The city is very easy to get around. All you need is a good map.
• There are few places in the world steeped in so much history.

Cons

• Eating and drinking can be expensive around the main monuments and museums.
• The queues to the key sights can be big. During peak seasons you could find yourself spending large chunks of the day looking at the back of someone’s head.
• Unfortunately Sterling doesn’t exchange for as much Euro as it once did.

And one more thing …
Rome is not gluten-free friendly. If you are Coeliac and planning a trip to Rome it’s well worth visiting www.coeliac.org.uk where you can download translations in various languages to help communicate your dietary needs.

Photos: Leon cox, Allerina & Glen MacLarty, geoftheref, post thumbnail: Argenberg

I went out with her and some of her friends on Friday night. One’s learning English so could hold proper conversation and she’s cool. The club we went to was surprisingly good and reminded me quite a lot of Urban Gorilla (good breaks but a bit of garage unfortunately, wicked cosy venue though, female DJ, which is apparently far from uncommon).

Then last night I went out on my own to a drum and bass night I’d seen advertised. Some of it was good, big fat Polish man MC-ing which was quite amusing (MCing in Polish sounds quite good). The club was really cool. It’s in the middle of a park by the 3.5km sandy beach, apparently it used to be a public toilet! Grimy. Met a bloke there called ‘Kuba’ who is an actor and plays the drums so I’m going to go and discover the Polish underground with him (he was pissed off that the club we were at was going increasingly commercial).

It seems that there is a special group in Polish society (or at least in this part of the country) that calls themselves ‘artists’, encompassing people who paint, act, play music etc. The girls I went out with on Friday have disdain for them and think they’re posers, whist ‘Kuba’ loves it, and says things like “it is impossible for me to do anything with my life except act”. He wears a big tweed jacket and a stripy beanie… He’s got something to say for himself anyway so I’m going to get to know him a bit, and play his drums.

Tonight I’m hopping on the train to Gdansk to meet Agatha (what a name), the girl who is learning English and is really sound. We’re going to a party her friends are putting on with fire (assuming poi and staff etc) and music. Should be good. Have had some bloody great discussions about politics and history for those who are interested.

Agatha’s granddad helped Jews hide during the Second World War and eventually he got shot by the SS. When I was in Berlin I was reminded that 3 million Polish Jews were killed, it’s so unbelievable. And the fact that there were some non-Jews will to stand up against the tidal wave really touched me, and it obviously meant a lot to Agatha. The first shots of the Second World War were fired in Gdansk as the Nazis invaded Poland by sea, and the city was the one area in an active war zone for the longest time out of anywhere, basically the full six years.

Even when the Russians liberated Gdansk from Nazi control in 1945 they continued the destruction of the city because it was at the time called Danzig and therefore they saw it as part of Germany. So obviously after 1945 Poland was under Communist control, and in 1970 the Solidarity movement started when some workers at the shipyard in Gdansk striked. They were shot dead but the movement continued to build until in 1989 it finally executed a peaceful revolution and threw off Communism (in the meantime the late Pope, who was Polish, visited the city and offered his support to the movement).

Now (this was written in late 2006 the country is run by two twins: one as President, one as PM (the former appointed the latter). The government is a coalition and one of the parties in it, the ‘Family Party’ is deeply homophobic (linked to the high levels of Catholicism in Poland). Strangely though, apparently it has the highest levels of membership by gay men out of all the parties (this seems very odd and I want to read up on it). The majority of the population is rural and a lot of them take as gospel what is said by a very powerful priest who has his own radio channel and TV show. The country is supposedly secular but he has a lot of sway and the educated girls I was talking to are very worried about his influence. Also, the aforementioned Family Party has underground militas (not publicly linked to the party) similar to the SA in Nazi Germany, or the RSS in India (Hindu fundamentalists linked to the BJP).

I am interested in trying to get to the heart of what young people see as their political orientation, or duty, since they are the first generation to grow up in the post-communist era. There were some quite heated debates over drinks on Friday night, and in true geeky fashion, I was absolutely loving it.