Rome, however. Rome is an enigma. The beauty of the ages surrounded by gypsy hat sellers and bus tour hawkers. The Trevi Fountain is like something from a movie...oh wait, it is in a movie. About a million of them. Walking inside the Colosseum is just plain cool. You look down below into the area floor and see where the animals were kept hungry so they would be ready for a good performance when unleashed. We learned that they used to have fights in boats after flooding the lower floors and filling the fighting arena with water. It was fun for them, but not enough people were dying, so they imported crocodiles to pop in the water...just to keep it interesting. I did a couple of panoramas for your viewing pleasure.
Rome has a bad reputation for pickpockets, thieves and just general mayhem with the tourists. I'd say it's no worse than London was. There were Gypsies, they did try to "help" us at the Rome train station, we told them no. It was as simple as that. Don't take anything offered to you, including help, and don't let anyone "bump" into you without checking your pockets afterwards. We walked out late at night and felt safe enough. Which leads me to my next awesome experience in Rome...my parents. We've not seen them since we left and it was great to spend a couple of days with them before their cruise. After dinner one night, we grabbed a map and the four of us made our way over to the Spanish Steps on a beautiful Italian night.
This is a truly beautiful city. The history is everywhere. Names of districts listed on the tour are the same names they used when Rome controlled most of the known globe. We walked on Aventine hill. Anyone who's seen the HBO series Rome will know that one. If you haven't seen it, do. It's a great bit of TV, even if it was only 2 seasons. We walked from our beautiful hotel near the Termini to the steps, no problem.
Driving in Rome is almost a full contact sport. If you can yell loudly in Italian and wave your fist out the window like a madman, you're all set. My experience shows that whoever yells the fastest, loudest Italian with the most aggressive fist shake gets the right of way. It's an odd system but it appears to have worked so far. The pedestrian traffic is also similar to London, people just go. Lights? What are lights? It was all very un-German.
On a negative note, our plane back to Amsterdam was delayed four hours. Apparently they only have 2 runways at the Rome Airport. Yes, you read right...2. And a plane was kind enough to break down on one of the two runways causing havoc with the schedule. Needless to say, we had an extra four hours of the airport and four hours less in Amsterdam. Neither of us was impressed but life goes on.
Kierstie and I both fell in love with Amsterdam. It's quirky and cool and we're going back, sooner rather than later. We were considering renting a place in England for a month after the summer, but we are now considering a place in Amsterdam instead. Yes, we liked it that much. I may or may not get Kierstie to ride a bike there, but I assure you...I will. It looks wicked fun and, because the city is so small, you can get anywhere on a bike in no time flat. Maybe we'll get a tandem and she can close her eyes...hehehe.
A few more from Rome...
Got more writing to do, but not on this blog. Thanks again to Moo and Earle, who not only made Rome an even better visit...They brought us Canadian cigarettes and other goodies from home, including the laptop I am writing this post with. You guys rock!
Sleep well....
Ian
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