When in Rome...

See J's blog for photos - she's been better at keeping these up to date.

Rome was wonderful of course. You walk amongst evidence of civilisation that stretches continuously back in time for, what, 3000 years? In fact there are remains of stone age settlements under the Roman buildings under the Medieval under the Fascist under the 21st Century. It's hard to get your head around sometimes. St Peter's has awed me three times now with its sheer scale. Whether you are religious or not you would be hard-pressed not to find something that made you reflect on the nature of man. The effort, skill and resources that went into this building are difficult to match. It is hard to think of one that might compare today, if any such task ever got off the ground. I don't think that a skyscraper comes close, as it can be done with one conglomerate, and even the huge dams like the 3 Gorges don't use the same resources when you compare them to the size of the population bases involved. It was a very hot, and for the first time humid, day and I was exhausted, so yet again I didn't climb up the Dome. I don't think a cup of tea has tasted as good very often.

J didn't feel the need to see the Coliseum and the queue was quite long. Not a pick-pocket to be seen, unlike when P and I were there. We visited the Capitoline museums instead for a wonderful mix of art and archeology. One building, overlooking the Forum, had so many different layers there were buildings within buildings, rooms built over rooms and so on, so that I never really understood what the building was. Great views though.

We wandered back to the station and I finally saw the Spanish steps (from a distance) and the Trevi Fountains (through a crowd). It is amazing the number of people who are at all these 'must see' places, jostling to see past all the others and all taking the same photographs. (I'm no exception either.) It can be a wierd thing, tourism.

I was truly shagged by the time we got home, but it had been a good day.