Wednesday 20th July

I checked out of the hostel in Florence, handing my key card to the owner and then found myself another European breakfast. A wee while later, I was making my way to the tram station which would take me to Villa Constanza, the coach station to take me to Rome. However, on the tram, I noticed something – I only had one hat with me! And with a bitter flash, I remember placing the straw hat on top of the locker in the hostel as I packed, and never picking it up again. Sorry Riley, I know you liked the hat but I lost it. Sad face. I will be having to stick to me cap from here on out I guess. The back of my neck won’t thank me!

I sat, sheltering from the sun at the station. The coach (which had left from Genoa earlier in the day, woo) was delayed by about 30 minutes. Around me were other fellow travellers, each one also sheltering from the searing sun. I struck up a conversation with a kiwi. He was also backpacking around but was doing it primarily via coaches rather than train. When we boarded the coach finally, he sat ahead of me and we continued chatting for a little bit. He was a big fan of Pynchon and was reading Gravity’s Rainbow – one of the books on my To Read list. He looked disappointed when I mentioned that I had not read any of Pynchon’s works though. When we did get going, a small way down the road I saw black plumes of smoke to our right, a dirty smudge across an otherwise perfect sky. Wildfires. Climate change is real and the effects are felt around the world.

I slept fitfully on the way down to Rome. It was just one smooth highway with dry, yellow countryside passing by on either side. This is how the modern Roman travels I guess. No horses down dirt tracks anymore! We did finally arrive in Rome and the heat was like a wall as soon as I stepped off of the Flixbus. My hostel was a short walk away and so I set off. It was a little nerve-wracking, I hadn’t put on suncream today yet! I was conscious of my skin sizzling! But the buildings around me were just delightful. This was Rome! Wow! Straight away I decided that I would love to live here if I could (but then, I was said that in Genoa, and I would say that a LOT more to come!).

I checked into the hostel OK without getting burnt. I desperately needed to do some laundry at this point and so I walked to the nearest laundrette and gave my laundry to the lady there for her to put in the machine. Whilst the drums spun round and around, I went and found myself some focaccia, apples and some humous. A lite™ lunch/mid-afternoon snack.

After collecting my laundry and settling a bit in the hostel, I walked my way in to town for the evening. The sun was setting, golden hour. I got myself a slice of pizza as well so that was delightful to eat in the setting sun, living that Italian lifestyle. The trams in Rome were amazing. There were two types it seems, new shiny ones with chiming bells and smooth motions. And then the most aesthetic, ancient ones too.

I was on the hunt for a jazz club for the evening. I haven’t heard live music for ages, and live music is such a joy in life! Walking through Rome as the sun sets is just magical as well. There are ancient ruins all around you, the crumbling walls cared for and columns climbed into the sky. When I had googled Jazz clubs, I had found three which looked promising. The first, Gregory’s, was meant to be a super upmarket fancy place which I a) wasn’t dressed for or b) mentally prepared for. Plus, I had to book a table and do that sorta thing. I kind of just wanted somewhere I could walk in, order a drink and listen to some music! Therefore, the second one, Gatsby Café, seemed promising. It was situated beside a park (where there was a kids playground, skate ramps and a political rally going on) with a lot of tables spilling out on to a pavement with people dining. This did not look like a Jazz Club which I was looking for. So, I turned away and went to look for the third and final option, the Charity Café Jazz and Blues Club.

To get there, I had to walk past the Colosseum. At this point it was completely dark at this point, but steaming hot still. The heat of the day still hadn’t dissipated. It was spectacular though. The inside of the Colosseum was lit up with orange lights which spilled out onto the streets. It was glowing like an oversized Hallowe’en pumpkin. There were people surrounding every side of it. Dressed up couples were taking selfies in front of it and there was a pretty major road zipping past as well, honking horns and fumes spiralling up into the air amidst the red brake lights.

I walked around this on my way to the Jazz Club. There were a whole host of people out and the city was buzzing with an energetic night life. The roads turned into cobbled streets and there were people enjoying themselves out of pubs and in the streets. I noticed that there were tonnes of gelaterias still open. Was this the alternative to the British late night kebab shop, I wonder? I turned onto Via Panisperna where the club was situated and found the right door.

I had just walked into one of the most amazing nights that has occurred in my life thus far. I ordered myself a drink with some broken Italian and then went to the stage area. It was tiny, maybe the size of a large dorm room or maybe the size of the living room from The Green. On one side was the seating area. No comfort really, but just large, navy blue steps with a couple scattered cushions. On the other side of the room, along from the bar, was the stage and band. The stage was so small that the band members were spilling over edge and into no man’s land between the audience and the band. The aircon was also broken and so before long, the room was hot and sweaty with the sound of the band warming up. There were blue LED lights shining down onto the crimson stage and shadows were cast everywhere, dancing with the music.

The lead was… Well, imagine Mario (no cart though) and that’s what he sounded and looked like to me. He was closest to the crowd and playing electric guitar. There was another guitarist behind him who looked like an Italian Elvis with the most amazing hair. And then a guy on bass and another on harmonica, both of which looked like they could be brothers and possibly pharaohs in another life. And then finally the drummer was simply Ben Wishaw’s doppelgänger. Mario cried out “Now we play some Blues” and they got down to it. It was so good! The bass strolled through my chest and the drummer was just playing the most Louisiana steam train beat, rattling along. Mario sang and indicated to each of the members when it was their turn to solo. The harmonica was what made it blues by far. Laughter and applause rippled among us in the audience and there was an ear-to-ear smile on everyone’s face.

As the night went along, the band started getting more and more tipsy. Before long, they were asking members of the audience “Do you play guitar? I need a break. Here, come take over” and the audience were subbing in. It was hilarious, and the quality of the music didn’t drop at all. I sat beside a Glaswegian couple which was hilariously random and I had a conversation with an Italian guy who just sat beside me and started bobbing his head and didn’t stop.

It was such a good evening. You know how people have those lockers in their heads, full of “Happy Memories”? Yeah, this night is going straight in there, puts a smile on my face every time I think of it. I love live music.

I left after midnight and walked myself home, a good 30 minutes to my bed. Rome was awesome. The moon was up looking like a wedge of cheese and the city was as busy as it had been six hours ago. I was looking forward to tomorrow.

Thursday 21st July

Time to explore the city. I woke up early and had breakfast served to me at the hostel. I tell you, hostels which provide breakfast are the best – always look for them! I then grabbed the metro into town. I had booked a visit to the Colosseum for later in the day so I had some stuff to do before then. I had gotten in touch with one of our family friends who used to live in Rome and she had supplied with a short list of some things to do in Rome.

Therefore, I emerged from the metro directly in front of the Colosseum. In the daylight, it did not look like a pumpkin. I had suncream on too, and a good thing because the sun ferocious once again. Pretty much everyday in Italy so far the sun was been pretty darn hot. I walked down from the Colosseum to the Altare della Patria. Even this small distance in this heat was a lot. I stopped in the shade of a statue of someone important. The sky was blue as blue can be and the roads were shimmering.

In front of the Altare della Patria was a large roundabout and the monuments to Victor Emmanuel III rose up in the blue sky. There was a lot of traffic flowing around this roundabout. Crossing the roads, I headed into the city proper some more. I was on my way to the Trevi Fountain next, ticking off the most important tourist destinations. I came across the Colonna di Marco Aurelio first, standing by itself with the most amazing spiral relief depicting war all around it. This was something unexpected but kinda cool. Gladiator and all. The Trevi Fountain was just a small way away so I made my way there. I wound my way through some small backstreets and then all of sudden emerged to a three way junction where the fountain was situated. It was packed. I believe that usually you can go right down to the water, but this time, it was fenced off for some reason that I don’t know.

I stood back from the fountain beside a pensive, dog-collared minister and had a nice read about the Fountain. It was quite marvellous to look at! Whilst I did this, I could observe the people around me. There was an Instagram model which grabbed my attention. She had a professional photographer clicking away at her as she posed in front of the fountain for a solid five minutes before bouncing away with the photographer. There were also a lot of people throwing coins over their left shoulders into the fountain. This actually originated from a film from the 1950s, as it turns out. I guess it was meant to provide you with good luck or something. Therefore, finding a quiet spot at the side of the fountain, I dug out a one cent coin (stingy, I know, sorry) and taking aim, tossed it over my left shoulder. Spoilers, I missed. No luck for me. Sad.

Next, I headed over to the Spanish steps. I walked through the most beautiful and classical set of backstreets before arriving at the steps. You could freely wonder up and down them. I will tell you something though, despite being made from marble, they are the most worn and slippery steps that I have come across! You can’t sit down on them though, there are police wondering around telling you to keep moving. Again, I recognised this monument from a film with Arnie Hammer and Henry Cavill – The Man from Uncle. Good film that, underrated even.

Next on the agenda was Piazza Navone and then a café which was recommended by my family friend. Piazza Navone was pretty cool, once again there were statues and marble and fountains in front of the most impressive buildings. The café I went to though, Sant’ Eustachio il caffè, that was delicious. Great suggestion Mich! Beautiful coffee and a nice reading break.

Before long though, I needed to get going because I had a whole bunch of stuff left on the agenda. The Pantheon was first. However, I misjudged the queues. I had my ticket for the Colosseum and needed to get there soon but the queues for the Pantheon were stretching all across the plaza in front of it and there were police wondering around with large rifles. Not so keen on that. Therefore, dodging peddlers, I had a glance inside the Pantheon before heading back across town to the Colosseum. I must come back one day to have a look at that proper.

I arrived at the Colosseum and got admitted and I was immediately very impressed. The route through the Colosseum seems to have designed so that you just follow the signs in one direction and you see it all. There were metal detectors too just to get in, but the security guard on the X-Ray machine was just playing games on his phone which I found funny. There was a maximum capacity of 3000 people within the Colosseum at once as well. But yeah, I learnt tonnes about the Colosseum. For instance, it was turned into a castle in the medieval ages by the Frangipane family! I wonder if they baked tarts too? I also learnt how intricately designed it was and how it all worked. It was actually genius. Only when you see it do you realise how much of a barbaric symbol of an empire it was; just how powerful the Romans truly were to have this at their disposal 2000 years ago. Just phenomenal.

I wandered through the Colosseum, stopping to read everything I could. I was blown away so many times, the genius of the Romans was just amazing. There was a tall Australian family who were also keeping up with me. The father was wearing Vivos, clearly sensible people.

Eventually, I emerged into the busy city again. The Roman Forum was just across the road and so I headed in that direction. I found this to be less impressive (but certainly grand still!) since there were simply more ruins, and only ruins. Hints and suggestions at what used to be there. Additionally, there was a working church within the grounds of the Roman Forum. This is where Liszt supposedly lived for a while whilst he was in Rome, converting to Catholicism and failing to marry Marie d’Agoult. However, there was no mention of this anywhere that I could find and so I was a little disappointed with that.

I wandered around, taking pictures for couples and reading the signs but I was losing energy at this point. The last thing I decided to do before heading back to the hostel was to climb the Palantino Hill. This was cool, I got a great view over the Forum and the Colosseum in the background. I needed to find a water fountain though because I was a little parched at this point, despite having drunk more than enough water for today.

I got back to the hostel and had my lunch at the rather late time of 16:00. Whoops. Ah well, it was delicious. When I had been going to the Forum, I saw a banner which was saying “Jazz in front of the Colosseum” – how could I say no? Therefore, after a decompressing afternoon/early evening reading in the hostel, I caught the metro back into town. I found myself a cheap restaurant and had some freshly cooked Italian pasta. I love fresh pasta, it is so, so good. When I get my first permanent residence, I would love to get a pasta maker as a house-warming present… Just sayin’! And a bread machine. But that’s for the future haha

But yes, I had dinner in the dark. There was a young couple beside me who I started talking to. Their names were India and Alessandro and they were lovely! India was American-British-Caymani whilst Alessandro was Italian-British-Caymani. They’re both at university in the UK studying marine science, although India wants to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. You heard about her first here. We had such a nice, long conversation. I actually invited them to come along the jazz with me and so we did that, climbing to the top of the hill round the back of the Colosseum where there was a jazz trio playing. They paid for my ticket (so kind!) and we had a good time. The music was decent, although no where near as good as the previous night. The drummer was amazing, reminded me of Whiplash, except without the violence. The band though kept failing to catch the attention of their sound guy, whilst we kept failing to catch the attention of the waitresses and bar staff.

The band finished at 01:00 in the morning and we parted ways. They were staying in an Airbnb beside the Trevi Fountain. I was glad to meet them, they were both younger than me but wonderful people nonetheless. The metro was closed at this time in the night, despite the large volume of people still out and about and so, having not learnt my lesson, I decided to try the electric scooter once more. Spoilers, despite being careful, my phone clattered to the ground once again like it did in Marseille and my heart stopped once more. This was the last time I tried to ride one of those contraptions, and I doubt I ever will again in the future! Ditching the scooter, I walked the rest of the way. Much safer.

Friday 22nd July

I woke up feeling knackered. Honestly, too many late nights all of a sudden. I got myself some more breakfast from the hostel. The guy serving me today looked slightly lost. But today was the day I would see another country, the Vatican!

Therefore, putting my dishes in the washing up cart, I put on some sunscreen and headed out into town. I caught the metro once more. There was a guy on the metro, who had a wide open shirt with a tattoo of a tie down the middle of his chest. The metro is awesome by the way, but I will always prefer the London Underground, no matter how dirty the London Underground is, it’s the original!

I arrived on the other side of the river and headed to the Vatican. The queue for St. Peter’s Basilica was stretching all the way out of the door and around the plaza. I wasn’t really wanting to wait in the queue in the blistering sun, and so I instead decided to go to the Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

The Museums were incredible. There was such an impressive selection of art with the most beautifully decorated rooms and corridors. Of different styles too, polished wooden rooms from centuries ago, stony medieval rooms and new plastered rooms. For the Museum Tour, there was only one way to walk to see everything. There was artwork from different nations too, not just Renaissance artwork. And on top of that, there were monuments and interesting artefacts from different cultures. They all looked out of place. Just like the Elgin Marbles or the Rosetta Stone look out of place in the British Museum. One of the most impressive rooms and my favourite was the Map room. It was a long corridor, on the order of 100m. But on each side painted in beautiful matte/pastel colours were maps from around the world. They look funny to us now of course since we now know what the world is like, but they were so carefully done. They seemed to be mostly of Italy as well. It was just so beautiful. The colours were reminiscent to the colours on my Carcassonne set. They just stretched down the room with sunlight flooding in on both sides as the crowd flowed down.

Speaking of which, an exhibition for an artist called Folon was one of the few escapes from the crowds I could get. Everywhere else there were people pressing in on all sides with cameras and tour groups guiding people through. But in this exhibition the crowds disappeared. Very few people wanted to see something like this I think, especially so close to the Sistine Chapel. His art was kinda simplistic but also carried the messages very well, I thought. But yes, after this brief reprieve, I headed to the big event, the Sistine Chapel.

To get there, you follow the crowd through some narrow stairs before making a right turn and emerging into the Sistine Chapel. There was no big doorway to go through, just one person at a time through this narrow door really. I always believed that the Sistine Chapel was just had one big painting of The Creation of Adam but boy was I wrong. Instead, it was a smorgasbord of different, small paintings. Once again, I believe they could all be interpreted to tell the story of the Bible. But yes, you had to scout out with your eyes where exactly Michelangelo’s famous painting was. No photos were allowed to be taken, but despite that, I saw a lot of surreptitious cameras pointed around the place. It was phenomenal to think that Michelangelo must have painted this all upside down, laying on his back, and to such an exceptional standard! That’s what stood out to me personally. A priest was starting a prayer as I was leaving.

I found myself a pizza place a couple of streets from the crowds. I ate and read in peace before I headed back to see St. Peter’s Basilica. The queue seemed to have only have grown, and so I decided to not go in and see it since I was still feeling tired. Therefore, I turned around and headed out to see the Castel Sant’Angelo. I saw a lone guitarist, sitting on his amp outside the castle, the guitar resting on his knee as he played some Dire Straits under a blue umbrella. The castle was closed for some reason and so I moved on. I wanted to do something quiet for the rest of the day. Therefore, I headed back in to town. I walked past the finishing point for a running race of some kind before arriving at the metro. I was headed to most Dickensian sounding place: Babingtons.

When Rome was the end of the Grand Tour that the British Aristocracy took in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, then they wanted some comforts from home waiting for them. Therefore, two widows set up Babingtons, an English tearoom in the heart of Rome. They used money that their dead husbands had left them and banded together to buy and run this establishment and it has survived until now. It has changed now of course, no English aristocracy do great big Grand Tours anymore! At Babingtons, I got myself an overpriced cup of Earl Grey and a Key Lime Pie. The tea pots had tiny little cats on top and it was decorated in the most bizarre aesthetic. You could also buy one of these tea pots, but I will warn you, the price makes your eyes water. But yeah it was just a nice break and a total experience. I was grinning for the entire time – it was so unexpected to find a slice of nineteenth century England in the heart of Rome. Literally beside the Spanish Steps! I was reading Bridgerton at this point and so the place kinda fit with that vibe too so that was fun. It also reminded me that tea is greater than coffee, every time without doubt.

I headed back to the hostel, collecting some food for dinner along the way. There was a new guy in my dorm room, a Mexican guy called Andre. He invited me out, but I declined, having spent too much time awake than asleep recently. I think I may have fallen asleep in my clothes that evening. Whoops.

Impression

Rome was surprisingly lively for such an ancient city, but it shouldn’t surprise me since it is the capital. A beautiful city, I loved every moment I had in Rome. I feel I actually spent too little time there, I would go back for sure happily.

Some random facts and stats from me, Al

  • Days spent: 3
  • Bakeries visited: 1
  • Jazz clubs: 2! And both were amazing, loved them so much!
  • Number of things that went wrong: none really. Except forgetting my hat in Florence whoops. Or maybe misjudging queues around the place
  • Memorable moment: So Many! But I would choose the Blues Jazz Club. And then visiting the Colosseum
  • Music suggestion based off of city: Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits
  • Postcards sent from here: 0. I am doing really badly at this whole postcard business!
  • Peddlers who approached me: 2
  • People with Vivos spotted: 1
  • Cups of coffee: 3, but that one cup of tea was better than them all.
  • Burnt-o-meter: 4/10 – still feeling sizzled from Florence
  • Items lost: 3
  • Hostel rating: 7/10 – location is far far away.

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