When in Rome

18/09/14

After the massive adventure that was living in China, I haven't really felt much like writing about my adventures because they're not that exciting. Yes, I got a real life grown up job and moved to England but really, who wants to read that I now get up at 6.45am, spend the day at work and the evenings cleaning my house and cooking a fairly average dinner? Nobody, that's who. So if you're reading this then maybe you think my city break to Rome merits a Blog or two. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Read on reader (mum and dad) and hopefully it won't be too much of a disappointment.

The day began as most travel days do – far too early. We got up at 5.30am and after a few last minute checks and running back in to grab our toothbrushes we were off. In no time at all we had parked the car, arrived at the airport and checked through security. 

We didn't have long before we boarded our flight, so after buying some new toothbrushes (Rory got them from the house but left them in the car) we were on our way. The flight was fairly uneventful and we arrived in Italy just in time to see our bus pulling out of the car park and heading to Rome, without us. Thankfully there was another bus in forty minutes so we waited outside, in the sweltering heat for it to arrive.

The journey to the city was pretty straight forward and once we arrived we took the subway, used our trusty Booking.com map and eventually found our B&B. When I saw the street and realised that we had to walk through a garage to get in I wasn't too thrilled but when we were shown our room I was much happier; there were so few places available when we tried to book accommodation that we ended up getting a suite and I'm pretty glad we did as it's pure beaut!

After a quick outfit change (Rome is absolutely roasting) we set off on an adventure and just so happened to come across the Colosseum. Rory is the Roman history buff but even I was impressed by the sheer size of it. It's also relatively well preserved given that it is 1,934 years old.

We then continued on to the Roman Forum, which is, according to Rory, the heart of Rome. It was here that the senate met and any important religious rituals were carried out. While what we saw was impressive, the actual Forum was closing for the evening so we put that little adventure on hold and headed to the Independence Memorial, which as far as I can tell, is literally just a massive building celebrating, funnily enough, Italy's independence.

One thing I really like about traveling is getting lost, provided I don't have a flight to catch, so imagine my delight when we not only got lost down some little side streets but ended up coming out at the Pantheon. According to my Lonely Planet book, the Pantheon is not only one of Rome's most iconic sights but also one of the most influential buildings in the Western World. Pretty big claim there Lonely Planet but I can certainly see why. It was originally built by Marcus Agrippa in 27BC but it burnt down, only to be rebuilt and destroyed by lightning. Talk about unlucky. In 110AD the emperor Hadrian rebuilt it and he did a pretty good job as that's what you see today. It was originally a temple dedicated to the classical gods, hence the name; pan (all) and theos (gods) but in 608AD it was consecrated as a Christian church and this is why it's in such good condition because apparently people don't mind nicking stuff from an amazing temple or palace but they aren't so keen on stealing from a church.

One thing that really struck me was how impressive it in on the inside. The interior looks brand new and the oculus (the 8.7m-diameter hole in the middle of the dome) is amazing, especially when you think that it's the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built. Like ever. I initially thought there was some glass at the top but apparently not – when it rains the rain comes in and disappears down 22 almost invisible holes in the sloping marble floor. When you look at something like the Pantheon you really realise how switched on they were back in the day. It also makes you feel pretty bad for the slaves who literally worked night and day to finish these structures (fun fact – the slaves genuinely did work night and day on the Colosseum and that's why it only took eight years to build).

After exploring the surrounding area we finished the evening with some Pizza and Gellatto, but I was clearly too starving to stop and take any pictures... Maybe next time I'll think before I eat! Overall it’s been a pretty great first day – who knows what tomorrow holds? Well, Rory does, he booked our tours for the rest of the week.