Roman all over Rome

Rome, the eternal city that once was the capital of a vast empire, was our next stop. Many of the clichés about Rome have some truth to them. Ancient megaliths appear amongst medieval and modern landscapes that send the visitor through a time warp, and we're not talking about Rome's transport system. Number one mistake was assuming that a metropolis the size of Rome would be easily accessible by public transport from all parts of the city. Number two mistake was choosing to stay outside of the city centre. The two mistakes combined added up to a bit of a disaster. But hey, WE WERE IN ROME!

As we arrived at our Air B&B apartment, we weren't sure if the neighbourhood really qualified as Rome. Even the ancient Romans didn't classify the area as part of Rome. It was beyond the walls and part of the countryside. The first lady and empress of Rome, Livia, had a country villa not far from our Air B&B. It really was out in the sticks. On the upside, it was a nice apartment. Thankfully our Air B&B host met us at the train station and we didn't have to lug our backpacks up the countryside hills of Fidene. As we got into the car, our host immediately informed us that she didn't speak English very well. We promptly responded that we spoke very little Italian. Her response: “you'll get to learn Italian with me”. Our conversations would start with some English and then quickly spiralled into Italian punctuated with a few English words. Any words that she didn't know she just said in Italian. But somehow we got the gist of what she was saying.

Our first day was lost to travel, most of which was traversing through Rome taking trains, metros and automobiles. The following day we set out to experience the historic city but not before a 10 minute jog to the train station and two trains. Luckily we packed extra food and water for the journey (We didn't want to do a Burke and Wills!). Once we arrived in the city centre, we quickly walked to the iconic Pantheon to visit the tomb of Raphael (the famous artist and not another ninja turtle). Next on the itinerary was the Trevi fountain and a few museums (Palazzo Altemps and Crypta Balbi) to round out the day before trekking back to the countryside, with its primitive WiFi connection. It seemed that we were so far out that to get a signal you needed to stand on a chair with one leg while holding your phone as high as possible in the air. And then you only got two bars, if you were lucky!

The third day started out much the same as the previous day. Get up early to make the journey to the historic centre of Rome, a quick jog to get the half-hourly scheduled train so that we could arrive in time for the opening of the Colosseum. The early start paid off and we entered the Colosseum before the masses, passing the security guards that were too busy vaping to be bothered screening bags. The journey had been well worth it as we wandered around the magnificent monument - if only the walls could speak! Then came the tour of the Roman Forum which took up the rest of the day and filled up our memory cards full of photos of the Roman ruins.

While touring around the Palatine Hill, which Jason says we went up and down like a bride's nightie, we stumbled upon the Russian man (and his wife) that we met outside the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. A similar experience occurred on the second day in Rome when we were leaving the Trevi fountain. We were walking down the street when a woman reached out for Jason. At first, Ricky thought Jason was going to lash out at her, but then Jason realised that he knew the woman from Brisbane. It truly is a small world after all.

At first, day four seemed like groundhog day. Except this time, the trains were delayed. It could have been worse. The train drivers could have been on strike, which is not uncommon in Rome. But at least they give prior warning of any strike. To make matters worse, the train, the metro and the bus were so crowded that we felt like a baby-on-board sign suctioned onto a soccer mum's Land Rover. People were crammed onto the bus so tight we're fairly certain most of those standing were impregnated by the end of the journey. Although arriving later than expected and carry our first-born (pizza/pasta/beer/cannoli) baby, Ricky still had plenty of time to soak up the Roman sites, including the baths of Diocletian and Caracalla.

And of course a trip to Rome wouldn't be complete without visiting one of the many catacombs. We chose to visit the largest catacomb complex in Rome, the Catacombs of Saint Domitilla. But not before Ricky made Jason walk along the Appian Way, where we dodged speeding motorists who seemed to have an aversion to using their brakes. After the tour of the catacombs, lead by an Italian woman with a thick accent that many of the tour group couldn't understand, Ricky insisted on visiting the tomb of Caecilia Metella and the Villa Quintilii, which were all within walking distance (well, within 6 kilometres of each other). There really wasn't much of an alternative but to walk as the buses don't service much of this area and a train line doesn't exist (well, at least according to Google Maps). To make matters a little worse, the sky opened up as we were part way along the Appian Way and we ended up taking refuge inside an ancient Roman tomb, which has been partially eroded leaving only the roof and side walls. It soon became our lunch venue as we waited for the storm to pass.

Fortunately, the weather improved and we were able to explore many of the other sites of Rome, such as the Spanish Steps, Mausoleum of Augustus, Forum Boarium, Arch of Janus, Mouth of Truth, relics of Saint Valentine and Villa Borghese. Despite the public transport issues, our Roman holiday was an amazing experience and the eternal city will eternally stay with us.

Next stop: The Vatican CityRead more