Roma

On our Big Trip, Rome is our gateway to Europe. We arrived at the airport in the morning and quickly realised that we didn't have a clue where we were, or even how to use a public telephone. After a few failed attempts to reach David at Solaroma B&B, where we were staying, I finally got through. After you put the money in the phone, you have to press "OK". Who knew?

The train to the city from the airport came 25 minutes late. We all know who was responsible for making the trains run on time, so perhaps this is the way Italians apologise. If so, I respect that, but I think all doors should be functioning, no matter what Mussolini did. While we were scrambling into a carriage that had only one door open (the others were broken), I suffered a great loss.

There I was, following Dana with my designated baggage: my backpack, camera bag, a 1L water bottle in each shorts pocket, esky (cooler) full of dirty clothes, and a massive red suitcase. The Leonardo Express, the train that runs from the Da Vinci Airport to the city, requires passengers to pull their luggage up a small, narrow flight of stairs while entering the train. There was a mad rush for the few working doors when the train pulled in, and I stayed close to Dana. She boarded successfully, with her share of the luggage, but as I hoisted our red bag up, I faltered. Time stood still for me and those below me on the platform. For a moment, those passengers joined me in my pain. My right foot was caught under my left leg, and as I struggled to free it, my thong (flip-flop, sandal, sand-shoe, whatever) came off my foot and tumbled down the steps. On the bottom step, it teetered, and a man reached for it just before it completed it's death spin onto the train tracks of Rome. Thanks Benito.

Our B&B was right next to the Vatican! Every morning we could look out our window and see the line of pilgrims waiting to get in grow and the attendant at the gas station within the Vatican grow sleepy. There were a few things I noticed early on during our stay in Rome:
- Everyone eats gelato. Not just the tourists, but middle-aged and old men stand around with a little coloured spoon in their pistachio gelato.
- The streets, stairs and squares are peppered with old women laying face-down on the pavement and praying for money with an empty tuna can or plastic cup in front of them.
- The only way to get cars to stop so you can cross the street is to step in front of them, even at pedestrian crosswalks. Sometimes they still don't stop, but they swerve to go around you, without slowing down.
- Sirens are constantly going off, with police or ambulance seemingly in constant pursuit. The sirens have that odd foreign sound that foreign sirens have. You know what I mean: the sound is actually alarming.

There was a very popular gelateria in the ground floor of our building. No matter what time of day it was, there were queues of people. Inside there were photos of the owners, or gelaterites, with famous Italian celebrities, politicians or folk heroes. I didn't recognise any of them, but I'm sure they would fall into one of those categories. On our last day, we heard one of the many sirens nearing our building. The sound stopped just below our window. We were leaving for the day at that point, so we were able to see what the commotion was... the ambulance drivers were standing around our sidewalk, eating gelato.

Of course, the sights of Rome are astounding. I can't begin to get into the history or describe the impact of the Colosseum or St. Peter's Basilica. Once I get the photos up, I will let them speak for themselves... in the way that only photos can speak... with a kind of gravelly voice and in a cockney accent.

Update: Photos have been posted.