Three hours in Rome, a photo diary

[nanila]

I had three hours to walk around Rome on my return from Frascati to the UK. I decided to wing it, setting out from Roma Termini with no map and my phone off.

Apart from a lot of chaps trying in vain to sell me an umbrella to ward off a few measly drops of rain (I was wearing a coat with a hood), the first thing I found was a tunnel.


I decided not to venture down it, but instead to follow the lady with the red umbrella.


She went into a shop, so I realigned my Douglas-Adams-inspired navigational method to this nun.


This turned out to be entirely the right thing to do, as I ended up exactly where I needed to spend my remaining leisure time: The Forum.

The scale of The Forum is mind-boggling. I walked up and down and side to side across the space, pausing many times to look, and look again, at all the layers of history revealed. My knowledge of history is appallingly thin, but even without the depth of context, it gives the impression of a vast and powerful empire, which sank slowly into my stunned brain.



The seagulls seemed to think they owned the place.




The people-watching is pretty great, too.






A couple of colour images, just to break things up a bit...




You could buy fridge magnets from the tat merchant stalls with the SQPR inscription. They also had some wonderfully tacky ones of the Pope. I got one for the bloke, inscribed “Habemus Papam Francesco”. Those of you who know his real name will understand why I found this hysterical.


Ancient & modern superimposed.


Oh all right, seagull, you can be the focal point of this image.




Artfully strewn ruins. They did make me wonder if they’d been left where they were excavated or had been painstakingly placed to maximise aesthetic viewing pleasure.




Layers of domes.


The presidential palace.




I reluctantly turned my feet away from The Forum to see if I could find one more object of interest before returning to the train station. (Notice that despite spending two hours exploring The Forum thoroughly, I managed to miss the Colosseum. *slow clap for self*) But at least I managed to find the Trevi Fountain.





Finally, yours truly, about to depart for Fiumicino Aeroporto.

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

It looks like 3 hours well spent.

[nanila]

I thought so. I almost went into a museum, but although I would like to do that someday, I'm glad I didn't miss the Forum.

[cmcmck]

Lovely pics.

Know Rome well.

You'll find Rome pics on my blog from the end of last year (I f-lock but keep my pic posts open) if interested.

They start here:

http://cmcmck.dreamwidth.org/335394.html

And run through December into January.

[nanila]

Thank you for sharing those! I enjoy seeing what catches others' eyes in a place like that, so it's neat to see where our respective observations overlapped and diverged.

[thnidu]

Seagulls always do.
(Here via Ysabetwordsmith)

[nanila]

They get very bossy about it too. I'm not keen on them, I must admit, so I was glad that the Roman ones kept their distance.

[calissa]

Some lovely shots! I do like that last one of you.

[nanila]

Thank you! It's not so easy to SP (with a non-mobile-phone-camera, anyway) when alone in a place thronging with tourists, so I was happy to be able to catch that moment.

[sunflowerinrain]

So ridiculously over-the-top, the Trevi :)

I did Latin A-level, so had images to add to the background of the Forum (especially Cicero) and it was wonderful.
I think my favourite thing about Rome is the juxtaposition of bits and pieces of all eras: turning a corner to find a column, the last remnant of an ancient temple, sticking up out of the pavement next to a parked car; late-19th-century houses flanking a Renaissance building.

[nanila]

Baroque architecture is good for unabashed frippery, isn't it?

I would love to have more time to explore the city someday. Also to bring Humuhumu.

[lark_ascends]

Gorgeous.

(Notice that despite spending two hours exploring The Forum thoroughly, I managed to miss the Colosseum. *slow clap for self*) But at least I managed to find the Trevi Fountain.

I know that sort of feeling. Wandering in Sydney city trying to find Centrepoint Tower. It's a tower. It towers over everything. Can't see it.

[nanila]

Hahaha. It must be some kind of special skill. I remember spending ages looking for the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park on my first visit to London. It's this massive tacky gold thing, across from the massive not-tacky Albert Hall. It took me over an hour to find it.