Tourist stuff in Rome

Hey all – arrived in Rome and made my way to the Peter Pan hostel – and if you are ever in Rome then I thoroughly recommend staying basically anywhere else, up to and including a park bench, where it will be cooler and easier to sleep, and the drunks who mug you will be more helpful and polite (am possibly being a bit rude about the staff, but sleep deprivation will do that...) Anyway, paid in advance so am kind of stuck here for a few days and can live with it for that long – attached is a photo from the bathroom window – yes, that is a hairy pig.

Did a day of tourist stuff in Rome today – got off the metro at the Colosseum, which I did not go into cause the queue for tickets was several miles long – I bought a ticket for it at the forum today, so I will be able to go check it out tomorrow without having to queue. Did not really have that much of plan – just wandered around – it means you stumble across things that are not in guide books, like the first place I went, the Basilica San Clemente, which is, in Australian terms, an incredibly ancient church, which was built on top of an even more ancient church, which you can go down to under the church where it has been excavated, and this church was itself built on an even more ancient temple to Mithras, which you can also take steps down to – I even filled up my water bottle down there somewhere in a dank little room from an original Roman spring about three stories below ground level – cool.

Went to two more churches after that, both famous – the Santa Maria Maggiore followed by the Santa Maria degli Angeli, the last place that Michelangelo built. They were both astonishing, and really quite overwhelming in very different ways – the first because it was just so ornate, the Michelangelo one because it was so simple – two very different approaches to beauty, and both work because they are both developed to such a degree. Anyway, I lit some candles in the Michelangelo one, which is not a very Baptist thing to do, but, you know, when in Rome.

Given that it is peak tourist season the crowds at both these places were not too bad at all – they were both very peaceful places to be – in fact there was a service going on in one of them. Same can't be said for the Trevi fountain, which was infested with people – I kind of ran past it in horror – might be worth having a look at one evening if I come back to Rome later on, when it is autumn or winter and there are not so many people like me around.

Next stop was this building/monument to the successes of the Italian army, which was built in the 20^th century and is, even in Roman terms, enormous – probably a far more impressive building than it really deserves to be, given its subject...

I found this gallery on the way to the forum, which I had not heard of, but was amazing, and also a lot less crowded than you would think such a place should be – Rembrandt, Durer, Carravagio, a whole swarm of Brueghels. The Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Was just wonderful. The walls are completely covered with paintings, and unlike some of the exhibitions that come out to Melbourne there are no guide ropes in front of them – you can get as close to them as you want, could probably lick a few if you were that way inclined before you got thrown out...

Anyway, wandered around the forum for a while after that, which is a huge complex, a suburb in itself although obviously no one lives there apart from the ghost of Julius Ceasar and co. Was a bit late for a museum they have there so will probably go back in a couple of days. Wandered around, smoked a cigar, took some photos etc. Am now off to mentally prepare myself for another night where if I am lucky I will manage three or so hours of restless, drenched in sweat sleep. Have attached some photos of churches and a pig.

Cheers, B.