Blogs from Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe - page 309

This was my first trip into Europe, apart from England, and my first experience of travelling alone in a country where English is not spoken. It did make me feel a little intimidated and I made sure to eat and drink in tourist areas where I felt more comfortable expecting everyone to understand me without me making any effort at all to speak Italian. The thing that is always at the forefront of my mind is the Lonely Planet doco that Rob and I watched where the woman was speaking to people who did not know a word of English in their native countries and instead of making the effort to stumble her way through mispronounciations of their language she spoke English louder and slower like that was suddenly going to make them understand. And I ... read more

we saw all of the major sights; colosseum (gladiator!), circus maximus (now just a cheap dirt track), the roman forum ruins (ancient rome, bc), mouth of truth, vatican, the popes apartment window!, sistine chapel, st. peters basilica, the pieta, trevi fountain, pantheon, etc etc.... aside from the amazing masterpieces of renaissance, rome is friggin ghetto! hella dirtz ass kids and graffiti and trash everzwhere.... the subwaz was hella crowded and nastz. some kids tried to pickpocket me, so i had to slap them. iäll tell zou more later... we'll show zou picturez when we get back... but needless to say, rome was the best part of our trip, handz down. it was such an awesome relgious experience... like going to mecca for muslims... rome was for us catholics...... read more

Os amigos leitores deste blog continuam perguntando, por que não escrevo um capítulo sobre Roma. Pois é, sempre evitei este fatídico capítulo, porque conheço bem a capital e do jeito que as coisas estão, seria difícil não falar da anti-cultura, da violência, das vergonhas do Palazzo Chigi e seu premier tragicômico-napoleônico, das passeatas contra os gays, da caça aos imigrantes, do hospital dos horrores... Coisas que a poucos interessa, até mesmo por aqui. "Roma é única, linda e fascinante, especialmente com passagem de andada e retorno", diz um amigo meu. Também não dava pra contar a história da cidade, tão longa que não cabe em capítulo de blog. Poderia recomendar a compra de um bom livro. Então resolvi emprestar o texto de Eliane Trindade, jornalista da Folha de São Paulo, que representa bem as minhas reflexões ... read more

Leaving Tuscany we ventured to Roma with Aaron to see the Vatican, Coliseum and all the sights this city has to offer. After Roma, we traveled to the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri, Amlfi, Pompei and our favorite hill town, Ravello. We spent Thanksgiving with Aaron on the waterfront in Amalfi eating Pizza and - a wonderful experience! The bus ride from Sorrento to Amalfi is all it is said to be and left Bill dizzy. Mary and Aaron were fine and road the bus back to Sorrento. Bill took the hydro foil and was so very glad he did! We loved this part of the trip. Sadly, after a week we had to say good bye to Sorrento. Once back in Roma, we said good bye to Aaron, as he headed back to Senegal.... read more

Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823 ... read more