Rome is a smashing city. It’s a place of beauty, surprises and most of all fountains. If you’re open to it, you can behold something amazing behind every corner. Don’t forget to look to your left and right while walking in a busy main street every now and then. For at the end of an insignificant alley you might see a lovely garden. Statues included.

It’s taken me a while, but here it is. My Rome report. Not so hot from the press but still: READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! I’ve added lots of pictures to make it more lively. Aren’t digital cameras a gift from the gods


When strolling trough the streets of Rome do not forget to look up. If not for all the lovely views, then most certainly for your own safety. I wouldn’t want one of these heads to fall on my own. It was quite a funny thing to see. All those stone heads on that wall.







When you’re in Rome do not forget to visit the Colloseum. It is SO worth it. I do have to warn you about the incredibly long queues. It doesn’t matter how early you get there, there’s always lots and lots of people waiting. However, we had the advantage of being in a group. And our guide is the best at cutting in line. If there was such a thing as State cutting in line championships, she would win gold. Within 5 minutes we had entered the Colloseum. I felt sorry for all the people who were still waiting. Poor bastards. They really should take a guided tour next time.

I learnt some interesting things about the place. Like how they would throw little balls the size of ping pong balls into the crowd during breaks. If you were lucky enough to catch one of those, you’d won a prize. This could vary from a fish or some veggies to your very own slave. Slave to be collected at your nearest entrance. Holy smuck. I want to win a slave. I promise I’ll be really nice to him. *evil grin*. Nah, the Romans treated their slaves very well in those days.


Look, we brought our own Claire. It’s Hilde. And she’s having a baby *duh*. She such an amazing person. The woman knows how to party, even with a stomach like that. Yeah, you go girl!!




On your right you see a church. This was at the forum Romana. Back in the days this was THE place to gossip. To talk about who was hot and who was not. People of all casts were allowed to come here and mingle.

You copy and pasted from LJ, the images dont work. lol

Sounds like you had a great time! I wish I went too! lol

rest here:





The Pantheon is absolutely stunning. Marble as far as you can see. The complete interior has been lined with it. It took my breath away.



Rome has a heap of churches, but it also has the craziest amount of fountains. A fountain on your left, a fountain on your right and looky look there’s another fountain in sight. Not that you would ever hear me complain. It’s the best place to cool your hands and fill your water bottle.



If you want to return to Rome you have to toss a coin into the Trevy fountain. Right hand, left shoulder, don’t look back. If you follow these simple rules you will surely see Rome again. And trust me, you have to go back, because there is no way in the world that you can see all the beautiful places in just one weekend.





Another hot spot: the Spanish steps. Need I say more? It’s just the place to hang out, relax, watch people and have fun.



The trip is coming to an end, but not just yet. First we go out. Waiting for the taxi can be sooooow boring.



Mopeds and scooters are the way to get around Rome. Almost everybody has one. Even snappy businessmen who, of course, have snappy mopeds.


Some random madness:
The hotel turned out to be one gigantic maze of rooms. My room was: left, left, left, right, left, right. Yes, I know, don’t try to find it when you’re drunk. It cannot be done.
The room was small and dark. I noticed there was a bug or insect of some kind on our ceiling. Big cockroach alert. Red alarm bells started ringing inside my head. If there’s one thing I don’t like it’s roaches. On closer inspection it turned out to be a moth. I could have lived with it, but my room mate freaked out. So we decided to call the front desk. Right now I’ve come to the moment to tell you Italians don’t speak their languages. It’s impossible to explain anything to them. So here’s a quick guide to telling them there’s a bug in your room: scream, cry, go mental and drag poor front desk clerk to your room to show him. It’s the only thing that works. He rearranged the whole room just to get near it, but eventually he succeeded. That’s when he told me: farfalle porta fortuna. Now I think I understood that. If I’m not mistaken it means: moths bring luck/fortune. Go us!!! I wonder if it still brings luck if you have a hotel clerk squash it for you.

This is where my story comes to an end. I will keep you no longer. You can stop reading now, surf to the nearest travel website and plan your own trip to Rome.

You're right Rosie. The images don't work. Well can't get into my photobucket right now, so that's probably it.
Will look into it tonight.

Well, everything seems to work now. Photobucket-trouble has ceased to bug us, I guess. Speaking about bugs, how could you smash your very own moth? It might've shown you the way out of your dark room!

Very nice report, Miranda. You should work for a travel agent! I'm all up for a trip to Rome now, I wish I could go immediately, although that would be running away from my responsabilities. :(
I absolutely love the pics, btw. Amazing city, it seems. And you fit right in, with your lovely skirt! Me likes a lot!

Cool, sounds (and looks) like you had a fab time. Was it a work thing or more like your own holiday to do what you wanted?

Paris is much more of a love couple kind of place, but Rome looks like fun for all the family.

Once every year all the people (or most people) who work at my company go on a trip. So yes this is a work thing. But we could go where ever we wanted to go. The only thing we did as a group was have dinner. It works well for me that way. And I like it that I get to hang out with the people from the Rotterdam and Amsterdam offices.


Rome is a place where you can go as a family. One of my co-workers stayed a week longer to spend some time with her husband and kids in Rome.

Thank you Jo. I like that skirt a lot.

Cool :hyper: thanks for sharing. I like the way you wrote it

#haha# fantastic. Looked like a lot of fun and the city seems very old. Also your CAMERA! It looks amazing, like you would see that with your own eyes, I have to get myself a digtal camera if thats the quality.

IT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN! and it looks like it would have... i see in the pictures that you had a great time and i really love your skirt!

the funny thing is, where DO you work? or what do you do? coz you say you sit at a desk and stuff, but i really don't know WHAT you do... anyway ROME looks AWESOME! i am SO going when i finish year 12! and i will hopefully still know you all and i might visit! w00t

(--)

To Jo: yeah I can't believe I let the guy kill the moth. Especially since I was quite excited when I found out what it was. My very own moth, in my very own dark room. It's obvious my co-worker doesn't watch lost.

To Fawkes: my camera is amazing. It's got such good quality and wasn't even that expensive. I'm so glad I decided to get one.

To Maddy: Ha, ha. You're right. I don't think I ever mentioned what it is that I do. That's basically because it is so freaking boring. I mean, when we get al excited over a dead cow in the basement, the rest cannot be all that interesting.
I'm a secretary at a human resources type office. We do all kinds of things: recruitment (the unit I work for), training, coaching, assessments. For those of you who do not know: in an assessment we test people to see if they are "fit" for a job. It involves role-plays and tests on the computer. (Personality tests, but also grammar, math, insight and lots more) I especially like the ones with the cubes and stuff. Some of you might know those national IQ tests. Well that's basically what it is. I'm involved in lots and lots of planning and make sure all goes well.

Ooooh, now I want to go..... maybe in the fall...

Its all just dawned on me!! that sounds.. cool... miranda

JOKES! thats cool. i was curious you see. :thinky:

I've been looking for a digital camera. I would like one that is small enough to carry everywhere, but is good quality... i went looking and they are in the $300 - $700 or more price range. its so hard!

yay. The pics work! They are amazing, i want to go to rome! Glad you had a great time. I love what your wearing, the shoes are way cute. lol
Maddy, Im coming with you....mmmkayyyyyy?

Yay, my flower converse shoes. I love them. They looked awful with that skirt, but they were the only shoes I'd brought with me, that I can walk miles on.

:o

Such a happy nice looking place. What language so they use over there? Is it the Euro too?

I think I will go there in 10 years or so. Its not really a place you cant not go to is it.

All the Romans at school, its just a place you have to see. :YES:

They do use the euro. Very convenient. You can bring as much money as you want to but you don't have to spend it all. (not like spending it is a problem :Wink1: )