Perhaps it has been caused by years of corrupt rule by Berlusconi, or perhaps it's just in their DNA, they don't really care as long as their bellies are full and their team is winning. For football here is the religion, not Catholicism, which is just a show, and a right royal one at that. The tourism industry, built on Rome's history and art treasures, survives in spite of itself. Probably with the arrival of the internet, other countries more sophisticated like the USA have moved in and the industry is booming, in spite of of a lot of disgruntled ripped-off tourists from the US whom you see every day.
Then there is the dirt and really, the filth. The complete opposite of London, the Romans walk around in a mess and throw their ubiquitous cigarette butts in the street. The buses are crammed and most people probably don't have a ticket because there are no inspectors. The metro runs OK, but they need a ticket for that as there are barriers to pass through. That said, the Italians are probably very honest, although they feel that it is their right and duty to rip off the tourists. If there were to be a film about the end of the world, then Rome, not Melbourne, would be in my mind, the ideal place to film it.
In Rome there is an enormous black population from across the Mediterranean, many are beggars and most are without papers I would think. It is not a happy sight to continually be asked for money from a severely deformed person sitting on the street outside St Peter's Basilica where many millions of dollars of Art treasures are being ogled at by the throngs of greedy tourists. If you have the guts to survive this, then Rome is worth the visit, as the artistic rewards are great and many. But you need to be fit and have staying power.
I wonder if I will even have the guts to do it again, as there is always more to see and more to experience. Probably once I get over it, I could do it again, but next time I would go to the Amalfi Coast where the sea embraces the shore, or perhaps north to Venice, or to Milan where I used to live and work forty five years ago, but it has probably changed for the worse too.
Then there is the dirt and really, the filth. The complete opposite of London, the Romans walk around in a mess and throw their ubiquitous cigarette butts in the street. The buses are crammed and most people probably don't have a ticket because there are no inspectors. The metro runs OK, but they need a ticket for that as there are barriers to pass through. That said, the Italians are probably very honest, although they feel that it is their right and duty to rip off the tourists. If there were to be a film about the end of the world, then Rome, not Melbourne, would be in my mind, the ideal place to film it.
In Rome there is an enormous black population from across the Mediterranean, many are beggars and most are without papers I would think. It is not a happy sight to continually be asked for money from a severely deformed person sitting on the street outside St Peter's Basilica where many millions of dollars of Art treasures are being ogled at by the throngs of greedy tourists. If you have the guts to survive this, then Rome is worth the visit, as the artistic rewards are great and many. But you need to be fit and have staying power.
I wonder if I will even have the guts to do it again, as there is always more to see and more to experience. Probably once I get over it, I could do it again, but next time I would go to the Amalfi Coast where the sea embraces the shore, or perhaps north to Venice, or to Milan where I used to live and work forty five years ago, but it has probably changed for the worse too.
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