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Been doing a bit of travelling on the weekends and last weekend I was in rome. Its a fantastic city and a very beautiful one too.

Day 1 (Saturday)

I really wanted to go to the Vatican Museum and see all the paintings (the sistine chappel as well) but when I got there the queue to get in was 1 km long and the museum was open only for half the day (cos it was a saturday, they are closed on sundays except the last sunday of the month). So I decided to ditch the museum and go to the St. Peter's Bascilica instead. Its a beautiful church, though some of the smaller churches in Rome are more elegant. The highlight of the trip to the bascilica was the climb to the top of the dome. For a pretty reasonable fee of 4 euro (and an hour long queue) you get to climb to the top of the dome and get a fantastic view from the top. The climb is also a lot of fun, as part of the stairway is embedded in the dome (i.e. a part of the dome is actually not solid but made up of an inner and an outer layer, and between the 2 layers is the stairway.).
Midway to the top of the dome in the open roof of the church and you can get a good view of rome, you can buy post cards and stamps (vatican city has its own postal system) and also get some ice creams.

After the St. Peter's Bascilica, I decided to see the Trevi Fountain. Went by train to a station called Berberni which is next to the Fountain of Triton. Saw the fountain of triton, found my way to the trevi fountain (was easy, all I had to do was follow the crowd). The trevi fountain is very beautiful and very well preserved. Threw in the coins, and found a very good ice cream shop right next to the fountain that sells cheap, good and huge ice creams.

From the Trevi fountain, I went to the Pantheon. This is the most amazing thing in rome as far as I am concerned. Its not really big, and its something that a decent construction firm today would be able to build in less than a year (by decent I mean a singaorean construction firm not an indian one). The fact that this building was built a couple of thousand years ago and is so fantastically well preserved is a marvel. The eye (openning at the top, circular and about 9m in diameter) is fascinating. When it rains water comes into the pantheon and drains through 24 small holes in the center. The Pantheon was a pagan temple that was converted to a church about 500 years ago. The light coming through the eye and casting a beam on the walls is a fantastic sight.

From the Pantheon I went to a pretty square filled with fountains called Piazza Novona (The Fountain of Four Rivers by Bernini where the last cardinal is drownedin Angels & Demons is here), and then went to the Tomb of the unknown soldier (which is so big, I first thought it was the parliament building). Then I walked past the Foro (forum) Romanum and spent the evening gazing at the Colosseum and the Palentine hill.

Day 2 (Sunday)

Got up relatively early on day 2 to beat the crowds at the Colosseum, when I got there they were just openning and there were very few people around. Went in and walked around for a bit. Its a beautiful structure (though half in ruins) and in its heyday, would have been truely fantastic. Aparently in ancient times the arena could be flooded and ship battles were staged. Spent most of the morning there.

After the colosseum I went to see the Forum Romanum. This is a collection of ruins near the Colosseum which provide some insight into the buildings that would have once stood here. Most of the structures still standing are just columns and foundations. The size of these buildings is really immense. After the forum I went to the Palentine hill. This is also a collection of ruins of the palaces of the roman kinds and emperors, which sit on a hill overlooking the forum, the colosseum and the circus maximus.

From palentine hill I walked to cricus maximus. What is left of the circus is only a large (really large 500m x 100m) square patch of sunken grass land. This circus was once a huge arena where chariot races (like the ones depicted in Ben Hurr) were held. Today it looks like a large meadow.

From the circus, which is close to the river Tiber, I crossed the river and walked along the river to the Vatican City. I went to Castle St. Angelo (The Illuminati Lair for Angels Demons Fans) which is on the banks of the Tiber and from the roof of the castle caught the sunset and a view of St. Peter's Bascilica lit up. Finally I walked to St Peters Square once more and walked around the fountains and the obelisk once again.

Day 3 Monday

I left rome on Sunday night and arrived at Innsbruck in Austria on Monday morning. Went the Alpen Zoo (Alpine Zoo, was a rather sad experience, most of the animals seemed to be in a shabby state) and also to a small town called HungerBerg. It was pretty cold and the weather was windy and wet. Left around midday to getback to Stuttgart.

That in short was my weekend. Rome is a great place to visit and definitely beats both London and Paris hands down. My site is going from a photoblog to a travelogue, I shall hopefully reverse that trend soon.