I have always been against planning, this will come as no shock to my past employers.. and this holiday had a bit of a plan but i wanted to just land in a city and have to fumble my way around at first… it was a luxury that only time can give, and i had that in buckets.

So here I was in Rome. i knew little about the city … I had a map but wasn’t sure exactly where I was, wasn’t sure which way the river was so wasn’t even able to just wing it… but I did have myself some most comforbale lodgings at Hotel San Francesco in Trastevere, so it wasn’t like I was camping or anything… lordie lordie

I spent the first few hours of the morning gathering and getting a better idea of where I was.

I did some road crossing practice,.. even though I was telling myself to ignore everything that Hector the cat taught me about road safety and “look to the left”… my brain refused to comply and turned my head to the right.. and quite nearly, I, like many a tourist from a “we drive on the left” country almost got run down with the first step I placed on a Roman road. It wasn’t the proverbial bus,.. and it wasnt even one of those crazy 3 wheeled cars,.. just an everyday fiat … its driver said something to me which i will have to take up with my Italian teacher when i get back.

A bit more road crossing practice and i was feeling better,.. made my way to the river, back to the hotel and sense of direction (one of those things you cant buy at the tabachi) had been acquired.

Most of you know I am no fan of crap movies.. in fact some of you probably think I exclusively like crap movies.. that’s because in actual fact it’s you who like crap movies and don’t yet know it.. But I watched the movie Gladiator all because of this strange obsession I have with the colosseum,.. i have never been able to explain it… but the place has captivated me since a fellow student showed me some photos of it back in 1978, Well today I walked it, touched it smelt it etc, and although cliched and reasonably crowded it still meant something, the scale of things, the scale of human ability to both build something magnificent and yet use it for something so primitive .. and the need to preserve these structures as places of importance even though the tastes and beliefs of the people that see it every day have changed.

Tourists will be pleased to note that the gladiatorially clad dickheads who try and make you take photos of them were gone, that was nice, although i had armed myself with several swear words just for their ears,.. but knowledge is a good thing,, i am sure it will come in handy one day soon.

From the colleseum it was onto the Roman Forum just a bunch of old stuff really,.. nice place for a block of apartments, i had read a comment on a website about Circa Massimo once,.. which just read “why dont they just concrete it” and figured i better go and work out why for myself… well it’s got me stuffed… i think Melbourne’s Italian community should each send 1 kilo of pebble mix over to cover the place.

Back to my bed in Trastevere for more efforts at de-jetlagging myself… i have hayfever,.. i never get hayfever,.. crazy roman pollen i guess… jasmine everywhere, sweet smelling,.. but eye swelling.