Rome in facts
Founded: 753 BC
Population: 2,705,603 in city (4th in EU), 4,013,057 in urban area
Area: 1285 km2
Tourism: 26 mio tourists every year (3rd in EU)
On 7-12 November I made my this year's last trip (most likely), this time to "eternal city" Rome. This time I was lucky with weather - it was a trip back to the summer (just as I expected), +20C, sunny most of the time with clear blue skies. Rome differs from other European key cities where I have been (London, Paris, Berlin) very much. Rome as a much older and world wars escaped city holds large historical heritage from ancient times when it was metropolis even by modern standards (historicists say that in Rome was at least 1-2 million people in ancient times). You can see it on every step - city center is full of ancient ruins appearing here and there - between the buildings, in the middle of parks, even besides the railway lines. I got impression that Romans have built their city through centuries in conformity to these ancient relics, maybe that's why dominant colours are brown, dark red and dark yellow, and even in newer appartment houses far from the city centre they tries to comply with these rules. That makes Rome looking very coherent but also a bit stagnating - creates the feeling it's the city with rich past but without the future. Definitely, this is not the place for talented architect to experiment with his ideas - Rome hasn't almost any modern architecture and it hasn't almost any highrises too. But it's all belonging to the feeling of Rome - old, authentic stuff which hates antything new and progressive. Rome doesn't need skyscrapers to overawe - the imperial history and it's relics does it much stronger.
Buildings' maintenance mostly is in bad or medium condition, but the city is quite clean compared to other large cities. Tourists in Rome are everywhere, bearing in mind that November isn't considered as tourism season there, I wonder how the city looks in summer. Sadly, the beggars also are everywhere - haven't been in city with so many beggars before. Traffic is just crazy, noone pay much attention to the signal lights - neither drivers nor walkers. The good thing is that there are many panda crossings. I didn't see traffic jams too. Regarding to public transport, Rome has only 2 metro lines and trains are always full of people, because they goes through Termini central station. The transport with main (Fiumicino) airport is very good, express trains leaves every 30 minutes. Fiumicino airport itself is great organized - although very large, it is intelligible. People in Rome are nice but maybe not as kind as in other countries where I've been.
In overall, Rome is a very great city which provides many both impressive, and charming places, lovely weather (especially in October-November) and just a glimpse of the Western civilization roots. Strongly recommended!
Vecais Sakarnis' classing by points. ROME.
Amount of must-see places: 5/5
Historical architecture: 5/5
Modern architecture: 1/5
Nature: 3/5
Parks: 4/5
Safety: 4/5
Public transport system: 4/5
Walking comfort, traffic: 3/5
Eating: 3/5
Weather: 4/5
People: 4/5
Maintenance of buildings: 3/5
Cleanness of streets: 4/5
Overall feeling: 13/15
Total points: 60 of 80
Let's go with the pictures.
Termini station building is aproximately 1 km long:
Rome has large park area close to centre called Villa Borghese. It's in size of Riga's Mežaparks, and like in Mežaparks, the zoological garden is situated there, but in contrast to Mežaparks, the park itself is not just a forest but great man-made landscape:
Art museum is located near Villa Borghese:
Villas of wealthier people are located on excellent places - on top of hills, close to green areas and with beautiful view over the city:
Colosseum:
Vittorio Emanuele monument, built for memory of Italian soldiers died in WW1:
Vatican
St Peter's church interior:
Other churches:
Cityscenes: