Sunday 5 February 2012

Roman Holiday

I was warned that I will have to do a lot of walking in Rome. Fine enough. I like walking. I just wasn't prepared to walk all over the city over ice. I hate walking in ice in Canada and I avoid it whenever I can because my feet aren't very stable. Also the trees keep on dropping piles of snow on people's heads.

In Athens, a woman who had been to Rome said, "Athens reminds me of Rome except that Rome is like an outdoor museum." And it's true - I got lost so many times on the streets and most of the time I'm confused where I am but it doesn't really matter because a site is just right around the corner. I've been to the Colosseum, the Capitolone Museum, the Villa (Gallheria) Borghese, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Except for the Colosseum, I've accidentally discovered these sites while trying to search for others.

My first full day in Rome is on a Sunday, and usually most things are open but there are signs all over every single attraction stating something like, "Due to the inclement weather, we are not open. We apologize for any inconvenience." Umm okay there is some snow on the ground and nobody can come to work? Except for the churches, of course, because it's Sunday. It is quite unfair to the thousands of tourists who booked vacation off and flew all the way here to have nothing open. Of course, Lazio is probably not used to this. The tourist information centres have been closed since Friday due to this weather. I think I would really like Rome except now it's really cold and I am getting tired of being outdoors in the cold all the time.

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