rome

Even though Vatican City is in the other side of Rome, it remains a must-see place regardless of your religious views and affiliation. The truth is, despite not possessing most qualities a country is supposed to have, The Holy See is one of the most powerful in the world.

The city-state was so small it was probably of a similar size to an airport, but they did pack plenty in it. There were numerous souvenir shops, most trying to pretend Benedict didn’t exist, and the amount of Francis products does make you wonder whether the Biblical God would be happy with the papacy.

You also get certain embassies you don’t see in most places, like the Republic of China (Taiwan) one.

The churches around were also empty, btw.

I believe they stole the column from Egypt. Not the only item they’d stolen.

Seeing the Swiss guards was a high point for me, and not just for the erotic fantasies. After all, the institution is historic and they are one of the very few remaining forces in this form. Some dressed more elaborately than the others, no doubt for the entertainment of certain servants of God.

Do you know I can be the next pope? All you need is be is 1. male, 2. baptized Catholic. Can you imagine me as a demigod?

Rome, where the Roman Republic/Empire started. Coincidentally, also my favourite historical city. It has everything I like – impressive, imperial buildings, ancient ruins, and everything’s reasonably close.

The structure above was my absolute No 1 in the metropolis. It’s extraordinarily well-maintained and you can go on it and get a marvellous view of the city.

Proof.

It was awfully hot though – around 35 degrees. Would probably have died had there not been literally water fountains everywhere downtown!

But it was so hot that despite the fact that I kept drinking and drinking water, I never really needed to go to the loo.

The complex looked much better in the evening with the lights, even though it might have been more difficult to take good photos of them.

Rome is a highly walkable city (you’d need to be a big walker tho), ever if you want to walk from the central station (where I stayed) all the way to the Vatican and back. It’s quite a nice walk too, with all the unique and stylish ancient buildings at every corner.

One thing that stood out to me was the atmosphere in the city. The archaeological sites had all aged quite a bit, and they were all ruins beyond repair. Yet, Rome still felt like very much the seat of an empire, albeit one that had fallen a long, long time ago.

On another note, they projected videos and images on to some of the walls and that was cool.