Thinking about Rome

San Carlo al Corso

I've been thinking about Rome and remembering my last stay (albeit some 40+ years ago).

I think what makes Rome unique as a large city is the layering of history, especially imperial and ecclesiastical (and not to forget ecclesiastical imperialism): huge swaths of archaeological debris--though some of it still in good shape after 2000 years--and great monumental domed churches all over the city. I think, with Paris, Rome is my favorite big European city, followed by Prague (baroque wonder) and Madrid (probably because I know it so well). I just don't like London (bombed, burned, rebuilt ugly, overcrowded, and expensive). Athens has a few notable ruins, but otherwise blah. Berlin? I stayed there too long ago and it was a much different city then!

Paris is terrific, but gives the sense of having been planned out like a piece of art. Rome, on the other hand, is layered and chaotic. Think of it as a place where, over the millennia, the God of History stood outside the city wall (a stretch of it still standing) and shoveled stuff in, strata stacked on strata, centuries piled on centuries piled on centuries, and all of it grandiose (or formerly so).

I've been using Panoramio on Google Earth to look at photos of various spots in the city. We'll be doing plenty of walking and we want to make sure we take the most interesting route between points.