Hundreds of photos and maps throughout the guide. Rome. It's a name that thrills most would-be visitors to their fingertips, and those that visit leave suitably enthralled. Warm, sunny and full of mama's good food, it's the kind of place you can wander for days, mouth agape at the number of ancient monuments and the stories and names of people and places that are not just listed in the annals of time but that actually existed. These include places like the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Vatican and people such as Raphael, Caravaggio and Nero, who can be identified by one name alone, as is the wont of those who are really famous. Visiting Rome is like viewing a visual archive of Western culture, with all the evidence of its two great empires – the Roman Empire and the Christian Church – lying, standing or parading around you in various states of glory or decay. While there is history in every church, piazza, nook and cranny of the city, most Romans seem almost unaware that some of the world's most incredible monuments share the city with them and indeed if you're on a bus passing the Colosseum you can be guaranteed only tourists will bother to turn their heads. In the past, Romans have even treated their city as something of a quarry, removing stones, stripping relics and destroying things as they wished. Today it is fortunate that there is still so much left to enjoy and that there is far more respect for the past. Today monuments are either protected or people simply coexist with what's left; there are concerts in the ruins, one can picnic on an ancient stone column on the Appian Way (Via Appia), and children play soccer in Baroque piazzas. It's clear Rome is not treated as a museum but a living, breathing city.
While its glorious monuments may have you looking up all day, don't forget to look around as well. Modern-day Romans may have little in common with their predecessors but they are still a big part of what makes this city so great. They drive fast, talk fast and eat fast. They gesticulate with abandon, fall in and out of love quicker than you can say Michelangelo, drive as if pursued by the devil himself – or perhaps the Pope – and indulge in all manner of sensuous delights such as gelati, coffee and pizza on a daily basis.
With such pleasures so readily available, it's easy to see why a movie like La Dolce Vita was filmed here, despite the city's other flaws such as corruption, overcrowding, pollution, traffic, crime and mismanagement. But in Rome, as is the case throughout Italy, the chaos and culture exist side-by-side in such synergy that they form part of the city's endearing and enduring attraction. And having existed that way for millennia it is clear too that the Eternal City will no doubt endure it awhile longer. While it has been many years since Rome was the center of the world, if you spend time here you may well start thinking it still is.
