Rome -Things to do

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Rome

AII roads no longer lead to the Eternal City set on the seven hills Milan has far more economic clout. Rome is still the cultural leader, however, an architectural treasure largely owned by the Vatican, the city's chief landlord, and the Italian state. World weary Romans will tell you in one breath that their city is being ruined by too much traffic, too much pollution, too many tourists too much of everything; and in the next breath that Rome is the world's most beautiful city. There's some truth in both views.

Rome Beauty aside, though, Rome has in some ways become a provincial backwater, relegated to that role by history and geography. At the height of the Roman Empire's power in the 100s A.D., the city had a population of about a million; that shrank to a mere 30,000 in the Middle Ages. Even by 1870, when Rome became capital of the new Kingdom of Italy, only 200,000 people were living there. The city's growth to nearly 3 million today has come mainly in the past half century, particularly during the time of the Italian "economic miracle," called il sorpasso, of the 1950s and 1960s, when Italy changed rapidly from an agricultural to an industrialized country.

The miracle didn't happen everywhere in Italy, however. Chiefly, it affected the north, leaving the south largely untouched, with an invisible boundary between the two. Rome sits astride that divide, its life combining aspects of the vigorous, fast paced north with the slower, more traditional south. The mixture is fascinating and can be infuriating. The Romans drive like bats out of hell when they have half a chance and then end up in a bad tempered traffic jam.

Rome The bureaucracy is tortuous, policy obviously being that it never puts off until tomorrow what it can put off until next week or next month. However, while you wait endlessly in City Hall for a document, you can comfort yourself with the thought that Michelangelo designed the building. And if it takes you 45 minutes to change travelers checks, you can pass the time by taking pleasure in the bank's beautiful baroque facade. Rome is for the patient the very patient. But as most foreign residents will tell you, the countless frustrations of daily life are a price worth paying for Rome's unique charm and inexhaustible interest .

Getting To Know the City

Rome The roads leading to Rome are as straight as they were in the days of the C hariots, but the city itself can be confusing at first because of the northto south meandering of the Tiber River. The Vatican and Saint Peter's, as well as the ancient and romantic quarter of Trastevere ("across the Tiber"), are on the west bank. Political and business Rome, the commercial and shopping areas, and the major hotels are on the east bank. However, one twist in the Tiber means that part of historic Rome on the east bank, the area around the Piazza Navona, juts like a peninsula toward the Vatican.

Rome The best way to fix the city's topography in your mind is to divide the main, eastern part of the city into east and west of the Via del Corso, the main artery that runs from the Via del Popola in the north down to the Piazza Venezia. Here stands the massive and ugly Vittorio Emanuele monument that marks the unification of Italy. Nearby are the Capitoline Hill, the Colosseum, and the ruins of the Forum. This is where Rome began.

Another way to understand the city's topography is to view it from the Janiculum ridge above Trastevere. From this vantage, you can take in the honey brown mass of Roman roofs and pick out the monuments and church domes. There are other great views, notably from the gardens of the Villa Medici, up behind the Spanish Steps. Close by is the celebrated Via Veneto; like New York's Fifth Avenue and the Champs Elysees in Paris, its name is a synonym for luxury and elegance. See for yourself.

Moving Around

Rome traffic is fierce and very often gridlocked. There are four rush hours, because most shops and offices close for lunch and many people go home to eat. Being on time for an appointment means that you are up to half an hour late. One solution for the business visitor who wants to get around fast is to hire a guide. If the guide has a car, he or she 'Will know the short cuts and the complicated parking rules. Ask the hotel concierge to recommend a guide, and be sure to negotiate a price in advance. Don't rent a car unless you know the city well.

In theory, much of the center is closed to nonresidents' cars but still the jams persist. However, the heart of Rome is small enough for any point to be reached on foot within 15 minutes.

There are only two subway lines, useful because they connect the main railroad station with downtown Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo and serve the Vatican neighborhood as well as the satellite city of EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma), seat of several ministries and state companies, notably Alitalia and ENI.

Rome has about 5,000 buses, but half the fleet is usually being repaired. One ticket takes you anywhere in the city but a ticket may be hard to find. You have to buy one before boarding the bus, and newsstands and tabacchi (cigarette stores) often have none. The big cafes at the Termini station are usually a better bet. However, hardly anyone uses the ticket canceling machines on the buses, so if you don't have a ticket, well...



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