When In Rome...
I went to the cradle of Democracy, the Eternal City of Rome, Italy, in early March. To say that there is nothing else like it in the world is not an overstatement. From the finest shops to buildings and ruins thousands of years old, Rome offers an opportunity to spend time in the most modern of areas along with, only a moments walk away, a trip into our common past. Everybody should make their plans to visit this area at least once in their lifetimes (WARNING - you'll want to come back!).
Robyn at the Roman Forum on a guided tour of the Eternal City, March 1998
Here are a couple of nice links where you can see and learn more about one of the few truly Classical cities...
Rome2000 - A very well done site with plenty of browsing material here! It hasn't been updated in a while, but were talking about Rome here anyway. Most of the interesting buildings are hundreds or even thousands of years old, so how much would have changed in the past year anyway?
Rome Guide - Not as modern looking as Rome2000, but still useful. Check out the cool pictures in the Rome Walking Tours section link near the bottom of the Main frame...
While I was there I walked the historic Downtown and also was awed by Vatican City. The Holy See is the official web site of Vatican City but links can be slow depending upon when you check so be forewarned!
While there, I stayed at the posh, Bristol Bernini. It's really conveniently located in the historic downtown area, less than 100 meters from an Underground stop, and offers visitors a quiet and classy environment from which to base excursions. Highly recommended! The most notable sight close by would be the Spanish Plaza or Spanish Steps, where artists and young people gather year round. It is called the Social hub of Rome, and with the crowds which gather on the steps it is easy to see why. A wide variety of tours in English are offered in the American Express office the left of the base of the stairs. My guide Jean-Carlo Alu', a former archeologist who spent time digging in the Roman forum and worked on the team which discovered remains of the village of Rome dating 1000 B.C., made the 8 hours of visits to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Roman Forum, Colosseum, Michelangelo's Moses, and Imperial Palaces an experience I hope I'll never forget.
And here's a link where you can check out the current weather and forecast for Rome.