Rome, a nice place to visti but I wouldn't want to live here....

We have been in Rome the past three days, and I have to say that I thi8nk that while the sights are incredible, it is probably the least favorite I have for our tour so far. We have seen the vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the "old" Papal apartments, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the ancient city; I do have to comment that there is a sense of history that sweeps threough you when you walk through the forum on the excavated pavestones that Caesar and Mark Anthony walked - and the ruins are a sight I will keep in my memory forever.

The city of Rome is enormous, the population with recent immigration is in the tens of millions (no one is quite sure as to an accurate count) and my consideration is colored by the fact it has been unseasonably hot and humid here, with temps in the 90's and humidty equally as high. But even aside from that, we had been told by our Host Allisandra (who we found out is a Countess, a storyfor later) that Rome is a "rough" city. Her terminology is sometimes convoluted and so we had taken this to mean that it is geared to pilgrims who look for bargains, cheap places to eat etc...but I have to say that it also has a knock-about characteristic - it moves fast and the people while friendly are much more abrupt and impatient than elsewhere in Italy. I don't mind it being headstrong, but there is very little room for negotiation - and I am sure that Mary will have a few comments to make as to the relative levels of respect for men against those of women here.

It's a must to see, but now I do feel that I've been there, done that and am ready to move onward tonight.