Rome II

As usual I haven't done half the stuff I'd planned to do, but such is the nature of holidays. I'm staying at The Milo hotel near the Termini train station, which is quite a noisy and somewhat shabby area. It's not a bad hotel for its price class, but almost every time I travel in Europe I'm struck by how much lower the value for money is here compared to the US.

I've been quite late for breakfast both days now, and I don't know if that's the reason, but the only stuff in the dining room is so high on carbs I can feel my diabetes perking up as soon as I enter. White bread, jam, chocolate, Danish pastry... this is the "selection" (or lack thereof) on offer.

Saturday I met up with a Russian student I've been talking to online, who's studying in Rome. We had lunch and talked for a while before going for a walk around the Termini area and then down towards the Colosseum. We ended up at the Basilica of St Clemente, one of the very few Christian places I would want to set foot in, largely because of the un-Christian stuff below ground. Beneath the present 12th century church is another church, probably 4th century, and even further down is the remains of a 1st century Mithra temple, and probably even older dwellings (the excavations are ongoing). It's quite an interesting place, and my Russkie friend was very happy when she discovered that it was the supposed resting place of one Saint Cyril, one of a pair of brothers credited (or blamed, as I would have it) for bringing Christianity to the Slavs. They also devised the forerunner to the present Cyrillic alphabet.

While there we struck up a conversation with a couple of young Bulgarian girls, who seemed thrilled at the opportunity to give a lecture about their country's history. As they clearly pegged me for a yank I let them drone on; I always become strangely magnanimous with people who think I'm a native English speaker (yes, I have an ego).

I've had another lazy day today - first I spent a couple of hours at the wonderful Palazzo Massimo al Terme, which is a part of the National Museum of Rome. They have an interesting collection of ancient coins in the basement, with lots of good information on the political and social importance of coinage throughout history. Seems even the old Romans fiddled with stuff like price controls and interest rate controls. Long story short: It didn't work back then either; price controls simply took products off the market. You'd think we'd have learned by now. On the three upper floors there are tons of statues and busts and frescoes and such, many of them really interesting, especially some of the ancient wall paintings.

Later I felt adventurous enough to take the advice of my guide book and lunch at an Eritrean restaurant just north of Termini. It's called "Africa", which is not very original, but the food was delicious if a tad spicy for my pale, Scandinavian self. The meat was juicy and tasty and was served with some kind of mild, pleasant bean stew and a type of African leavened bread which looked like a cross between a crepe and a sponge. There were also a couple of small bowls of spicy sauce on the side, but a quick taste revealed these to be of the kind that would most likely have burned their way through my intestines within minutes.

After lunch I strolled around the Baths of Diocletian, which is also part of the National Museum. I'd bought a three-day ticket that grants access to both, pluss the Palazzo Altemps, which I plan to visit Tuesday. I didn't spend much time in the Baths, so I'll probably head back there too.

Not sure what to do with myself Monday, but since a lot of museums are closed my options are limited. Colosseum and the Palatine prolly. Watch this space!