Roma Day 3

It is now the third whole day we have spent in Rome, and so far it has
definitely trumped Greece. The churches are a personal highlight, with their
incredible sculptures, paintings and architecture. We have visited so many that
they have become a bit of a blur but the general impression is as follows. When
you walk in, you are first struck by the high, golden roof. Some churches have
the older, flat ceiling covered with square gold designs, while other newer ones
branch out with circular designs and even paintings. Down the side of each
church are numerous side-chapels, each dedicated to a certain saint, and topped
either by a dome or and arched roof. Here are housed the beautiful paintings,
such the Caravaggios in the church of the French in Rome. Others may have a
sculpture or relic as the object of worship. The high altars are the centre of
focus of the church, situated in the middle of the main room. They can have
beautiful canopy above them supported by graceful columns, or perhaps a dusty
crypt underneath housing dead saints.

Although Rome is far different from Greece, it also has it similarities. The
Moroccans, it seems, are everywhere, with their portable boards of sunglasses
set up on cardboard boxes. Eddie who was foolish enough to buy one of their
watches found out soon that it was impossible to adjust the time. There is still
the furious bartering with the shopkeepers and the tired feet at the end of the
day.

Highlights so far include the Sistine Chapel, 3 of the 4 churches (St Peter's
Basilica, St Maria Major, St John Lateran, and we didn't see St Paul's Without
the Walls), the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Hadrian's Villa, the sculpture of
Laocoon and the gelato ice-creams.
— Ben McArthur