Rome needs no introduction. We have all been there without ever having been there.

Before my trip, some of my friends told me to learn Latin just in case, but fortunately that was not necessary. (Some Italian would have helped, though.)

A big part of what I liked about Rome, oddly enough, was what I did *not* see (the inside of any store or commercial establishment).

OK, so about the Vatican. Technically, it’s not in Rome or even in Italy. (It’s its very own country.)

Piazzo del Popolo is now known as the People’s Square. (But here too there is a footnote: I am told it really has more to do with poplars than being popular. Fortunately, though, no one seems bothered by these details.)

In that very plaza stands a monument to Neptune, Greek god of the sea and certain other bodies of water. The Romans were also pretty big on that sort of thing. Modern man, being more enlightened, has gotten past that kind of small-mindedness. (We worship sports heroes instead.)

It rains a lot in Rome. You can actually make a profession of selling umbrellas. (The word might be Italian for “little cloud,” but I am not sure about that. It occurred to me in a dream when I was a kid, and I’ve always meant to check on that, but never got a chance.)

Well, as I was saying, umbrellas in Rome are everwhere, and – curiously — almost all of them of the same design and brand (though not color) for some reason. After dining in any restaurant, don’t expect to get back your own umbrella (unless you’ve kept it with you under the table, which isn’t cool). That’s how I came into my Japanese article – much nicer than the one I traded for it, really.

“THE INN AT THE ROMAN FORUM” (Small Luxury Hotel)

http://www.theinnattheromanforum.com/

Yes, on the lower level is a real “Forum Romanum”, which you can see from the hotel, and smell it, and touch it, although you cannot experience the full forum in its original dimensions.

There we met a certain Col Turner who’s made a career of promoting Pink Floyd as a correspondent to loyal fans. Col’s wife and he had been on the road together for a half year or more. It’s a busy life. You can visit his website at  http://www.pinkfloydz.com/  .

“THE INN AT THE SPANISH STEPS” (Hotel)

http://www.theinnatthespanishsteps.com/

Everything in Italy is real and unique and genuinely old. (In most countries you’d be lucky to find one of the three.) As one waiter told us, _every_ building in this country is Italy’s most important and venerated site.

You can walk from here to just about anywhere. Which is just as well, because you’d never find parking in Rome, anyway. (Private aside to my fellow Houstonians: Yes, in certain places people do actually walk.)

SYNAGOGUE

Rome has had one of the oldest continuous Jewish populations in history, harking back to the second century B.C. – or B.C.E, as Jews like to say. In recent years at least a couple of popes have visited the Great Synagogue of Rome. And an urban legend has it that the Old Testament portion of Michelangelo’s famous ceiling had originally been slated for that synagogue. (Funny how plans change.)

COLOSSEUM

Circa 150 B.C this landmark was presciently named for a movie theatre of my childhood. But the Roman version had LIVE entertainment – you know, gladiators and man-eating tigers and stuff.

TIBER RIVER

This river has some amazing bridges – the Rome portion especially. (Tiberias of the Holy Land is somehow related, by name at least.)