Rome... a city enveloped in history, culture, architecture, beauty, vino, grt food, the list is endless... so when I was told that I wd be going to Rome for a 10 day tv shoot... I almost had a cardiac arrest... I was to go and shoot Namaste India - afestival celebrating the food, fashion, wine and films of India in Italy, hosted by the Italian Govt. And to top that off I was also going to shoot at Alta Roma - Rome Fashion week... now at this point I was laughing, hysterically, I had just about lost all sense of well-being... I was delirious, I was mad, I was trigger-happy (pun intended... camera... trigger... get it?)... ok so off to Rome the crew went, and from the time we landed, it was like a dream come true... iwe had studied about rennaisance, sistine chapel, the colosseum, the roman empire all in history class... and now seeing it with my eyes it was... ’’i want to thank God, at this point of time...’’ if a person can afford only one foreign trip in his/her entire lifetime, make sure that they head to Italy.
a lot of travellers say that the gladiators at the colosseum are a rip off... I say this is the only time u r going to be in rome... its once in a lifetime thing... take that picture for memory... u r here to have fun, enjoy, and take back good memories... 5 euros is nothing to pay for a lifetime of memories... so click a photo at the colosseum... in a foreign country YOU ARE A TOURIST... take full advantage of it...
PIAZZA DI SPAGNA - boy oh boy... it was beautiful... sat there till 2am singing into the night with guitars, bongos, tambourines, shakers... the people at the piazza were more than friendly and we drank vino (indian) and sang thru the night... magical... u have to do it... met people from all over the world, and the theme for the night with our group was ’’hits of the 80’s’’ so out came Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Dire Straights, The Eagles, Wham... a nostalgic moment on a historic site...
well, also got to go inside famous designer Valentino’s work-place... which is a two min walk from the steps... got to see his archive, met the staff, saw how they were stitching... also saw a mannequin of Julia Roberts (her exact body measurements)... a new dress was being sewn for her!!!
as soon as you come out of the train station, there is a pizzeria on ur rt hand side where pizza by the slice is available... one of the best in Rome...
Also was fortunate to visit the International Wine Academy whose terrace looks over the steps... a magical location...
sit at a cafe, drink the house wine and have gelatto post your meal
visit all the sights - will take you at least a week to do them all... will not go into details as the world knows all about the vatican, the colosseum, the forum, the keyhole of malta, novona, sistine...etc...
trastevere sunday market - a very close second to Goa’s flea market at Arpora... beware of pick-pocketing... no, its not a ’’con’’... anywhere in the world u must be careful how you keep ur cash.. so please dont blame Rome/Italy for it... carry ur bag on the front, and shop till u drop... bought shoes for just 10 euros... bargain and bargain... u WILL get the right price...
So much to do... so little time...
Sorento - beautiful South Italy
this paradise exists south of rome and pompeii... its beauty hit me like a ton of brics, and I wanted to get hit again and again... pick up the liquers that this town is famous for and also the red wine -’’tears of christ’’ (lacrima di christi).