Rome Panoramic of Colosseum Print
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The subway in Rome (Metropolitana) has only one line from the front of Terminal Station to the port of Ostia, on the Mediterranean-but what a line that is! If you buy a ticket and stay on the train until two stops beyond Ostia, you'll be at the sea, within a few blocks of several public beaches. But if you get off at "Ostia Antica," two stops before Ostia, you'll find excavations that rival Pompeii. Ostia was a well-developed port in the days of ancient Rome-during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, particularly-and archaeologists are currently digging in a huge area of the imperial city. You can eat a picnic lunch while sitting on the ruins.
No restaurant really begins serving meals until 1 p.m. (for lunch) and 7 p.m. (for dinner). Don't show up before those times, or you may have to wait unattended in an empty restaurant. You'll find, by the way, that the habit of a noon-day siesta in sunny Rome is a marvelous way to stay refreshed during the remaining, cooler periods of the day. It's fruitless to spend the time on your normal sightseeing rounds.
No Italian restaurant serves spaghetti with meat balls, and no one here has heard of biscuit tortoni. The pasta dishes are eaten by discerning Italians only at lunchtime; the evening meal is a lighter one, and begins with soup, not pasta.
Because there is so much to see and do in Rome, it occurred to me that it might prove helpful with a fast summary of the indispensable sights for a first-time visitor. If there were only ten visits for which I had time in Rome, l'd make them:
(1) St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel); (2) the Colosseum; (3) the Roman Forum (preferably at night); (4) the Campidoglio Hill (Capitoline Square), again at night.
Rome Evening Entertainment
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