I had no idea where in Rome i was going to stay, having been unsuccessful in getting a host. I made one last ditch attempt, just before boarding the plane in Cairo, on a borrowed phone from a local bartender-the only specimen of Egyptian hospitality who i wanted to pay but who didn't accept any payment.
Quite miraculously, some body had canceled at a host's place at the proverbial last minute. Simone stayed near the Roman ruins, and he had agreed to host me. The only ruins i knew were next to colosseum, right at the center of the city. It couldn't have been better.
Sadly, this is when one learns that Rome is full of ruins. Luckily for me, even though i was going to stay at the very edge of Rome's map in Ostia Antica, these are one of the largest and oldest ruins in Rome, so intact that one could almost rebuild the city. Simone, my new host, was a very friendly and helpful young Italian bartender, and he decided to host me partly to improve his English. He picked me up from the airport late in the night -not a problem as he worked from 10 pm to 3 am, and very generously offerred the bed to me since he anyway slept in the morning. His flat mate Marzio, ran his family ice cream parlor and bar. They are both musicians, photographers and a bit lost in life.
I spent the first night in the bar, and got invited to Barbara's birthday party, a polish Italian girl, and Simone's friend. It seems that Italian bars are always full, irrespective of time and location. Simone dropped me home around 1 am.
Next day, i went to villa Borghese in the morning, which turned out to be not a villa but a large garden with variety of things to do, so i rented a bike and hung out at the park. In the afternoon I had reserved my only guided tour in this trip to the Vatican, more on which in a separate blog.
In the evening i met up with Alfredo, a biologist researcher, who wanted to show me less touristic but more Roman spots of the city, though he walked through the more touristic spots in the center of the city so i did't miss those. I got back late in some very empty trains to some very empty neighborhood. It was a relief that the house was not far away from the station.
After seeing the Vatican, i was less enthusiastic about seeing many other museums so the morning was spent at Ostia Antica, the famous Roman ruins, and the afternoon was spent in cooking the Indian meal, which both Simon and Marzio had for the first time, and seemed to like very much. I went to the city one more time to cover a few more spots, but it was clear i had already seen the best the city had to offer. The time was right for a change of scenery in Naples.
Quite miraculously, some body had canceled at a host's place at the proverbial last minute. Simone stayed near the Roman ruins, and he had agreed to host me. The only ruins i knew were next to colosseum, right at the center of the city. It couldn't have been better. 
Sadly, this is when one learns that Rome is full of ruins. Luckily for me, even though i was going to stay at the very edge of Rome's map in Ostia Antica, these are one of the largest and oldest ruins in Rome, so intact that one could almost rebuild the city. Simone, my new host, was a very friendly and helpful young Italian bartender, and he decided to host me partly to improve his English. He picked me up from the airport late in the night -not a problem as he worked from 10 pm to 3 am, and very generously offerred the bed to me since he anyway slept in the morning. His flat mate Marzio, ran his family ice cream parlor and bar. They are both musicians, photographers and a bit lost in life. 
I spent the first night in the bar, and got invited to Barbara's birthday party, a polish Italian girl, and Simone's friend. It seems that Italian bars are always full, irrespective of time and location. Simone dropped me home around 1 am.
Next day, i went to villa Borghese in the morning, which turned out to be not a villa but a large garden with variety of things to do, so i rented a bike and hung out at the park. In the afternoon I had reserved my only guided tour in this trip to the Vatican, more on which in a separate blog.
In the evening i met up with Alfredo, a biologist researcher, who wanted to show me less touristic but more Roman spots of the city, though he walked through the more touristic spots in the center of the city so i did't miss those. I got back late in some very empty trains to some very empty neighborhood. It was a relief that the house was not far away from the station. After seeing the Vatican, i was less enthusiastic about seeing many other museums so the morning was spent at Ostia Antica, the famous Roman ruins, and the afternoon was spent in cooking the Indian meal, which both Simon and Marzio had for the first time, and seemed to like very much. I went to the city one more time to cover a few more spots, but it was clear i had already seen the best the city had to offer. The time was right for a change of scenery in Naples.
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