Zack and Kat Make a Trip...: Roma: more than just a tomato by Kat

As it turns out we are terrible bloggers! We are so far behind on our posting but as my ever-patient sister-in-law said "you're too busy living....just blog later." I suppose she is right, life has been full of living lately.

We made our way from Madrid to Roma via a very cheap Ryan Air flight which landed after the metro was closed. Turns out it's difficult to get to a campground on the outskirts of Rome in the middle of the night without the metro, but as always be survived. From Rome we took a quick train ride south to Naples followed by Florence, Venice, Slovenia and Croatia, where I am currently sitting in a smoky cafe avoiding the rain and drinking a tea. Pictures, ideas, and stories from each of these places will follow soon but for now here are some pictures and thoughts about Rome.

Revisiting a city where I had already been was an interesting experience. It put into perspective how much I had changed since backpacking Europe alone five years ago. The city looked different than when I was a younger/dumber/greener traveller. Also since it was Zack's first time visiting Rome (or anywhere in Italy for that matter) I played tour guide at times and often I felt like I was walking him through my trip of five years ago. I caught myself starting a lot of sentences with "the last time I was here...." I'm sure it was annoying for him but he didn't seem to mind (he would just pretend to sleep instead). So much has changed since then (personally and generally), it's kind of remarkable. The biggest change I've noticed for travellers is their dependence on electronics. Thanks to the arrival of e-reading, gone are the days of hostel book exchanges. Hostel/campground quality is often judged based on if their wifi works and backpackers crowd around outlets and drink beer while they charge their iphones/laptops/ipods etc. The romantic in me finds this kind of sad, the modernist thinks "why not?"

Rome is stacked with so many sights and amazing pieces of history that it's easy to become desensitized. Early in the day you can be in awe of the beauty and history, then by the end of the day you think things like "oh those are just some more ruins" or "that gorgeous church is only like 900 years old, no biggy." My favourite tourist attraction in Rome is probably the Coliseum, mostly because it's about sport and not so much about religion (it's a bit about religion but what wasn't back then.)

As most of you know Zack has landed a gig as a columnist with a travel magazine. He seems to think he'll still have time to contribute to this wee little blog but my gut tells me it'll be mostly me from here on out. His columns will roll out every 10 days starting Sept. 5th. I've had some sneak peaks at upcoming columns and I'll leave it to him to share with you stories of our time at the Vatican. He is a much better writer than I am (he thinks not) but let it be known that visiting the Vatican with a strict atheist can make for an "informative" day!