Last week Sue and I used up some of the frequent flyer miles that we have built up while flying to and from Africa and took a break in Rome. Rome really is a fascinating city with so many aspects to its history on display. We were happy to simply walk around stopping every now and then to admire a church, a Roman ruin or a stall selling dreadful tourist tat!
The last time that we visited Rome was on a post-university rail tour in 1981; yes, thirty years ago – when did we get so old? Naturally, we spent a fair bit of time musing on what had changed over the years since we last visited the city. To be honest, not a great deal. After all, when buildings are hundreds or even thousands of years old, thirty years doesn’t make much difference. Of course the same can’t be said for Sue and I, we have changed ever such a little since those days; though we still can’t speak Italian. One big difference that we noticed was the crowds. To be fair, we probably chose a bad weekend as lots of people were in the city for the beatification of John Paull II. However, the city was far more crowded than we remembered it. Thirty years ago we simply walked into St Peter’s basillica; whereas this year there was a two hour queue just to get into the building.
At one point, I said to Sue that thirty years ago I couldn’t have imagined walking round Rome with a phone in my pocket; to which Sue replied “especially a phone that does email”. Then I realised that thirty years ago, I didn’t even know what email was! The Pantheon and the forum have not changed much in thirty years; but the way in which technology has advanced is absolutely incredible. But, I wonder what artefacts of our age will be left for tourists to admire in two thousand years.