Day 1 Rome

Don't get me wrong Rome is a beautiful city, but it's not a place I love. Today, along with god knows how many other thousands of people, we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Amidst the tourist crush was a reggae band, an opera singer, two Michael Jackson impersonators and a bloke wearing a Brian Jonestown Massacre t shirt (he was possibly the highlight of the day). Roman history is certainly not my strong point but I suspect that most of the mob on the streets today know even less about the topic than me. What is it that attracts all these crowds to the remnants of buildings constructed by despots and megalomaniacs a few thousand years ago? Most of the punters seem to spend their time taking selfies for Insta and then heading off and eating second rate pizza and pasta followed by a large serving of gelato in the myriad of tourist restaurants hidden in the nearby laneways. When I visit Paris, it always seems like a city in which I could easily live. Rome feels like it's been overtaken by tourists and there's not much room for the locals.