My second visit to Rome did not have a pleasant start. I was having an exam on Wednesday afternoon and therefore I had to take the latest flight between Frankfurt and Rome, with an expected landing at midnight. However, there was a huge storm over Frankfurt that night, with strong thunders, rain and wind, what implied a delay of four hours for my flight.Yeah, your Maths do not deceive you: I landed at 4 am in the morning... Trying to find something positive in it, the delay allowed me to enjoy some parts of Rome free of tourists during the taxi trip to the hotel, namely San Giovanni in Laterano.
Beyond the delay, what really struck me was the reaction of the other passengers in the plane. They were doing nothing during the two hours we were just seated in the plane waiting for the Frankfurt airport to open again: not a single complain, not a single sigh, nothing. It seems this tameness goes with the German character (together, among others, with their atavistic fear of inflation).
Those first two days were mainly devoted to work, without really much to highlight. We had an amazing guided tour through Musei Capitolini, where the amount of valuable pieces is so high that you walk through them without even realising. We were told that the statue of Marco Aurelio (Ed Harris in film "Gladiator") kept in Musei Capitolini (see picture below) was the only one surviving the Middle Age just because they mistook him by Constantino. I find this story a bit hard to believe, since people in the Middle Age could be illiterate but not blind (and there are evident differences between the two Roman emperors).
After some more work on Friday morning, in the afternoon, I went to Termini train station to meet my friend Federica and that was the time where the real visit started. In the way there I could suffer Roman hot, dressed with my dark suit. I must admit it was not so nice...
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