In order to escape the cold, wintery climate of London, Rome, the capital of Italy, seemed like the best choice. With its milder winters, historic and religious sites, classical architecture and lively atmosphere, Rome should fulfill my expectations. Or so I thought. Here are my first impressions of Rome as we left the airport with Steve and my sister on a fine, sunny day.

We arrived at the Ciampino Airport, in basking sunlight, which was a significant change from the cold London weather. The airport is fairly basic, with enough facilities to cater for the budget and charter flight operators. We would then need to travel another 15 km via the "Go" shuttle bus to get into Rome. As our bus drew closer towards Roma Termini, we could already see clear evidence of the horrible traffic. Traffic crammed the highway towards our destination, while daring motorists hurriedly threaded in and out of the lanes at any slim opportunity. I could only sit and admire their driving and take it for granted that I don't live and work in Rome.

An hour later, we arrived at Roma Termini, the main railway station of Rome. Although it was not hard finding the metro, it was almost impossible to purchase metro tickets using Euros. The Euro was introduced this year to unify all the currencies of the European region into one simpler currency. Unfortunately, it looked like Rome was suffering from the growing pains of switching their currency as many of the metro ticket machines only accepted Lira. The only place to buy tickets was to go to the Tabacco/Newsagent hidden somewhere inside Roma Termini. Fortunately, the shopowner, like most italians, spoke good english and was pretty prompt in issuing tickets for us. Frustrations aside, we proceeded towards Metro Line B which would take us to the hotel in Piazza Bologna.

The Metro station in Roma Termini is like the London underground metro, full of bustling people rushing in and out of the trains and platforms in a hurry to get somewhere. However, the passengers are more inconsiderate and pushy as they get in and out of the trains, the trains are full of graffiti and the environment feels more negative and dirty. There is also the common site of beggars and buskers in the trains and the platforms.

After checking into our hotel in Bologna, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon around Piazza di Spagna. The piazza is more famously known by the Spanish Steps, which was also a meeting place, evidenced by the many people sitting on the steps and enjoying the fine weather, although my sister eventually mentioned that this was considered quiet compared to the last time she visited in the summer time. At the bottom of the steps was the fountain, Fontana della Barcaccia. Designed by either Gian Lorenzo Bernini or his father, it is a sculpture of a leaking boat, with a water fountain in the middle of the boat. There were lots of people resting on the rim of the sculpture, which made it frustrating taking pictures so I didn't bother. After looking around, we ascended the Spanish steps.

At the top of the spanish steps, a clear view of the shopping district lay before us, where all the famous and expensive fashion labels can be found, while painters and various artisans were selling their work of drawings of the area. Across the road from this outdoor gallery, lay the 16th century church of Trinita dei Monti. The church has two bell towers and was actually built by the French in 1495. Despite this, the church and the stairs had a very classical italian atmosphere. After admiring the great view, t,we went back down the stairs for the main shopping avenue of Via Condotti.

Via Condotti portrayed a very modern, stylistic mood, that contrasted greatly from the Spanish steps and the rest of the piazza. Shops such as Gucci, Bulgari and Gianni Versace as well as other shops selling designer labels here contributed to the modern and almost posh atmosphere of the area. Inside the shops, some customers were accompanied by their pets, dressed and groomed for the day out. It also appeared like some sort of status symbol, since if you can bring a well-groomed dog inside a upper-class shop, the shopowners and assistants probably thought you were clean and very stylish. Sounds very materialistic, but this was what I felt as we walked down the street.

After spending what felt like forever going through the shopping district, we finally arrived at the Fountain di Nervi by heading south east through the Piazza san Silvestro, and accidentally taking the longer route through Via del Trittone and Via d. Stamperia. The Trevi Fountain was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732. The central figure is the God of the Sea, Neptune. The bottom scene of the fountain portrays the violent and peaceful mood of sea, with one trying to control a wild "sea-horse" while the other takes lead of a more docile animal. The overall design takes inspiration from the Triumphal arches of Rome. Around the fountain are flocks of tourists taking pictures of the fountain, making it difficult to find a position to take that perfect picture. Escaping the crowds of tourists, we headed for the Panthenon.

A few minutes later, we arrived at Piazza della Rotonda where we saw the huge portico of the Panthenon. One of the great symbols of Rome, the Panthenon was originally built as a temple to house the Roman gods, but was converted to a church housing various statues of Raphael and eventually, his tomb. It was quite amazing that the Romans of the Hadrian era (AD 1183-125) managed to build such a massive structure, the dome above us had a height and diameter of 43.3 metres. Also in Piazza della Rotonda was the Panthenon fountain, built in 1575 by Jacopo della Porto. The area around the front of the Panthenon and the fountain were surrounded with restaurants and cafes, creating a relaxed and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Around the Panthenon and the Trevi fountain, it was almost impossible to resist the people trying to make a quick buck out of the tourists, selling goods from roses, one shot cameras to bubble guns. These people were more common in the Trevi fountain where many of the tourists spend their time. The people with the roses were the most annoying by sticking the rose right in front of you, thus diverting your attention away from the famous sites. At the same time, I felt sympathetic towards these people, that they had to resort to such ways in making a living, and I couldn't imagine how they would live on income just by making money from the tourists.

After checking into a tourist kiosk in Piazza Sanguigna (just north east of the Panthenon) to ask for information on the Vatican, we walked north towards the Tiber river up Via Zanardelli. It was, fairly difficult to pick up the river since the road sort of rises up a steady incline, so it wasn't until we got to the traffic lights when we noticed the bridges and river crossing this part of the city. From here, we could pick out the faint outline of St Peters Cathedral and Palzzo di Giustizia. As it was approaching dusk, the lights on the bridges and Palazzo di Giustizia lit up. With such a spectacular view, it was very easy to forget the busy traffic speeding along the road beside us.

As the day turned into evening, we retreated back to Piazza della Rotonda for dinner at one of those restaurants. From first impressions, it was quite easy to tell that these restaurants were set up to cater for tourists as everyone spoke near-perfect english, like the concierge at the hotel. Although this made it easy ordering food, the food we had was not very good - I somehow thought the food in the Piazza at Leichardt in Sydney, was much, much better. Maybe Rome was not renowned for their food after all.

Before going back to the hotel, we went to the Piazza Novona to take a look at more water fountains, namely the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (translated as the Fountain of the four rivers). The fountain was designed by Bernini and each figure in the fountain represents one of the four main rivers that were known at this time. In the centre stood an obelisk, also designed by Bernini. There were two smaller fountains, the Fontana di Nettuno in the north and the Fontana del Moro in the south, which surprisingly, was not lit up. Despite these spectacular fountains, the piazza felt dark and empty in comparison to Trevi Fountain, which was well lit and was still packed with tourists when we made our way back. Nevertheless, Rome appears to take its fountains seriously, since I have never seen so many fountains in such a small area.

Yet again, another day - or should I say, half day - had passed. Overall, we had covered lots of ground, seen lots of sites and interesting things and had also prepared for plans to visit other attractions in Rome for the next two days. As with any holiday, it is easy to sit around and do nothing, or you either bite the bullet and go henceforth into the unknown and explore and learn as much as possible. I think Steve and my sister had already set the trend for this as they seem to take less time then me admiring the sites, which I thought is not good, since what do you get out of it? Well I'll leave my opinions to myself and just make the most of my experiences.