Do it, do it, do it like a 'Roman'

Day four - Rome: Do as the Romans do, or did.

As I got plenty of sleep last night, decided to head out early (ish) at 8am to try and beat some of the crowds at the places I went to yesterday. Backtracked on myself past the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps and then eventually (got lost again) to the Pantheon. They're so much better when there aren't hundreds of people trying to take pictures of the same thing.

I walked down to the River Tiber and then through what was the old Jewish Ghetto put here by, no, not Hitler and Mussolini, but none other than Pope Paul the fourth in 1555. This small 7 acre piece of land was all the Jews had. They were allowed out of the walled area in the day, but had to be back inside the ghetto before sunset when the gates were locked each and every night. Not only were they banned from living anywhere other than the ghetto, they were not allowed to have good jobs or make anything. During Carnival, like Mardi Gras or Pride, the Jews were made to 'flounce' through the city on display for all Christians to shout abuse at.

Not unlike Pride in London today if I'm honest.

Fast forward three hundred years to 1848 when the ghetto was officially closed, and Jewish citizens were allowed to live anywhere, the Jewish community was offered a new place for the synagogue to be built, but instead, they chose to leave the synagogue in the same place and all citizens, not just Jews, gave money for the current synagogue to be built on top of the old one. The synagogue was closed when I went, but the dome is square to differentiate it from a Christian church. Very pretty

From the synagogue you move through the 'Main Street' called Portico D'Octavia which hasn't changed for hundreds of years.

At one end of the road is Piazza Largo. This square was the site of a horrendous act by the Nazi's in 1943. After the fall of Mussolini they arrived and declared that the Jewish citizens would be allowed to stay in Rome if they gave 50kg of gold in 24 hours. Everyone, including non Jewish Romans threw their gold in. The demand was met, but on 16th October of that year, the Nazi trucks arrived, went back on their promise and took 2,000 Roman Jews to the concentration camps. Only around 200 returned.

At the other end of Porto D'Octavia lies a tiny Jewish Bakery (standing room only, one person at a time). I don't really know what I was eating, I pointed at something and the woman grunted and took my money, but whatever it was, it was outstanding. Full of nuts on like a doughy bread or cakey base, it was moist and rich, but not too sweet.

After the Jewish ghetto I walked to Trastevere which is south of the river. Trasteverians here are incredibly stubborn, and it is said that many of them refuse to set foot on the north side of the river. It's incredible beautiful. Much less touristy and full of little arty shops and galleries. There is also the church of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Her tomb lies under the alter.

She had a bit of a shit time if I'm honest. She married a paegan man, but told him she still wanted to be 'available' (slag - modern day equivalent would be 'in an open relationship' on Facebook). He then received a martyrdom many years after his death (quite rightly) presumably for putting up with her. St Cecilia was murdered by the Romans because of her preaching of Christianity. They tried to kill her by steaming her to death in her own bathroom. After three days, this failed, and instead they beheaded her.

Made my way to Piazza Campo d'Fiori which hosts the best market in Rome. It didn't have a scratch on Loughborough market, but the fruit was fresh and some strawberries I bought were fantastic. Sadly, there was nothing priced at €1 a bowl, but the Romans can still shout. Stumbled across a tiny fishmongers shop just off of the square. There was a man in there at a table literally peeling prawns. What a job. I spoke with the fishmonger for a good 20 minutes about how my family have been fishmongers for 140 years and he seemed surprised. He tried to test me, and gave me a bass. He said 'filletto'' which I presumed meant to fillet, so I did. He smiled and patted my back, then said I could have it for free. Lovely lunch!

The fish in there was so fresh, but I still recognised the bass and bream boxes. Nothing changes. The Dover sole, an English delicacy, was priced at €3 each. About £2.40 for a huge fish. I was so shocked. He said the Italians don't like it, but they always catch it. I said he should probably export it and make a massive profit in England. This looked like brand new information to him and he grinned and said thank you.

Having gotten lost yesterday, this wasn't happening today. I followed the signs to Piazza Navona and sat and ate my bass (a street vendor cooked it for me for €1) and watched people go past.

Lingered for a while and headed back to the hostel to get out of the heat and freshen up. In hind sight, probably not the best thing to do as being alone in the room made me homesick

Yes. It was bound to happen. Surprised it took as long as it did to be honest. The first time in four days I've thought 'maybe this isn't for me' and wanted to go home. I figured it might be because I'm hungry so I headed out for some din dins

Back into the city and found myself a lovely little pizzeria in Piazza Navona, called Caffè Domiziano. Ordered dinner (carbonara and pizza margherita) and a beer (which turned into six) and sat back and watched the world go buy.

The beer was Peroni. Beautiful sweet nectar from the Gods. So much nicer and colder than English Peroni and on draught at €1.85 a pint, who can argue? The food was fantastic, of course. I think Italian is my favourite cuisine.

Had a nice long chat with my waitress Salvi. Told her how home sick I was and the thoughts I had had. She sat down next to me for a second and looked around and said 'could you be in a city, more beautiful than Rome. Look around, you have all of humanity here'' in the most gorgeous Italian accent I have ever heard. I think I got goosebumps to be honest. She was right. Home sickness... BE GONE.

So for another day, ciao bella.