Raju's Wanderings

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city built around 7th Century BCE (for comparison, three centuries before Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya). About 2.5 hours away from Rome by train, a visit to Pompeii is a must if you are interested in seeing how Romans lived in ancient times. Unknown to the residents of Pompeii, they were living in the valley of Mount Vesuvius, seething with activity below the serene mountain top. In 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted, burying the city in 13 to 20 feet of volcanic ash and rubble. Pompeii remained forgotten, till it was rediscovered in 1599 CE. Due to the absence of air, moisture, wind, and human pillaging, it is perhaps the best preserved ancient Roman city. As I was going down the escalator to Roma Termini train station, I was struck by all the advertisements for English language learning.  Advertisements while going down  an escalator in Rome Termini train station. In India, we bemoan the English language as the colonial invaders' t...

Two thousand years ago, it was called The Eternal City by a poet, and the description stuck. Mythology has it that the first king was Romulus from where the city got its name. Romulus and Remus were supposedly twins suckled by a she-wolf, who went on to found the city in 753 BCE. Mythology usually has less than a grain of truth - the city may owe its name to the archaic name of the Tiber river (“Rumon”) on whose banks it was built. Modern day Rome has a population of 2.86 million, around a third of Hyderabad (7.75 million). Its economy largely runs on services, hi-tech companies, and tourism. A bustling city, the fourth largest in Europe, the third - most visited, a city that surrounds the world's tiniest country, the Vatican!  You can see the dome of St. Peter's basilica in the far away distance inside Vatican City. I arrived at Rome Termini by train, to the strong stench of dog urine, and the sights of overflowing garbage all around. Rome, while beautiful,...