Il Calcio

Rome back to normal + the game

Another beautiful day in Rome with everything seemingly back to normal. We spent some time in Palazzo Barberini -an amazing place and fabulous collection including Caravaggio's "Giuditta che taglia la testa a Oloferne" - Judith beheading Holofernes - very gruesome but an amazing painting.  It is the first time that we have been able to visit Palazzo Barberini as every other time it has been 'chiuso per restauro' -the familiar sign.  We walked heaps, enjoying the perfect weather.

We went to the calcio -absolutely amazing.  Had a great conversation with the cab driver- people are so nice when you make an effort to speak Italian and seem to have understood our attempts -at least the answers fit with what we've asked.
The game was Lazio v Roma, both have very passionate supporters and the stadium was almost full -not bad for an 8.45pm game on a Sunday night.  Sadly Lazio won 2 - 1. Despite that it was a great night and the atmosphere was fantastic -the fans make the AFL supporters look like wimps. There were huge numbers of police with all of their anti riot stuff -looked like enough to deal with a minor war but everything seemed ok and people just poured out of the stadium at the end trying to get home as quickly as possible.  After lots of walking and a cab we got back to the hotel after midnight.