All Roads Lead To Rome - Graeme Urwin

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever said to yourself 'I must visit that place sometime', and then 10 years later you still haven't?

Well, that was me. Always interested in history, yet there were several prominent places in Europe I had not yet visited. One of these places is Rome, the Eternal City, and capital of one of the most amazing empires ever known.

So, in my late 30's I said to myself that I must go. Of course my daughter Charlotte was born when I was 38, and I then decided to stop working for the Medical Sickness Society and become an impartial fee based planner building a business…. etc etc.

So, earlier this year, on one of my regular visits to the South East visiting new clients, I found myself in a Kentish pub talking to David, an old friend. The subject got around to how he had enjoyed visiting Rome last year, and wanted to go again.

Aha! This was the moment - don't fumble the ball Urwin, run with it!

And so, a few weeks later, we are off. In fact, as you read this, we will 
actually be back come to think of it. I will no doubt regale you with how it went next time.

One of the most fascinating cities I have ever been to is Jerusalem. We were holidaying in Cyprus back in the nineties, and they had a two day cruise to the Holy Land. We were in two minds about it as it meant two days less lazing around, but decided to go for it.

It worked very well in that we boarded early evening, ate a nice meal and watched a show, and woke up in Israel! Onto the coach, and off we went. Security was very tight as you might imagine, but not as bad as we had feared.

Once in the city of Jerusalem, we were allocated a guide, and around 15 of us entered the Christian quarter. At least I think it was this one, as we then visited the Armenian, Muslim and Jewish quarters. The new sites and smells were truly amazing.

Memories in no particular order were the chaos of the Muslim quarter, with shops seemingly never ending - shop owners grabbing your arm to get you to spend money with them - the call of the muezzin through a loud speaker calling the faithful to prayer from a minaret competing with the incessant Arabic chatter all around.

The Wailing Wall was very interesting, with a lot of Jewish men crying and praying, and sometimes leaving little notes on tiny scraps of paper in the cracks of the wall. There were so many notes that they had to cram them in. The size of the stones used to build the wall were massive - how on earth did they do it?

the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was perhaps the highlight. This is a huge building with I think 36 various churches within it! The walls and ceilings had lots of scaffolding, and I asked the guide when the safety work would be finished. His reply totally staggered me. Apparently the British had put the scaffolding up in 1948, and no work had been done since. You couldn't make it up!
 
The sheer ambience of the city was breathtaking. You could feel the history of the place speaking to you and wanting to be heard.

The day went very quickly, and before we knew it we were back on the coach to the ship. Once in our cabin we collapsed - shattered!

If you have never been to Jerusalem, and love history - go.

But for now - Rome, here we come.

See you next month.