Impressions of Rome

Despite being a 3x Inter-Rail veteran, I hadn't been to Rome before. It's an impressive city, especially as concerns:

• history: roman, medieval, renaissance, modern, all on show and one on top of the other (often literally) - Paris and Athens eat your heart out.
• buildings: truly massive structures, built over the centuries. Even today there would be logistical difficulties in transporting many of the columns and beams.
• pedestrians: despite the chaotic traffic, crossing the road is not that difficult. Just get out into the traffic and drivers will slow down enough not to hit you. Don't expect any nice lines of waiting cars at pedestrian crossings though.
• scooters: tens of thousands, parked in their allotted spaces and just about everywhere else.
• dirt: street washing teams clean the roads, but not the buildings which are generally very dirty. Pollution has apparently improved but cleaning facades is apparently not a priority.
• good food: considered fast-food elsewhere, pizzas are taken seriously. Pasta is the best part, with many shapes and varieties, sauces with a huge range of subtle tastes. "Bruschetta", toast with a variety of toppings as a starter, are considered a speciality in their own right.
  
• Awful beer, of the expensive, weak, German variety, but good wine at reasonable prices.
• Churches: not usually my cup of tea, the number and variety of churches is exhausting, all with some detail worth seeing. I was in sensory overload after three days.
• Tourists: if anybody can give me the visitor statistics, I'll go back when there are fewer tourists.
• Low-Tech: non-standard electric outlets even in 4-star hotels and wireless internet only if you pay for it.