Since the war , Italy has
become renowned as a country
which changes its government, if
not its politicians, every few
months, and for the rest of
Italy Rome has come to symbolize
the inertia of their nation's
government - at odds with both
the slick, efficient North, and
the poor, corrupt South. Despite
this, the city's growth has been
phenomenal in the post-war
years, its population soaring to
close on four million and its
centre becoming ever more choked
by traffic. Though famous in the
Sixties as the home of
Fellini's Dolce Vita and
Italy's bright young things,
Rome is still, even by Italian
standards, a relatively
provincial place, and one which
is in some ways still trying to
lug itself into the twenty-first
century. Great efforts were made
to prepare the city for the
arrival of the Millennium
and the millions of visitors who
came to celebrate the Jubilee
(Holy Year) declared by the
pope, and the city is looking
better than ever; museums and
monuments that have been closed
for decades have reopened to an
eager public. Traffic congestion
is still a major problem in the
city centre, but by the time you
read this, it's hoped that there
will never have been a better
time to visit Rome.
