Maggie's Farm

On your first visit, you have to stop by all of the main tourist destinations and see double late at night on the Spanish Steps. Vatican, all that. It's required. Generally-speaking, I do not think much of Rome itself as a city to visit, but I feel the same way about Venice so ignore me if you want to.

However, the best thing to do in Rome is to take a tour of Ostia - Ostia Antica. It far surpasses Herculaneum and Pompeii as a preserved Roman urban site. It's the old port of Rome, the ancient harbor which silted up but was never destroyed. A stroll around there will make you realize that the Romans lived quite similarly to the way Americans live today.

Central heat, fast food, running water, sanitary toilets, shopping areas, multi-story apartment buildings, whorehouses, gambling dens, paved streets, warehouses, factories, etc. They did not wear togas, either - except the senators and their ilk. They did not have tomatoes.

A good intro to the "Old Port": Ostia Antica