Sawt Falasteen - Tourists soldier on in Rome despite heatwave

"It's worse than in India," complained Arockia Rajasekhar, 51, under the blazing sun with his shirt soaked.

The temperature read 36C but the radiologist, from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, said it felt hotter.

"It was 42-45 degrees in India when we left but everywhere there is AC," said Rajasekhar, on a two-week trip to Europe with his wife and their two teenage children.

The heatwave that has gripped Europe has made them think again. "We'll probably come here in the shoulder seasons (spring or autumn), like tourists coming to India."

Around the Colosseum, patches of shade were few and far between. Some tourists waited under a pine tree while others hurried up the Via dei Fori Imperiali, wearing hats or carrying umbrellas to escape the infernal sun.

A civil protection officer handed out bottles of water and leaflets on how to behave in the extreme heat, standing in front of a 3,000-litre tanker feeding the mister and the crowds around it.

Across Italy from north to south, 25 cities were placed on a red heatwave alert on Tuesday, including the capital, Milan, Turin, Venice, Florence and Naples, as temperatures neared 40C.

- 'Harder and harder' -

Texan retiree Ken Haddad, in Rome with his teenage daughter, was trying to cope without a hat or a parasol.

"I probably should have a cap," he conceded, wiping his forehead. Just a few feet away, Bangladeshi street vendors -- also sweating in the heat -- tried to sell off their stock of parasols and pocked-sized electric fans.

Haddad, in his 60s, said he and his daughter had drunk six litres of water between them in a single day.

"It's tougher here because the restaurants don't have air conditioning," he said.

"But in Houston, where we live, everything's air-conditioned. We jump in our car, so we're not out for three hours straight."

Climate change, he added, would make summers "harder and harder".

- 'Toasty' -

Another American tourist, Matt Drowne, 44, said he had no choice but to visit the Colosseum under the midday sun because of the tight schedule of the cruise he is on with his parents.

"I live in Florida, so this is normal for me, unfortunately," he said. "But it's been toasty."

An ambulance was parked behind the line of tourists waiting to enter the Roman amphitheatre. At the back of the vehicle, a tourist suffering from heatstroke had just been treated by a doctor.

Francesca Manca, 74, looked on, with a parasol in one hand and a fan in the other.

One of the few Romans to venture down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, she said she avoids going out during the hottest parts of the day.

But a lunch with friends forced her to risk going outside.

"I think it's more of a problem for people my age. Young people adapt," she said.

Whatever the weather, she said, people young and old will still come to Rome.

"Rome is constantly full of tourists, in every season and in all kinds of weather," she added.

"It's a city worth the trip, so people will keep coming."

Y.Shaath--SF-PST