To Rome

We were on our way from Venice to Rome early in the morning, the bus had left well before us on the ferry while we travelled to the mainland by water taxi. We were on the bus and driving the 500k's to Rome by 7:30 am. It was showery on and off all the way. Again we opted out of an 'optional tour' upon our arrival in Rome (it was a walk through the city to visit The Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon and Navona Square). We had been held up by a car accident on the highway so arrived a little late in Rome. This meant the optional tour was rushed. Trish and I were dropped off at Navona Square where we walked around before having an included meal at a local restaurant. It was great just soaking up the atmosphere. We later settled down to a Tartufo ice-cream for Trish and a beer for me. Total cost was about AUD$35! We discovered a gay Rights demonstration was to be held at the square later in the evening.

After completing our meal, the night was a scream with the demonstrators putting on a great show! I had problems finding an appropriate photo to slot in here!

We eventually got to our hotel about 9 pm. We were given a sleep in the next morning, not being required until about 11 am!

At 11 am on Sunday we went to the Vatican City and saw the Pope from St Peter's Square. We looked through St Peter's Basilica and were impressed but the sheer size of the building. Not only is it a huge building, the artworks inside are all by masters! You just wander from one masterpiece to the next! The weather remained a little showery and we were using our umbrellas on and off through the morning.



We grabbed a quick roll for lunch before boarding the bus again. After a spectacular morning we were now off to see the Colosseum. The weather had cleared up quite a lot. Again, just unbelievable. On the way we passed where the ancient Forum had been. It was possible to make out the shape of the track where hundreds of years ago chariots had raced. The Colosseum also 'blew us away'. The day had been marvellous and we had seen things we had only heard about!


While the remainder of the group went to an "optional dinner tour" Trish and I set out to have a look at the city of Rome on foot. We were in charge of our own 'destiny' so we did things at our own pace and we spent as much time as we wanted where we wanted.

We saw The Trevi Fountain:


The Spanish Steps:


The Pantheon:

We then found another small street restaurant where we enjoyed a pizza, a plate of pasta and a bottle of wine for our meal before walking back to the hotel's shuttle bus to get us back to our hotel before dark. We had had an outstanding day.

The next morning we went to the Sistine Chapel. Again it was an early start. Photos were not permitted. We saw Michelangelo's masterpiece, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Trish and I are not especially religious nor are we catholic, so some others in the group enjoyed this visit more than we did. Later that morning we again boarded the bus to head to Florence. We passed small towns nestled between the hills as we drove along!