We hit the hotel breakfast room at rush hour. There are lots of people, but no plates, glasses, bowls, cutlery, or anywhere to sit. We get by by stealing some glasses and spoons from the bar in the next room. This morning we've booked a tour to some catacombs. Our guide is an American art historian named Jeanette. She's not vertically challenged, although this time it's less of an issue; we're in a bus, which should hopefully make it a bit harder for us to lose her. The Catacombs Di San Callisto are just outside the city. Jeanette tells us that the Romans weren't allowed to bury their dead in Rome. They were worried about the smell of decaying bodies and disease, and cremation hadn't yet taken off. This suited the early Christians, who were keen ... read more

We've booked a morning tour of the Vatican. We need to be there a bit before 8am, so it's another early start after a long day of travelling yesterday. We're both feeling a bit tired. It's really hot again, and Issy says she's feeling the heat here even more than she did in Marrakech. The queues outside the Vatican Museums are massive. Fortunately we've booked a group tour so we get to jump to the front. Everyone told us before we left home about the advantages of booking on-line in advance; I'm glad we listened. The operators here seem to have mass tourism down to a very fine art. Our names are ticked off as we arrive, and we're told to stand in a very specific place. Our guide then hands out head sets so we ... read more

We decide to spend the morning exploring the south end of the Medina. The staff at the Riad tell us that we should be fine to do this on our own, and that we won't need a guide. We're worried about getting scammed again. We decide that we must look confident, not hesitate at intersections, and on no account let anyone see us looking at a map. We make our way to the main square and then continue on south. We're momentarily confused about where to go next. A young shopkeeper smells our confusion and pounces. We try to walk away, but he tells us not to worry. He says that he's not a guide and nor does he have any snakes to hang around our necks. He also says that he doesn't want any money, ... read more

We wake up, and breathe a sigh of relief. We don't seem to have developed food poisoning overnight. We chat over breakfast to an Italian girl called Valentina, who works with Delila to manage the Riad. I ask her if she's been to Australia, but she says she's too scared. We assume this has got something to do with the plethora of deadly snakes, spiders and crocodiles that inhabit our shores, but it seems instead that she's developed a phobia of our airports from watching the Australian version of "Border Security" on Italian TV. I wonder if any of the tourist promoters back home realise that this program is deterring potential visitors. At least this explains all the satellite dishes; they're here so that the locals can watch Italian TV. I wonder why they don't watch ... read more

Our alarm goes off at 4am. I've often wondered what 4am on a Sunday morning would feel like and now I know; it feels like I should be asleep. We expect the streets to be deserted, but they're full of youngsters in full party mode. I s'pose if you have a long siesta every afternoon maybe you don't need to sleep at night? I'd long suspected that taxi drivers were the same the world over and ours is no exception. He drives at breakneck speed and only slows down when he's approaching a speed camera. I remember Louis and Melanie pointing these out to us whenever we passed one, and Louis told us that everyone here knows exactly where they all are. This would seem to at least partly defeat the purpose of having them, but ... read more