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Published: February 2nd 2010
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Christmas Day. Was a touch miserable for the day, after having stayed up so late the previous night, but not able to speak to my four children left at home 😞 I was told by some of the people on our tour, not to worry about it, as the kids were probably having fun anyway ... gee that makes me feel better - NOT!
Anyway an early day. We slept in unfortunately so breakfast was kind of skipped. I raced in and grabbed a couple of eat on the way foods to try and tide me over. We drive all over the place just looking at buildings and things. I'm not sure I would be able to remember going past half of the things we saw. It was just going to be one of those days.
We arrived at the Colosseum. Ok, now this was impressive. We were all handed little earphones to be able to listen to our guide. It was kind of funny because she was getting a touch grumpy with our group as she was barking out commands in Italian, and obviously no one had any idea as to what she was talking about so we
Colosseum
ok, so maybe it isn't but on the right side of the screen you start to see it all just stood around. She also didn't like that an older couple were too "slow" for her liking. It was a case of jump in your chariot and go style! I had to admit she totally lost me inside and I had more fun just looking around at the structure imaging the history that took place within these walls.
It was cute, we noticed a Contiki tour group walking down stairs or a ramp to get to the Colosseum all dressed in Santa outfits. With how warm it was, their outfits didn't stay on long 😊
After having had a good look around the group was then taken on a walk to what I assume was the Roman Forum. I walked part of the way, but was too tired to continue with the group, happily walking back to one of the stalls outside the Colosseum to buy some food.
We then made our way to the Vatican City for the Papal Blessing. We arrived at 11am, for the midday blessing. We were able to have a look in the shops and things, but I wanted to try and get down near the front. It was extremely surprising
Colosseum 2
the group photo was taken in this spot as a panoramic shot. including both items as we just wandered all the way down to be the third row from the front of the standing section. It was then a case of waiting for the show to start. We pretty much entertained ourselves looking at the crowd. When the pope came out, I hadnt expected his speach to take so long. My son missed him speaking in English, I think alot would have, it all really blended in together. We then made our way through the crowd to get some gelati 😊
Christmas lunch was provided to us today by the tour. We went very close to where we were the previous night. Overall it was a lovely lunch that carried us for tea as well. The exchanging of the gifts occurred as well. Instead of staying in Rome and heading back to the hotel, we were chose to go straight back. My son crashed for the whole afternoon.
Oh in Rome, they had free internet. It seems my rooms were always out of range, so I sat in the lobby to connect. The hotel we stayed in here was called the Dei Massimi. I can't believe I forgot to take photos of it.
Also the staff at the front desk are a bit clueless to assist you in connecting to the internet. When you find their wifi site, apparently its supposed to take you directly to the log in page. If this does not work, and this tip will be useful at some places past rome as well, you need to type in http://1.1.1.1 (I think). If you read their password slip, basically its the log out reference without the /info or whatever it was on the end. By doing this, you get straight to the log in page, and it should all be sweet from there on in. Took me about an hour to work that out, and I was stressing slightly by the end frantic to speak to my kids back home! Sighs the disadvantage of being a mother of small kids travelling I guess.
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