Crazy Monday

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Wow everyone awake & on full speed ahead this morning. There is alot of urgency in the movements outside. We have a good people watching window from 4 floors up. People having a very animated chat on the corner (we could hear them from here over the traffic), someone on an errand can't find a park so parks on the pedestrian cossing, the little dog wants to play with the big dog across the street, little street cafes already filling up with lots of chat, elderly lady with her trolly bag (i could use one of those!), children waiting impatiently at the bus stop, music thumping from a car expecting the driver to be blown from the vehicle, 'ding ding' the tram is approaching, more people in animated chat, the scooters, the buses, every second person is smoking, the huge rubbish dumpsters all lined up, some graffiti, some chic botiques, everyone dressed so imaculately, and someones having an icecream for breakfast! Close the window & all is quiet again.
The plan today was ride to the Vatican & then just walk...
The armed Police presence is still strong & they ARE watching everyone.
The Vatican area was so crowded we were glad that we did not intend to go inside as the queue was so long... one of my pet hates is waiting & i think this would have been a good 2hour wait at the least.

Over the Tiber to wander the narrow streets, the smart & colourful little shops & the food markets. The Tiber a bit low & green, they can't have had much rain lately. The little boutique shops in such old falling apart buildings present themselves as quite chic. The food venders vieing intensley for business. It is all so colourful, scaves, gloves, bags, grapes, tomatoes, lemon cello, spices....'special price for you today'!
We took a wee break in the shade & then headed onto the Pantheon. I couldn't get a photo of the hole in the ceiling because there was too much light coming through. There are small holes in the marble floor for the rainy days. What I didn't realise was the Pantheon is actually a Basilica...i'm not sure what i thought of it as...maybe a monument.

Amazing how the al fresco restaurants squeeze themselves onto the streets....no elbow room there!

We witnessed a bit of a pick pocketing 'to do' on the Metro.....swift but not swift enough...the doors closed & they were caught red handed by the guy who lost his wallet. It was a target in his back pocket for sure.

Time to pack & organize ourselves for our flight to Palermo in the morning.

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Comments

[John & Mary]

Rome...
It seems like you just arrived in Roma and now you are in Palermo!!!! Love the photo's and blogs...they certainly paint the picture... xxx