Rome Day 4

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Colosseum day today so just a short walk. We go in search of the Aussie from the other day but couldn’t find him, but did find the team that he works with. We paid our 10E each for the guided tour and all up about 10-12 other people joined us. Our guide “Mora” or “Maria” was a local with loads of information about one of the 7 wonders of the world. Too much detail to go into it here about this incredible structure but what I can say is although I had to wait 30 odd years to see it again the wait was worth it. For those of you that don’t know the story, when I travelled with my parents on a tour of Europe years ago the Colosseum was the one thing that I was really looking forward to exploring and we only spent about 10 minutes (no that’s oz 10 mins not Italian 10 mins!) there. All up we were there for about 5 hours inside and out with various things going on.

We walked back a different way to the hotel to see more of the city on what was the hottest day so far. I had commented if it were a day in Briz or Sydney then we would have had a storm for sure that night to cool things down.

Back to the hotel for a few hours rest and dress for dinner as we had decided to go to Trastavere a local district where not many tourists go. We splashed out and caught a cab which has been a rarity as we have travelled most places on foot, however as we were both in heels we weren’t walking anywhere we didn’t have to.

The driver let us off on the opposite side of the river as it is all one way and we would have been charged more for the longer distance. We walked over the Tiber on a cobblestone bridge. There are cobblestones throughout Rome on the roads, footpaths and bridges. They make for an interesting challenge in heels as they are all uneven, sometimes with huge gaps in between.

We hit the other side of the river and the local Piazza where there were a few Cafés scattered throughout with people already enjoying the evening aperitifs. Now in comparison we would have stood out like the proverbial dogs balls trying to negotiate the cobblestones, check out the local scene and hoping like hell there would be a bar very very soon, whilst trying to be ever so cool as well! We walked into the tiny maze of streets and came across a laneway packed with tables and chairs outside so pulled up one at the first available opportunity. A couple of glasses of wine ordered and we’d settled in. After around 15 minutes a guy approached us and asked if he could join us as he was waiting for a friend (yeah right!). We said “Sure why not” and an interesting conversation started. Interesting guy a lawyer in Milan (apparently?) visiting his sick Uncle in Rome, lived in Paris for 10 years, loved Australia when he visited, travelled a fair bit, etc, etc. We and he asked some interesting questions of each other, “If you could do anything you wanted to do, what would that be?” etc, etc. His questions slowly turned to sex and the old age question “Have you girls ever had a threesome?” and then (of course)“Would you like to?” We both disappointed him with a “no thanks” and then there was the “Why not?” We gave him our reasons, finished our drinks and said we’d be moving on for dinner. He was keen to join us and we made it quite clear that would be all it was and there would be no talking us into anything, etc, etc. R also pointed out that if he wanted to pull the pin, after investing so much of his time and getting nothing in return, and go, to feel free. I also said he could have saved heaps of time and asked straight up if were interested in a 3some rather than the b/s story of waiting for a mate, who btw never did appear! He said he enjoyed our company and the convo so he’d like to join us. We ate at a traditional Roman restaurant packed with locals and the food was lovely. We hadn’t seen lamb on a menu anywhere so that had our vote.

R disappeared to the Bathroom so Romeo (no, not his real name) started with, “It was you I am really attracted to, can we spend some time together by ourselves?” blah blah blah. There was also “who knows where this will go, the company I work for has offices in oz and I would be willing to move”, blah, blah, blah. R had returned by this stage and had struck up a conversation with the old fella sitting at the next table. Anyway I told Romeo a couple of times I was on hols with my friend, we already had things planned for the next few days and we were leaving for the Amalfi Coast on Saturday. After a few more minutes his phone rang so he excused himself and said he’d be back in 5…and you know the rest!

A few of the waiters wanted to show R where we could go for a dance after dinner after she had asked and wrote down what we thought was the name of a club. We left the restaurant (by ourselves) and turned the corner into the little laneway again and it was jammed packed with people, all ages shapes and forms. We darted in and out of the people and made it out to the main Piazza and road, crossed the bridge in a hope of catching a cab. R asked a few people about the place written down and we were on the wrong side of the river to reach the district (not club) so another bridge crossing was in order. Crossing the bridge in daylight in heels with not many people about was a challenge, at night with people packed, drinking, some cooking corn, some smoking dope, some strumming a guitar, some singing and yep some who had even passed out, was a near impossibility. We waited what seemed like ages for a cab to no avail so we started walking. We came across a couple and I asked if they knew how far the place was where we wanted to go. They told us about an hour if we wanted to walk! The guy said if you wait until we have finished (they were eating slush puppies) we’ll take you, which they did. Lovely couple “Just friends” they told us when we enquired.

They dropped us at an area that seemed like the nightclub area of Rome. Bars with tables inside and out on one corner of the block and clubs in and outdoor. Looked OK sounds great but a young crowd. The guy had told us if we didn’t like it where to catch a cab and where to go next. We headed for where the cabs would be and for the first time in the entire trip the hairs on the back of my neck were on end and I felt pretty uncomfortable. “We have to look confident and look like we know where we are going” I said to R, mainly for myself as I was feeling quite the opposite.
We caught a cab easily and asked to go to “Gilda” the cabbie knew where it was and off we went. Max (intro’s all round) kinda gave us a guided tour of Rome by night pointing out things along the way. Gilda was near the Spanish Steps…and was also closed…bugger…well it was 1.30 in the morning on Thursday evening I guess! Max knew of somewhere else that we might like just a few minutes away, we went and checked it out…cool club but it was all over there and just a few people, so we called it quits and went home.

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