Day 12: Florence to Rome

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All roads lead to Rome and our Contiki village. This afternoon why not discover the ancient ruins of Rome with a local guide. Later, a walking tour of this ancient city will include the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

Got up early for our drive to Roma. Had breakfast and left at 7.30. We all had seats to ourselves on the bus as 14 people had gone on the train at 6am, hoping to see more of The Vatican. Only took us about 3 hours to get there, having a quick service stop just outside the city, then Marty dropped us off at a metro station. This was an experience and a half. Amanda had warned us all about scams, pickpockets and gypsies, so we were quite scarred about it. We all squashed onto the train with so many people, then got off at Termini to regroup and catch our next train to Ottaviano S Pietro. We were expecting a huge line at The Vatican, and Amanada had warned us that we might line up for hours and not even get in (which is why the others caught the train), so she pointed us in the right direction and we ran along the wall, expecting to run into a huge queue at any moment. We ran for a few blocks, and suddenly ended up at the entrance, where there was no one lined up so we walked straight in (unlike the others who lined up for over an hour and a half in the morning). We got our tickets and headed straight for the Sistine Chappel, as it was closing early today because of May Day tomorrow. We made our way through a mze of corridors painted with frescos and decorated with paintings and statues. The Sistine Chappel was breathtaking, it's something you just have to see. Didn't get long in there, but I will definitely be back. Made our way back through the labrynth of corridors to meet Amanda and everyone else outside Vatican city.
Walked to St Peter's square, where tomorrow we'll try make it to see the new pope's first official blessing. Caught the bus to Piazza Venezia, the 'wedding cake', and saw the verandah where Mussolini gave his addresses. From there we walked to the Pantheon, where Raphael is burried, the Trevi Fountain, had gelati at Piazza Navona (where the fountain of the 4 rivers is, from Angels and Demons), and went to the Spanish steps, which was so busy you could hardly see the steps. Rome was packed, but Amanada said it gets even worse in summer. We had really good pizza for lunch again, then caught the metro and a suburban train to meet Marty to bring us back to the campsite.
The campsite is really cool, it's in a rainforrest and all on different levels. At the top is the supermarket, pizza shop, restaurant and internet cafe; the there's the bar and laundry; then the bathrooms; the cabins and kitchen area are down the bottom near the pool. There's peacocks wandering round, and even Ralphie, a pet reindeer. Had a few drinks at the bar, but it was a pretty early night as 'black death' was starting to take hold and heaps of people were sick.

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Photos

Fresco
A painted ceiling on the way to The Sistine Chappel

The 'Wedding Cake'
Piazza Venezia