Close but no tiramisu

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Harriet really wanted to see the Colosseum. It opens at 8.30am but we knew there was no way we would get there at that time. It was hard enough to get her out of bed by 8.30am let alone actually be at the Colosseum, especially after such a busy day as yesterday. We did manage to get there by about 9am though which shocked us all. We walked all around inside and then we walked past the forum to the circus maximus. Toby made stupid comments about the men dressed as roman soldiers outside. They dress up and you pay them to have a photo, but Toby kept insisting they were real soldiers. We weren't sure who he thought would believe him. Harriet is really a little old for those sorts of games!

We got a gelato down the road from the circus maximus. It really wasn't worth the walk and Harriet started moaning that she hadnt had a good gelato in Rome. We ate the gelato and got a bus to the other side of the forum and Colosseum. The road was closed to traffic so we got another photo of Harriet not pushing a building. We saw the palace where Mussolini lived and then went back to St Peters. Harriet got another gelato on the way which kept her happy. We wanted to see the Pope bless everyone in the square at midday. Unfortunately like every other Italian he was on holiday, but they did broadcast him blessing those who were at his summer house on great big screens in the square.

We had done everything we wanted to do and see in Rome this trip, except eat tiramisu. We picked up the car and detoured via the tiramisu shop to the airport. It wasn't meant to be that we ate tiramisu. The shop was still closed. So lacking in sugar we took the car back to the rental company and boarded a plane.

We were on our way to Paris via Vienna. Harriet still didn't know we were going to Paris. She was expecting a night in Vienna and then a flight to Argentina. At check in we wanted to check the whole way through and to send our baggage directly to Paris. We told Harriet not to come too close at check in so that we could try to get in the lounge. She started to get suspicious but still hadn't guessed. We got in the lounge and got our baggage sent on and our boarding passes for the morning. It was all going well. The flight was delayed and the gate moved but we boarded with no problem. A the gate we got chatting with a south African and his welsh wife who live in Austria. He is a ski instructor in the alps. It was interesting hearing about their lives.

Once we got to Vienna we took at taxi to the hotel and figured out what to do. The hotel was a bit grotty and not as near to the airport as we had thought. The taxis were really expensive and we didn't have much time to go into Vienna. We walked into the town and couldn't find a single place to eat. We ended up getting the train into the city and then a metro to the main square where the cathedral is. The cathedral was still open as mass was on and so we went in and lit a candle as we have done in every other church we have been in.

We made time for dinner, wiener schnitzel of course, and then a train and taxi back to the hotel. We may not have managed the tiramisu in Rome but at least we had sacher torte in Vienna.

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