Rome 2012

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<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rome

The next day (Sunday) we said goodbye to our lovely B&B (Le Seggiole for those thinking of going to Florence!) and went on the short train journey to Rome. Our last stop. We arrived at our B&B near the Colesseum after a rather exy taxi ride (our sits were not with us that day). None the less, we got here, relaxed and headed through the park to the outskirts of the Colesseum. The next day (yesterday) we went to the Colesseum. A colossal amphitheatre where games and the like were played out in roman times. We have seen many many roman and Greek ruins on our travels in the Middle East and southern Europe, but this too also lived up the hype. Surprisingly, it wasn’t overrun by tourists. It was truly magnificent. Afterward we went to the roman forum, which was a mass of gardens and a few standing roman columns. Which (ok I’m sound snooty) after Ephesus in Turkey, Jerash in Jordan, Palmyra in Syria and our favourite and the most intact Roman city, Baalbek in Lebanon, it wasn’t as impressive. Nonetheless it was a nice walk through. After a rest at the hotel, we went again to Spagna and the Spanish steps, some shopping, and, after tonnes of pizza and pasta for a week and a half we had Japanese! And it was so great – the restaurant is called Rokko – and it was really really nice!!



Today we went to the Vatican. We didn’t have to line up) except for a security screening briefly) so we were really lucky we didn’t have the lineup for tickets. Ironically, all the organised tours (which you are accosted by walking from Ottaviano metro stop to the Vatican) were huge and I assume they would have had to wait longer than we did to get tickets!!! The Vatican museum is collections of ancient Egyptian relics, ancient Greek and roman statues, tapestries, frescos, modern religious art (some we had quite a giggle at) and the amazing Sistine chapel. Now, call me a pessimist, but I walked in expecting something more. But looking up at the ceiling, I can see how much talent Michelangelo had. 3D frescos of legs , and the sheer enormity of painting the ceiling….just lying on his back propelled 50 or so metres in the air! Amazing. Unfortunately we were with the throngs of tourists so shuffled along and shushed.

After the madness of the Vatican museum, we walked inside the Vatican in hopes of seeing he St Peter’s basilica just because we are there, but the line for just security screen was HUUUGE (half the way around the Vatican itself) so we decided to skip it. Afterward, we went back to the shopping street for a glass of wine and a shop for me!

Tomorrow is our last full day of Rome and our trip! We are off to the Castel San Angelo museum, then packing and off to Fumicino airport off to home!! 24 hours later we should be back to Brisbane....!

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