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Published: October 17th 2006
Arena House ,Rome
staying here in Roma.The plan was to get going early, 'do' a few of the most wellknown landmarks in Rome then take it easy for the first day!
Ha,Ha.
As we are staying next to the Colesseum, we decided to pass by ( just like that) and come back later when the sun was better for some good photos. Besides, we have it included in this tour thing we are starting tomorrow and having paid once already, we might leave it for then.
There are always hundreds of tourists queued up and if you go with a tour you get straight in.
The area we are staying in is great, lots of little coffee shops and things out the front door. The lovely garden outside our bedroom window belongs to the local Police Station.
Police Stations surround us and the sight of surveilance cameras on top of all the adjacent buildings is very reassuring. This is a lovely area, 20 mins from the heart of Rome centre and in the midst of a lot of important old ( we are talking BC) buildings.
After morning coffee, caught bus into 'town' and started at the Piazza del Popolo. This is a very popular
Ristorante
we enjoyed 2 great meals here. and crowded place just over the river Tiber from the Vatican. Adrian did his 'thing' and explored the church Santa Maria del Popola which has been done to death in Dan Browns 'Angels and Demons' ( can hear you laugh, Jan!)
To cut a long story................yes, we know, its boring....we spent the rest of the day doing much of the same, only to arrive back at our guest house absolutely stuf...ed, having only seen a miniscule of what we set out to see. There is SO much! The old cliche, 'Rome wasnt built in a day' takes on a new meaning.
We probably only saw about 4 things really. You need time to stand and absorb it all. This is Adrians 3rd time here and he still cant believe how vast and crowded the old parts are. We thought the other cities weve visited were busy but Rome is an entirely a new level of CROWDED.
Right from our arival at the Termini main train station we couldnt believe the numbers of people and it has been the same everywhere today.
The weather was quite hot (24 deg) and the funny little buses (seating for 8 only) were
jammed like sardine cans. We presume they are so small because they run down tiny cobbled streets that are JUST wide enough ~ like millimetres clearance.
Tomorrow we have to forgo our freelance lifestyle, as we are joining a Tour (Trafalgar) for a 10 or so day tour of the rest of Italy. We both are now having mixed feelings about the next few days as we have becomed VERY used to our own pace and freedom. Still, we are staying optimistic that it will be OK and we will enjoy the tour.
We probably wont get much opportunity to blog once we join Trafalgar ~ their hotels seem to be well outside the cities so access to email could be difficult. Its been such a bonus having a computer in our room here giving the chance to blog on without walking down the street.
Speaking of walking our feet are in agony after all those steps and b... cobblestones. They may look romantic but they are SO hard and uneven its excruciating to walk on them all day. Bought some mystery cream from an Italian pharmacist which is supposed to ease feet pain (we think) so
Market
early morning stall in our street its time to massage the soles and get some sleep.
Will try to put on a couple of pics from todays walking, there are so many we would like you to see but these are just a tiny representation.
Day after tomorrow, (Wed) we head off on our coach tour to Naples, Isle of Capri, Pompeii then up to Tuscany, Florence, Venice and back to Roma.
So, this maybe 'arriverderci' from us for the time being. Hope we can find an internet somewhere along the way.
Please keep your comments coming, we DO read them all, even if we dont post a reply. Once again, you know that if your comment appears in the bottom box of the blog, it means we have read it.
Take care all,
ciao
A & M
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Jane
non-member comment
Loved your Rome photos
Hope Trafalgar is going well and you are enjoying Italian food, wine coffee, scenery....Must be difficult. I had my first bribe attempt yesterday at work. Geriatric equipment favours in return for what I think was an invitation to visit a farm. Ah well, its never dull in the care of the extremely elderly....Must away to continue the beautification process for our first home open tomorrow. SOME people have commented that our house looks VERY neat on the web, in a suprised tone, as if we are not always ready at a moments notice for the Home Beautiful Photographer....