Mosaic Hostel Rome

... seen better in Amsterdam and elsewhere.
We climbed up the 800 year old bell tower. There were more than 300 stairs to the top.
The view was astounding. From the top we could see the entire city - and it is indeed the colour that the Crayola Corporation calls Burnt Siena.
We could see out over the entire city and out into the lovely green Tuscan countryside in every direction. We stayed up as long as we could. It was ...

... Easter. It is the largest Christian Basilica in the world and most of the Popes are buried there. The bronze for the alter was taken from the top of the Pantheon. It was very gaudy. The basilica is in the shape of a Latin Cross. Preparations were being made for the Easter service so there were a lot of extra chairs and activity.
St Peter's Square was also very crowded. The Obelisk in the center was taken from Circus Maximus. Also, the current ...

... See why people rave about it. We'd pretty well done what we wanted to - and whilst one of the people we met called it " a Wannabe" major city, it was cool. The Czech and surrounding countryside was remarkably flat until we crossed the Austrian alps.. and we got a great view over the Adriatic. Great flight, real smooth with very professional cabin crew. CSA is fine by us. Landed in Roma on schedule - and then surprise, surprise two pieces of ...

... to keep me up to date with all the different cars here... Our accomodation is in another campsite similar to Venice, but probably 400 x better. I was sharing a 3 person cabin with only one other guy, Franco from Sicily. He was up in Rome to have a test for a job. Apparently there are absolutely dibolical ammounts of un-employment in the south, so alot are forced to move further north or even internationally. No wonder Melbournes full of wogs. As soon as i got into Rome i had ...

... it was an absolutely beautiful church. Lastly for the day we visited the museum for the Church Santa Maria Fiore, which otherwise is known as the Duomo. Inside we got to see the famous winning bronze doors made by Ghiberti, a Pieta made by Michalengelo, and the very famous Mary Magdalene which was carved out of wood by Donatello. Then it was back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before heading out to Padua tomorrow morning at nine! Hooray!

... and found my first new gem of the day - the Mausoleum of Augustus. This one I hadn't seen before. Apparently Octavius, the adopted son of Julius Caeser who later became known as Augustus and the first Emperor of Rome, built himself a giant round burial mound just near the banks of the Tiber to the north of the ancient city. It's one huge tomb, but fair ...

... metro. The experience was so good that we are considering buying new bikes. The best part is that while on the way to see one sight it was very easy to notice something interesting and stop. If it wasn't for the bikes we might not have seen the colosseum, pantheon, and imperial forums. We realize now that there is simply too much to see in Rome. Even a week would not be long enough. Our biggest goal was to see the Sistine Chapel, which we did. It wasn't as impressive as I ...

... from the Spanish, French, Italian family. It's more Dutch or German. At least she drilled "Scola" into my head, which is what you say when you toast glasses. It was a lovely meal. We lived it. Susanna placed a phone call to Benjamin before we took a cab ride down to Testaccio, the supposed hip and trendy area of town. This was an adventurous move since we didn't know exactly where in Testaccio to go and also because it's beyond the vicinity of our maps. We were dropped off and ...