Rome
Trip Start
Aug 06, 2007
1
40
47
Trip End
Nov 22, 2007
Today we took a train to Naples, the home of Pizza and the Mafia and then straight onto Rome. Our B & B is right across the road from the main train station which is very handy. The room is funny because it is decorated in Retro style so all very 70's and we have all of these little mirrors on our roof. We arrived on Monday around midday and headed straight our to see some sights and we knew Rome would be very full on. We went down to Trevi Fountain where a trllion tourists where standing, sitting, pushing, throwing coins etc and also Hawkers where selling things like bubble makers and other trinkets. who buys these things? anyway Trevi foundtain is massive and a very nice foundtain, we then headed for the Spanish steps which were not that nice at all. Just steps filled with people. we then walked around for a couple more hours and then had some cheap Pasta and went to bed. The 2nd day (Tuesday) we headed to Vatican city, the smallest counrty in the world, yes it is classed as a country even though it is in the centre of Rome.St Peters Basillica is just massive, there was quite a long line to get in but it did move steadily so wasn't too long of a wait. Inside the Church is amazing, we have seen alot of Churches around Europe but this one was definately the biggest. We climbed the Dome for some nice views across Rome. WE then got into yet another long line for the Vatican museum where the Sistine Chapel is located. While in line a man tried to shove a pamohlet into my hands and because i pulled away he swore at me which was quite funny. the Hawkers are very pushy and annoying in Rome, Vic wasn't too impressed with this guy and told him what he thought. You go Vic. Once inside the Vatican Museums are very big and contain many museums. one of course is the very famous Sistine Chapel. It is a work of art and the paintings around the entire chapel are just incredible. not even around the chapel but all of the rooms and filled with art all around the roofs and walls. AFter leaving Vatican city it was definately time for Ice Cream and we has a huge serving of yummo Gelati. we then walked back through via some other old buildings back to our Hostel which is quite a long way but enjoyable. we cooked some pasta for dinner and went to bed early as we were stuffed!! The 3rd day we headed to the most fanous of Rome's ancient sights, the Colloseum. It is a HUGE structure, maybe the size of the MCG but very old, built in 72AD. It was used for mainly inhumane sports and entertainment and held 50,000 spectators. If you have seen the movie the Gladiator then you might have some idea. from the Colosseum we went to Palatine hill, where a very large Palace once stood, and still stands in some parts. This is where Rome started back in 900BC, a few years ago. Rome is sooo old its just hard to comprehend especially being from a country where our oldest buldings are not even 300 years old. Some of these buldings are over 2000 years old. from Palatine we walked around the Roman forum, what would have been a massive big Piazza back in the day and is surrounded by ruins from old Law courts and temples. amazing. we saw a few more sights and were fsirly done byt then so we headed back to the room and the Man who runs our place is a Magician and showed us some pretty impressive card tricks. we then headed to Dinner with him and some guys where are in the other room for some food which was nice and cheap. Today, and it really is today as i write is Day 4 and we went to a nice park in the city which was a change from the tourists, pollution and nutcase drivers here. Zebra Crossings do not mean anything here in Rome, just that if you on a Scooter then you must drive quicker towards a person who is crossing the road, it is seriously scary crossing roads in this city. Now i also need to tell you about the mysterious disease that Vid got and now i have. Just 4 days ago Vic has what looked like bites all over his arms and we thought he had been bitten or maybe had an allergic reaction, but then it spread all over eben onto his face, then lucky for me i started to feel itchy and i have now got these horrible red spots all over me. They are about the size of a 5 cent peice and start off white and then turn Red, and are extremly itchy. There are no other other symptoms though which is strange, we do not know how we got it or what it is only that it must be contagious and we look horrible. They are soooooooooooooooooooooo itchy. Tomorrow morning we are getting the train to Florence and hopefully these spots have gone byt the time i write next.
