When in Rome...
Out of the fridge and into the fire!
16.10.2011
22 °C
Turkey turned unseasonably cold the moment we left and there was talk of snow in the mountains. However, Rome has certainly been a hotspot. The weather is perfect, but the rioters have been warming things up with flaming police cars and Molotov cocktails. Luckily, we couldn't afford the ritzy hotels in the heart of the chaos so booked a reasonably priced 4 star joint in a quiet neghbourhood where ordinary people are more worried about paying the rent than smashing shop windows and pinching stuff.
We missed the excitement - but you can't have everything.
We did get to do Saint Angelo's Castle, the Vatican and St. Peter's without any trouble...
and we had a great visit to the Sistine Chapel...
This is not the ceiling in the chapel itself as the Italian spoilsports wouldn't let us take pictures. But the rest of the place is just brimming with fabulous murals, statues and tapestries. These Romans certainly know a thing or two about interior decorating.
Rome may not have been built in a day but because we lost a day to the riots we crammed the rest into a morning. And it wasn't difficult. We started at the Palazio Venezia and the Vittorio Emanuele Monument...
...skipped through the Pantheon, (just a load of dead old kings really), and threw a few coins in the Trevi Fountain...
...we climbed the Spanish Steps, (and got free hugs from these senoritas)...
...and ambled through the Roman Forum, (imagining Brutus sticking the knife into Caesar), and then ended up here at the Colosseum...
And so to lunch in one of hundreds of pavement cafes...
Phew - a bit exhausting. But we've both been here several times so we know the ropes. So stay with us for a whirlwind tour of Italy. Next stop, Perugia - capital of Umbria.
PS. We thought the food in Turkey was terrific - but then we came to Italy!
Ciao for now.
Posted by Hawkson 13:08 Archived in Vatican City Comments (6)
