ROME then HOME!!

Well this will be our last blog....until the next trip!!

We had read a bit about Rome before we got here and basically it says be careful, you could get ripped off...and ripped off we got!
We asked the taxi driver how much it was going to cost to get to our hotel and he said 20-25 euros so we said OK...but when we got to the hotel it went up to 35 euros for a 10Min trip, he said something about having 2 bags!

We did a bit more reading and found that pickpocketing, bag snatching and generally ripping off is rife here, so that made us a little bit nervous when we went out. The first place we went to eat ripped us off, it cost 35 euros for a pizza, a beer and a sprite...that's about $60. They will charge up to 4 euros ($6.81) for a 500ml sprite and it's costing over $100 a night for dinner and we are only having a bowl of spaghetti. On one of our walking trips an old lady about 75yrs old, well dressed, asked us something in Italian, we said "Sorry, we don't speak Italian" Steve said she just wants money! So we just watched her for a while, and sure enough she got some money off someone. Anyway enough of the complaining.

Our first day was spent at the Colosseum, had to stand in line for an hour to get in, but it was worth it and the line was in the shade so quite comfortable. Such an amazing place, sooo old! After a rest and cool down at the hotel we went back to see the ruins near the Colosseum. Lots of climbing and still humid...geezz what a whinger!!! Went out for spaghetti again, still haven't found a place that sells good spaghetti, thought it would be easy here...complaining again!!

Ruins are scattered all over Rome

The next day we set out to go and see Trevi Fountain then onto the Spanish Steps thought that would be enough for one day, but when we got there the Vatican seemed really close so we decided to walk up and get that out of the way as it didn't seem as hot as the day before. All was going well until we decided to leave the Vatican and walk home along the river, well we couldn't find the river and must have taken a wrong turn somewhere but we ended up a bit lost and it took us ages to get back to the hotel. We ended up seeing a lot of Rome but were walking for about 5 and a half hours!

Trevi Fountain with a few of our friends On the way to The Vatican

The Popes House

Yesterday we went to the Pantheon, Basilica Di Santa Maria Ad Martyres, that's what the pamphlet says! Very interesting and amazing how they built that so many years ago, about 2000 years, without the technology of today. Then we were off to Piazza Navona, had an expensive ice cream and drink and walked back to the hotel, didn't want to get lost again!

The Pantheon

Piazza Navona

Have found a good restaurant in Rome...it's Indian! Have been there for the last two nights, really tasty food. After dinner last night we went back to the Colosseum, it's just down the road, to get some night shots.

Our favourite restaurant in Italy

Today is Thursday and we are spending most of the day in the hotel room. We went for a bit of a walk but it's just too hot and we're not enjoying it. We have repacked our bags, trying to make them a bit lighter but not really succeeding. Steve has just looked up how heavy our bags can be on Emirates and we can have 30kg's...BONUS!!

So for now it's farvel, au revoir, Tot ziens, Auf Wiedersehen, Dotací, arrivederci, Goodbye.

Home on Saturday.