Just a bit more about Rome

Each day we get up about 8 am except for tomorrow when we have to catch the train to Assisi at 7.58. Then we go and have breakfast, (when we book the hotels we look for 2 things 1; under 50 € and 2; they provide breakfast). The hotel we are in at the moment is in a building with lots of other hotels. They are not really hotels more collections of rooms, ours is at the top of four flights of marble steps- which is always something to look forward to at the end of a long day walking. Anyway they provided breakfast and it is quite good really. All you can eat /drink, coffee, juice, croissant, bread rolls, a boiled egg, yucky italian toast things that sound like you are eating gravel, and yogurt. So we eat as much as we can and then walk up the 3 flights of stairs we have previously walked down to prepare for our day. This morning is quite fun because the toilet seems to have blocked up phewwwwww!!!!! It is stinky.

Once we have made our lunch preparations - salami and cheese in glad wrap ready for the rolls we will buy once we are out - juice into the empty water bottle, extra water and fruit we are ready to start on our daily excursion.

Day I: Was the most amazing day ever, as Paul said in the previous blog. I was awestruck by the beauty and grandeur the timelessness and the truely poignant concept that all the greats of art were actually in the same room as me, once upon a time. I didn't want to leave the Sistine chapel it was so beautiful and safe. So when we got to go back for the second time and most of the people had gone that was definitely a gift from somewhere.

Then we left the Vatican museums and walked back to St Peters Basilica which previously has been packed and it was almost empty! Crazy! Where did all those people go? The line to the basilica that previously snaked its way around the square was almost non existant. We got into the Basilica in no time only to come face to face with the Pieta, as soon as I had recovered from the shock of the enormity of the whole place. The Pieta is beautiful and again timeless and for once an art work that is better in life than it is in the books. Mary so fresh and overcome with grief as she softly held Jesus lifeless but still warm body, even if you don't believe the story the beauty of this work is wonderful.

Are we there yet?

Cripes it's huge!

And this was all for free! Without lines! And we could just keep on looking as long as we wanted. I normally last about half and hour in a gallery we spent hours and hours looking and walking and looking AMAZING!

We forgot to get bread for our salami and cheese so did this all on a banana and some fruit juice. On the way home we got some bread and made rolls in the middle of Campo de fiore market while all the rich people sat around drinking colourful drinks in the warm. I think we were happier though.

Back home by 5 exhausted lay on the bed and ..... That is nothing, not, what you might think. Then prepare dinner salad and chicken the same as the night before yum . Sleep........

 

Day 2: Was a very different day same morning down 3 flights up 3 flights make lunch, out we go. Remember to get bread rolls. Off to the Forum and the Colosseum. We had found Rick Steves audio tour the day before and put it onto my phone so this made our visit so much better just having a bit of an idea what was going on.

We saw these things on the way

 

The tomb of the lost soldier

 

Trajans column

 

Columns, domes and sculptures everywhere

It is all pretty interesting really and all the things you learn about makes a little more sense. I am still not sure about Romulus and Remus they must have existed but were they raised by a wolf? We saw where they had lived though. So walking and walking and then we had our rolls in the Farenese gardens over looking Rome - in the rain. It has been raining for days now. You can always tell this if I have a green jacket on. Rain green no rain black. We finally made it to the Colosseum, again just an amazing building. How on earth did they get those huge great big blocks up the top?

I took millions of photo's of Paul looking like gladiator but I threw those away and kept these ones.

 

 

 

So that was pretty well our second day we came home again exhausted - there are a lot of stairs in Rome. We walked up the 4 flights lay on the bed ..... Made chicken salad! Yum and tonight we had this desert all for €1.31

Gigantic strawberries and chocolate and cream.

Yay, Today it didn't rain. same morning routine. But we added the laundromat downstairs and washed all of our clothes which will be great. There is only so much washing you can do in a bathroom basin. It didn't rain today so no green jacket. I will let Paul tell you about today. X