Day 2 in Rome

We had a very enjoyable dinner with the couple from our cruise group (Bob and Lorraine). (It was drizzling a little as we arrived, and although it had been a hot day, we were grateful that it had been mostly overcast). We walked all the way across to the restaurant near the Spanish Steps (about 25 minutes). David had a steak, and I had roast veal and potatoes. We shared a salad, and dessert of fruit salad and panacotta, and house wine. Then we walked with Bob and Lorraine over to the Spanish Steps. My photos taken there were hopeless. Then we left them there and walked back to our hotel through the narrow cobblestoned streets of Rome - lots of people about, strolling, in the warm balmy evening air - very pleasant. We passed the Trevi Fountain on the way - a big crowd there, and very beautiful all lit up.

We had a bit of a lie-in this morning, then walked down to the Colosseum around 10 am and listened to Rick Steves. We were grateful to have our Roma Passes, and be able to bypass the enormous queue, thanks to his advice. We got in for 'no' charge, with our passes. We were there for an hour or so, and it was sooooooo HOTTTTT! The forecast said it would be 29 degrees today, and I'd say it was at least that. We were wilting big time. Somehow we still managed to walk down past the Forum to the Victor Emmanuel Monument and Trajan's Column, where David had the most expensive can of Coke in his life (€2.50)! I would have handed it back!

From there we dragged ourselves through the heat, with lunchtime hunger grumbling in our stomachs, to the Pantheon. David grabbed a panini while I slogged through 2 gluten free muesli bars, whilst sitting in the shade provided by the spectacular portico. Then, in we went and my word, what a beautiful building, and it was originally built in 27 BC, and rebuilt in AD 120 by the emperor Hadrian.

It seemed to be getting even hotter, but we were so close to the Piazza Navona and Campo de'Fiori that we had to carry on (actually, perspiration is trickling down my face now, while I'm typing this, and it's 5.15 pm and I'm sitting in the shade, so you can imagine what it was like at 1 pm in the middle of all the traffic, tourist hoards, and heat in these places). We stopped for a gelato (very cold and delicious, with all sorts of wonderful flavours), and then ran to catch the notorious (because of pickpockets) #64 bus back to our hotel. Talk about crush, it was so bad that we had to literally force our way out of the bus (me leading the way ;-)), you couldn't get to the door to exit if you didn't - you can imagine how David was feeling being jammed up against all those people in the suffocating bus! We haven't needed to use the metro, so we've missed that experience here - what a disappointment!

We got back to our hotel at 2 pm, and flaked out for an hour over a beer and a coke, and I added some cheese and ricecake to fill out my 'lunch'. We simply had been too exhausted to scout around in the heat and crowds for something I could eat - I'm sure there would have been something, but we just wanted to see what we could, and escape back to the hotel air conditioning and get off our feet.

We've just got back from a whirlwind tour around the National Museum which is 100 metres away (very interesting), and also we popped into the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli which was once part of the Baths of Diocletian - a huge baths complex in ancient times. A beautiful church now. We ran into Bob and Lorraine at the museum, and they looked about as exhausted as us!

Anyway, we're relaxing now, and then we're going to have dinner somewhere nearby - David is eager to eat something Italian, some pasta, but this is mostly a first course only, and he wants it for a main course. We'll see what we can find. Then we'll be re-packing for tomorrow's cruise. We'll get picked up around 10 am by a bus organised by someone in the group, so we'll meet a few more people then. I'm not sure when I'll next be online, it may be a few days when I get an opportunity in a port - I'm not keen to pay US$1 per minute for a shonky connection from the ship! I may pop back to this internet kiosk after dinner to see if I can upload a few photos for your enjoyment - no promises though. Check the Rome album, just in case.

PS - added two days later - had the dinner - shocking service - talk about sour! David enjoyed some gnocchi for the first time. Then they tried to charge us more for it than what was actually listed on the menu - rip off - no tip left by us!

PPS - notice how dirty Rome is, graffiti everywhere, people not very polite - others on the cruise have commented that it's like that all over Europe - no wonder Kiwis are considered friendly!