When in Rome ......

At the Trevi Fountain in Rome

Yesterday we were the typical tourists, and had a great, but hot and tiring day out in Rome! We took the train into town and our first stop was The Vatican, and yes, we saw the Pope, although from a distance it could have been anyone dressed in white standing at a window (??), and listened to his 15 minutes of prayer in at least 5 different languages. We then walked down the road to the river and through the Navona Piazza, then to the Pantheon which to our pleasant surprise was free to go into, and very beautiful inside. We sat outside the Pantheon and had McDonalds for lunch (this choice for lunch mainly because we needed to use the facilities, and you can always count on McDonalds for having clean and modern facilities). We then carried on our walking tour of Rome to the Trevi Fountain, which was incredible, but due to the crowds, it was hard to get close to.

"Was that really the Pope, Dad?" (St Peter's Piazza, Vatican City)

"Aw gee, they're still building it..." (Pantheon)

But the highlight of the day must have been the most historic parts of Rome, the Roman Forum, Palatine Museum and Colosseum. The Roman Forum was just spectacular and we were all in awe of what we saw. Especially Nicolette, who just wanted to keep exploring the area. Its amazing to think that these ruins were built thousands of years ago, and that people actually lived there. It was just fantastic. And the Colosseum was equally impressive. Unfortunately we were all very hot and very tired by this part of the day, and had walked around 8km in 30+ degree temperatures! But a really good day anyway.

"Don't you love your Mum for dragging you all the way to Rome?"

At last... the Colosseum!

Today we had a really slow and relaxed start to the day, Glen has caught up on some work, the boys and I wandered down to the local supermarket, which the boys were quite impressed with, as it was a 2 storey supermarket! The kids and I then spent the afternoon in the pool, and sunbathing beside it. Tonight we are in the bar (which is a wi-fi zone), and joining the locals watching the Fifa Italy vs Paraguay game. Quite an atmosphere!

One more day in Rome!