Romah Blowsah Ma Mindah, Day 24

Breakfast delivered to our room, but no toastah. Ah well. After calling our Melbourne office representative about a car insurance matter, we then call representative number 2 for a brief update. All good. We decide to nosh down. Love our accommodation. Quiet, secure, discreet but very comfortable except for a lack of either CNN or BBC. Anyway, let it goah. We kit ourselves out and head out whilst the weather is good, to a Hop On Hop Off Tour. Tour office around the corner, 35 Euros each. Two tickets please. As we get on to the top level of our double decker bus we start chatting to some Californian dudes just finishing off a bottle of red. Pretty hot up here in the sun. 34 in Rome today. They seem to be winging it around Italy for 3 weeks. A lot of Californians over here. I suppose its only a 6-8 hour flight to the USA from here.

Cannot believe the scale of the older buildings and the ornate detail embedded into them. Extraordinary. As if our minds were not blown enough, we then hit the Colosseum area, which as it turns out was sort of a Roman Capitol Hill/ central district. We quickly suss out an authentic walking tour and join a little group ready to start. We jump the queues and zip into one of the most incredible things I have ever seen, the Colosseum. We are able get a fix on how the place operated: the animals used by the gladiators and where they were housed; where the mortuary was for those christians and others that were slaughtered; where the politicians and emperors entered the stadium, and where the aforementioned used to sit; the games that the punters used to play in between the entertainment, etc. Wow!

At this point we exited the Colosseum and moved up to nearby higher ground to get a panoramic view of a massive number of historic sites. Too many names, too many sites to remember. We’re gasping for air its that hot. I do remember as I said before the mention of the words Capitol Hill.

A bit of further research required on my part. Perhaps the lasting impression for me will be of seeing such a huge volume of sites that were once an integral part of a highly evolved Roman Empire. It really was the most incredible thing to see.

Back on to the hop on hop off bus, and we make our way to the Vatican. We walk up close to where the Pope delivers his weekly Wednesday address, observe the Vatican guards and take some pics. There’s the balcony. Seats out. All pretty organised. Of course the whole of the Vatican thing is behind a wall. They have their own systems, their own way of paying taxation and so forth. The line for the Sistine Chapel would have to been on its way to half a kilometre long, so we make an exit to the hop on hop off stop and cruise back to HQ, stopping off on the way for an iced coffee and a cappucino and some retail therapy. I pick up some new Italian desert boots. Lucky me. Out to dinner we go. Cannot get over the begging, and the attempt to flog you stuff (eg water, umbrellas) at the major tourism spots. Mindah Blowingah!