ROME

2 hours in the air and we made it to Rome.

After an hour in the taxi due to a delay on the road, we arrived at our hotel, which just so happened to be five minutes walk to Vatican City!!! Upon arrival we were a little concerned about our choice of accommodation as the host handed us a set of keys with six different keys attached..... turns out our hotel is in an apartment block filled with hotels and residential homes which is a nice combo and proved very helpful when we tried to break into the wrong hotel room and were kindly helped by a gentlemen across the hall who told us that "key is fifth floor, you are on fourth floor"...... bloody Australians. 

After dumping our bags we decided to do a bit of exploring after discovering during our travels so far that it is best to go out and look around your area to become aware of where you are in relation to the major sights...... and not find out on the last day that you were 5 minutes from a historical landmark! So we set out and were stopped almost immediately an offered a fantastic deal on a tour of Vatican City, which was at the perfect time for tourists (late afternoon) when they have all carked it from the heat! So after our first hour in Rome we were already exploring Rome's eternal city!! 

Did it disappoint........ NO WAY 

In fact H and I hardly spoke to each other during the tour as we were both in absolute awe of what was happening. The tour took us through the Vatican museum that was filled top to bottom, wall to wall, floor to ceiling with paintings, mosaics, statues, monuments, rugs hand sewn that would have easily covered half the floor of an entire home etc. etc. It was all too much really and just when we thought we could take no more we arrived inside the Sistine Chapel...... I had to buy a scarf to cover my shoulders as its a holy place that values ancient customs, there was no talking and no photography.... just hundreds of people crowded in a room looking up and the ceiling..... drooling! 

Well done Mic..... you bloody beauty!!! What a man Michelangelo was and what an amazing work of art he created, it is so difficult to explain just how magnificent and overpowering the chapel is to those that have not seen it and it is an ABSOLUTE must see for anyone that values art, but I am sure that for those that do not, it will easily win you over, how one man accomplished such a masterpiece astounds me.

After our adventure through Vatican City which also included a little peep at St Peters Basilica and all of the internal gardens we wandered back towards our hotel and decided to stop at a nearby restaurant for our first italian meal! Pizza and carbonara were on the menu and as expected did not let us down..... and as a result we have been eating pizza and pasta for the last three days (today being the day we had the best pasta of our lives) ...... when in Rome!!! 

Day two in Rome meant it was time to visit the other treats the city had to offer...... The Colosseum, Palatine Hill, The Roman Forum, The Trevi Fountain (which was closed for restorations, so we drowned our sorrow in gelato), The Spanish steps and several other churches, historical buildings and roman ruins. The Colosseum is just as breathtaking as you imagine it to be, although nothing prepares you for the sheer size of it, which puts into perspective just how massive an effort it was to build. Once inside, it is impossible not to imagine the screaming Roman citizens awaiting a gladiator fight, and you can feel the electric intensity of what once was. I don't even know how to begin to explain the Palatine Hill...... we walked around it for three hours and only covered less than half of what it had to offer..... A massive massive array of ruins that once again take your breath away. Whenever I visit a place like this I am always filled with so many mixed emotions, grateful that I am able to see and walk through, and touch and feel what it is like to be THERE, but also sad that it is not the way it once was, that although a lot is left we will never be able to see such places in their former glory. These people, without the latest technology, machinery, manpower or funds were able to build monuments that have lasted centuries and THAT never seises to amaze me. Walking through the Roman Forum was equally as surreal, with so many historical events taking place within this part of the city, perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of the forum was an ancient door (the original) still attached to the building it was prised too which still takes its original key which to this day OPENS THE LOCK!!! Exhausted from our adventures we ventured to the local supermarket and bought some antipasto treats and put together our own italian dinner which we ate in our hotel, doors to our veranda open, with the blue skies, roman apartment blocks and bustling city street as our view. 

Today was our last day in Rome and we spent it checking out the Catacombe's, the oldest burial sites of ancient Rome. Built under the ground, the excavations to date trace the tunnel 20km under modern day Rome, which is filled with crypt after crypt. The majority of these were for commoners, 30% were children under the age of 3, however they were also the final resting place of many of Rome's popes. Today, the excavated crypts are empty as the remains have disintegrated and the funerary goods stashed alongside the bodies were stolen during their discovery, although we were informed today that there is still ongoing excavations of the catacombes and no one is certain of how far underground they stretch and how much more there is to discover. Going down into the ground was an incredibly eire experience as you could feel the temperature drop the lower you descended. Although there were no bodies to be seen it was still an incredibly powerful place and definitely worth the visit. However it seems that all of our bragging caught up with us and we were absolutely drenched in our open roof tour bus on the way to the archeological sights. There was nothing else to do but laugh it off as we got off the bus and rung out our hair and clothes! After the best pasta of our lives for lunch we headed back towards our apartment, walking alongside more ancient ruins and getting lost in a dodgy part of inner city Rome, we decided to cab it the rest of the way and had a little siesta before heading out for our final meal.
Unlike Australia, Italy follows its own rules, these rules also apply to pets, who walk freely through shopping centres, supermarkets, any kind of public place with their owners! This takes a little getting used to as giving way to a poodle in the handbag section is a completely foreign concept.

Dinner was spectacular, topped off by a moonlight walk through illuminated Vatican City, there is something so special about sharing adventures with someone that you love so dearly and I feel so grateful and lucky every moment I am here, watching and experiencing the world with someone that values and appreciates what wonderful things history and nature have to offer. After some gelato for desert and a race up the five floors in an attempt to burn it off..... unsuccessful..... we are turning in, as we prepare for our train tomorrow.....

FLORENCE HERE WE COME!!!