Our Roman Holiday

Dinner in front of the Coluseum
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So after a short but awesome experience in Spain we hit the ground running in Italy.  We arrived in the early evening and after quickly settling in to our home for the next week, we were away.  Travel days usually make us a little restless and peckish and being in Italy for the first time, we decided to wander the streets looking for an authentic Italian Pasta experience.

As we slowly made our way along the street perpendicular to where we were staying, Linda casually mentions..."look at that"!  As I raise my eyes from the pavement, lo and behold.........THE COLUSEUM!!!  It was one of the most surreal moments to see this magnificent structure in the 'flesh' after having seen it so often in pictures and movies and the like.  Of course we could barely contain ourselves and were blown away that something like the Colosseum would be just sitting there at the end of a street in Rome.

After all, how often does one get the chance to be wine and dined.....in the front of THE COLUSEUM

Best meal ever!
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As we wandered by with our eyes as big as saucers, a restaurant tout saw us as a couple of likely suckers and went into full swing.  He was charming, humorous and stroked our collective egos sufficiently enough to have us sitting down and ordering whatever he recommended.  While the meal was a little on the pricey side, we decided that it was such a wonderful moment (particularly for Linda who has wanted to travel through Italy for such a long time), that this night would be 'off budget' (in other words on the credit card) and we would just spoil ourselves a little.  After all, how often does one get the chance to be wine and dined.....in the front of THE COLUSEUM!  To give the waiter his due though, the meal was probably the best we tasted in Italy and he was genuinely lovely to us (although this was the first and last time we would have a pleasant waiter in Italy).

Mike being very conspiratorial
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The next five days were filled with so many sights and historical monuments and buildings, its hard to remember them all.  One thing we couldn't forget was the Colosseum and Roman Forum.  Seeing the Colosseum at night with all its lights illuminated was one thing, but to see it by the light of day in all its splendor is another.  It certainly was a sight to behold, and after 100 photos later we decided that there were far too many tourists and chose to move on to the Roman Forum.  We had to constantly keep pinching ourselves that we were in Rome seeing these amazing sights (although i had to ask Linda to stop pinching me...she can get a little overzealous at times).  We managed to stumble upon an english speaking guide which turned out to be awesome, as instead of looking at a bunch of impressive rocks, we were now looking at a bunch of rocks with stories behind them which was far more impressive. The guide was able to give us the history of things such as the Arch of Titus, Temple of Romulus, The Vestal Virgins, Ceasar's Cremation Site etc.

The true origins of cricket
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We saw the Fontana di Trevi which was pretty amazing too.  Legend has it that if you stand with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand, then it ensures that you will make a return visit to Rome (either that or you will get pickpocketed).  With MUCH urging from Linda, we both threw our coins into the fountain.  Linda really wanted to return someday, however I drew the line at throwing 50 euro notes into the fountain.

Piazza Navona was next which had a very cosmopolitan feel with cafes all around and artists selling their wares in the centre.  We sat down at a cafe for a coffee and to warm ourselves in the early morning sun.  After sitting there for a while a waiter came up and asked what we wanted to which we asked for a menu.  Well you would have thought that we asked him to clean the toilet as he proceeded to huff and puff on his way to get the menu.  He then THREW it on the table in front of us.  His behaviour was so rude that it was actually funny.

Linda and the Coluseum
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We also managed to squeeze in the impressive Pantheon before surviving the "Mouth of Truth" where we each put our hand inside a statue of a big face while answering a question from the other person.  Legend has it that if you tell a lie while your hand is in the mouth, then it will clamp shut and you will lose your hand forever.  Thankfully Linda asked me an easy question and I still have the use of both my hands.

Next it was a visit to the Vatican City and what a visit it was.  We slowly ambled on in to St Mark's Square with 200,000 others, among them many excited nuns and priests.  Not knowing exactly where the Pope was going to appear, we chose our spot based on where everyone else was looking.  Soon a window opened on the building opposite us and a small head and then arms appeared out of it, much to the joy of everyone around us.  The Pope then went on to speak for about 20 minutes, and although we understood nothing of what he was saying (apart from amen), it was again an amazing experience.

The Roman Forum
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While we were there, we also visited the top of the cupola for the famous view of the Vatican.  St Peter's Basicala was also impressive, although it strikes me as odd how so much money, time and resources were spent on building something like that, when there are so many underprivileged in the world.  Oh well i'll get off my soap box now and tell you that the Vatican museums were also very impressive with many priceless works of art and various objects of antiquity.  None more so than the Sistine Chapel which really is a...well...work of art.  'They' say that if you stop and look at every piece in the Vatican's collection you will be there for 12 years, however three hours were enough for us.

Rome
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There was so much to see in Rome and we tried to see it all.  If its not mentioned here then it is because this blog is long enough and it is Linda's turn to write something.  I believe our next stop is Siena and Venice.  Ooh life is tough at the moment!