Sophie here, giving you the second instalment about our time in Rome.
If you are planning to visit Rome, you may want to get a travelcard for the metro or bus; as we decided to walk everywhere. There are a lot of sights to see in Rome, and they aren’t as close together as a map may lead you to believe! After a month of walking everyday, Rome really took its toll on us, one day we even had to admit defeat at 5pm and head back to the hostel before dinner for a 2 hour nap because our eyes just couldn’t stay open any longer.
On Monday we took a visit to the world famous Colleseum, getting a live guide to help us understand some of the history.
Charles took a quick look at St Peter’s Basilica as I was denied entry for not being covered up enough, boo.
The Roman’s seem to have an obsession with holey roofs.
We grabbed some dinner at a touristy restaurant that evening and everything was fine until a suspicious 4 Euros with a squiggle for the description turned up on our bill. Upon asking the waiter what this was he told us it was a cover charge for the napkins, tablecloth and bread (which we didn’t even eat). This promptly turned into a massive argument where we refused to pay the extra charge and even got kicked out of the restaurant, needless to say we won’t be going there again!
I then had to get my theatre fix as it has been way to long since seeing any production. I got a ticket for an African Contemporary dance show but I was thoroughly disappointed as what I saw wasn’t exactly dance. Think lots of running around, shouting in French and a very hairy naked woman in a long veil, not really my cup of tea, oh well it felt god to be cultured.
On Tuesday we headed over to the Vatican Museum and were herded like sheep around the rooms including the room of maps, the room of tapestries, halls of numerous roman sculptures and modern religious art. Our visit ended in the beautifully hand painted inside of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo we salute you!
We couldn’t resist
The Last Judgement
The ceiling depicting Creation and Noah’s Ark
This one is for you Charlotte
The last thing to note about Rome is the abundance of Ice Cream on sale, everywhere you turn there is a Gelateria with amazing flavours such as ginger and cinnamon, caramel meringue and nutella. Needless to say Charles and I took full advantage of this fact.
5 Interesting things about Rome
1. Sales assistants and waiters have no time for tourists, the Italians could really learn a thing or two from the English about customer service!
2. When there were fights held at the Colleseum the crowd used to be asked towards the end of they wanted to stop the fight and keep the contender standing, they would signal this with a thumbs up. However if they wanted the contender to be flattened they would signal with a thumb to the side.
3. Italian drivers are crazy, you risk your life at every road crossing.
4. Roman restaurants don’t have toilet seats on their loos, I have become a pro at squatting and am building up some good thigh muscles!
5. In many shops they never have change for a €20, be cautious when paying with one!
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so don’t try and see all of it in one!
We are now on our way to Venice for the last two days of our trip before heading home! That’s all from me, I hope you have enjoyed reading my parts of the blog for the trip.
Sophie
x
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