Rome

After Shar n I met up at Liverpool St station it wasn’t long before we were on the express train to Stansted Airport for our flight to Rome. Ryannair did their best to delay us with all their check-in machines packing it in, but we still made it with good time to spare.
Upon arrival to the airport, we had some ‘fun’ with the cabbies and trying to get one that had some limited English and knew where we wanted to go. He did his best to get us there in the shortest possible time that he could. I was half expecting Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear to appear at one point during our cabbie’s attempt at breaking the sound barrier. If you think I’m being silly, this fella literally ‘flew’ us to the hotel - we did not go below 120mph and spent a good amount of time at 160mph! He didn’t exactly slow up for traffic either as he just took the emergency lane when cars did not move over when he flashed his headlights at them!
A good adrenaline rush, although that really only worked for one of us, but we did reach the hotel in one piece to catch up with the other two members of our weekend group - Michelle and Jules. Yep, it was a bit of a ‘Man about the House’ gig in our room (for those who remember or know of the show - the rest of you can google it if you're curious).
Michelle, Shar n I then headed out to find some dinner, and eventually found somewhere that was open. Quite good food, and I was very surprised that the decadent dessert made from nutella and a cheese was very good.
As Michelle was only with us for the Saturday, we had a big day ahead to try and see what she wanted before having to head off, so staying out wasn’t an option.

Saturday, and after a rather lavish buffet breakfast in the hotel, we hit the streets to try and get through all on Michelle’s list. It was 25C and sunny!! Finally a chance to actually use the sunnies since Germany back in June! We set out towards the Tridente area. A quick bus ride and we were a few blocks from a certain fountain, and one that was pretty impressive at that! A bit of milling around, some photos, some entertainment from the antics of other tourists, tossing our coins in the Fontana di Trevi, and we were back making our way through the narrow laneways. Past ancient walls, to modern shops, as well as the obligatory McDonalds, we went before eventually reaching the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps.
Not passing up a chance to enjoy a mid morning coffee and some lounging around in the sun, we just had to spend some time on the Steps themselves, with yours truly getting told off for not sitting on the actual steps, but the balustrade to the side... it wasn’t like I was in anyone’s way while enjoying the sun and view.
Once at the bottom of the steps again, and with the underground market closed, it was time to make our way to the Vatican. The decision was made to take the Metro so as to make the most of our time there, and after getting lost in the tunnels, we did manage to get onto the train. Compared to the Tube these were luxury and we even had some impressive violin played for us by a busker. Pass the grapes please!!

Okay, lame references to Nero and Roman decadence aside, it was nice to be back outside in the sun again as we made our way to the Vatican. We soon passed a couple of streetside cafés and restaurants, so it was decided to at least enjoy a ‘vino’. A table in the open window it was before moving to a table in the street. So many varied folk walking past too, which made for an interesting bit of people watching. (above is Shar, Michelle n Julia with yours truly avoiding the lens)
Anyway, from there we headed further down the Via di Porta Angelica to emerge onto St Peter’s Square. Being a Saturday, things were in preparation for a mass of some sort as a good portion of the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica was cordoned off and full of chairs. It took nothing away from the place itself as we took it all in. It was then time to head through the security checks and into that aforementioned Basilica.
Talk about ‘Holy Monumental Church, Batman!’ as inside this building was very impressive. Considering how quickly bored I become in art galleries when there are lots of religious scenes, I was quite impressed with this building and the works and sculptures that it was comprised of. An amazing amount of work taking over 150 years to build what is basically a gigantic church that can hold more than most football stadiums: 60,000 people!
That’s the view from the front above on the right, and on the left is just one of the many archways you go through as you move about inside. Neither really does the size of the place any justice, but hopefully you can see what I’m getting at.
We spent a fair bit of time here to go through it, including some time in a very impressive little prayer room (quite eerie in there too) as well as finding another tunnel that was like a little museum to all the previous popes who had presided over the Vatican.

Once back outside, we made our way back out of St Peter’s Square and back up the street we entered it from. Stopping to grab gelati, we continued along the walls of the Vatican until we reached the entrance to the Vatican Museums. It is in here that you will find the Sistine Chapel (eventually). The signs pointing the way to the chapel itself will lead you through the museums themselves in one of several routes. These museums are huge and to give you an idea, there are six hour tours through them - and that won’t cover everything in them either! On the right is one of their hallways...
So after trekking through all sorts of works of art, tapestries and sculptures, we came into a ‘small’ room with some more paintings upon the walls and ceiling. It was full of people and included the “Camera Nazi” who was the poor sod trying to stop people taking pictures and videos. You weren’t supposed to speak in there either, but many did respect that. All a bit much really, but then it was time to take notice of Michelangelo’s work - it is impressive to say the least. Four years of painting to do the job, which can’t have been easy considering just how dim the light is in there. Something truly cool to just bask in its magnificence (below).

From there it was then a matter of finding our way over to the next place on Michelle’s list. A bus that took us past both the Castel Sant’ Angelo and the impressive Vittoriano, along the Tiber and also past other ruins, was the way we went. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead to our destination too well, so with the help of an Asian Father (as in priest) we were back on the metro for two stops to emerge at the Colosseum. Pretty amazing spot amongst the building itself and the surrounding ruins, that are over 2000 years old - and I thought dealing with a building from the 1300’s at work was old...
We arrived just in time to make the last group to go through, however Shar got grabbed by one of the Roman Warriors for a photo shoot. Basically, the deal is they pose with you for some photos and then charge you about €5. Unfortunately, once free of this fellow, we turned to see the gates closing. Talk about a ‘not happy Jan’ moment. Time to have a look around the area though and take a good look from the outside. You can actually see right through it in parts, however, for some reason when two of us attempted to take photos through the fencing, we were shooed away - go figure!

With the sky darkening we headed to a nearby restaurant to grab some dinner, which certainly could have been better, but it was more about just sitting for a bit really. Back outside and it was night-time around the now lit up Colosseum, which is a pretty good sight as well. Onto the metro again, and it was PACKED. That day had seen a mass rally for one of the political parties, and it had a huge turnout, which is why the metro and the rest of the streets were awash with thousands of people with banners and flags. By the time we made it back to the hotel, the plan of then heading out into the nightlife was replaced by a couple of bottles of wine in our room as some of us were rather tired. I did have to chuckle, as I doubt the girls would have survived the day had we travelled by foot as I prefer... No matter, there’s always next time.

Sunday morning came and while it was a late start, Michelle had already left on her early flight back to London. Only Shar, Julia and myself for breakfast, but when her cousin arrived shortly after it was just the two of us for the day and a much more relaxed pace.
We headed out into what was again 25C and sunshine to make our way to the Trastevere area and the Porta Portese Market. After some fun on the bus, we arrived to cross the Tiber and head into the market itself. Big? Yes. And I thought only big was in Texas, but so far everything is on a grand scale here in Rome. All sorts of things to find in this market, and it did seem to go on forever up the main street of the Trastevere area. After spending some time here we did make a rather impressive purchase. Shar was quite taken with a certain leather jacket in one of the larger leather seller’s stalls, and during sizing and trying on, another jacket caught my eye. Soon enough it was my turn to be trying on a jacket in front of the mirror and taking compliments. It was described by the guy as a ‘Cannavaro style’ and is a very good jacket (naturally). I can still picture the guy’s face when I asked “Fabio or Paulo Cannavaro?” He wasn’t expecting an Australian to know anything about Italian footballers. Naturally, it was Fabio - the better of the two brothers. After some haggling (and purse n wallet checking) we settled on a good price, and the fact that I’ve seen one of our jackets in a store for around the same price we got the two, we’re happy with them. With big grins, we continued to wander through the market in the sun.

Once done, we crossed the Tiber and had some fun trying work out which bus to take to get back to Via del Corso. It was almost a disappointment to have to get out of the sunshine by boarding the correct bus. I ‘correct’ as it was the one that got us the closest to where we were going. It actually dropped us off by the Vittoriano, which is massive and houses more than just Italy’s Unknown Soldier (left). A leisurely walk through a couple of Piazza’s (Venezia and di San Marco) and some dodging of traffic saw us at the bottom end of Via del Corso.
After a bit of window shopping along this main street (it was full of good clothing stores), we came across a laneway with a restaurant on the corner and in the lane. It was here when we discovered both the time and our hunger. A very late lunch it was, and with far better food than the place by the Colosseum! I’d use the word ‘proper’ as it was very close to the little place in Florence that I enjoyed with Anka and Katrina several years ago.

Feeling much better, we headed down the lane to discover that it led to the Fontana di Trevi, which explains the number of tourist groups passing by the restaurant. Having been here before, we knew the way back to the store that we were actually heading for - a shoe store by the Spanish Steps. Available sizing being an issue and Shar had to go without for now. It didn’t stop us heading back towards Via del Corso and the other shops though, which is where we both ended up with more to fit into our luggage! There’s something to be said for strolling through historic laneways with both street sellers and excellent stores inside...
With the sun now set, it was back to the hotel with our ‘stash’ and on the way we stopped past what turned out to be a very good patisserie to pick up some items for ‘dinner’. Once back, we unloaded and did a bit of sorting for the following morning before heading down to the hotel’s courtyard to sit, chat and partake of our recent purchases over a bottle of red. In the balmy weather of the evening it was a really nice way to finish off the weekend.

Monday morning and it was an early start to get to the airport in time for our 6.30am flight home to London. We arrived back at Stansted after a bit of a sleep on the plane to head to Liverpool St station before heading off to our respective works - not the best idea, but still, it’s all part of the adventure.

Well worth the visit, and while I’d have done Rome a bit differently, I’ll definitely return to spend more time on foot exploring and discovering what’s about.