Day 23 - TT European Whirl (Day 6) - Rome

Another awesome day today.

 

Nice leisurely morning - still had a 6am wake up call but we are staying in Rome for two nights so no madly packing suitcases this morning just dress and head down to breakfast.  You have no idea how much you appreciate that small fact after days of moving from place to place.

 

Have washing hanging off every available space in both rooms - as we arrived on a weekend there is no laundry service and we desperately needed to wash clothes so the bathtub and sink came in handy!

 

We got on the bus at 7:45 to explore Rome a bit more.  Our Rome tour guide Helena met us outside St Peters Basilica and gave us so much information about what we would see.

 

No words can describe this place.  The marble and the size and the amazing pictures that are actually mosaics.  Wow.

The most mind blowing thing, however, was the fact that we were there on a Sunday morning as mass started.  There was one area roped off for church goers but we could hear the service start.  Also as you walked around there were small services going on in some of the little alcoves.

We couldn't stay for the whole service but it was such an awesome experience just standing there.

 The photos really do not do it justice.

Tasha loved the spanish guards - they have guarded the pope for over 500 years and the poor guys still have to turn up to work in the traditional uniforms!

 From there we headed to the colosseum.  Seeing the colosseum was part of the tour but as an optional extra you could enter the colosseum and walk around.  Why would you go this far and not want to look around?  Once again an awesome sight.  Sadly most of the marble has been taken for other buildings.  Could you imagine a stadium that seats 200,000 people.  It really is mind blowing. 

Our guide Helena was brilliant and explained the logistics of how the coloseeum worked in great detail.  Sadly we only had abou 30 minutes free time to look around.

 From there we had another optional extra.  This was a special one that isn't always offered but because we were in Rome on a Sunday when most shops are shut our tour guide thought this might interest us. 

I am so glad we did this.

Ostia Antica is a town on the coast about 30 minutes from Rome.  They liken it to Pompeii, nothing to do with volcanoes but because it is an entire roman town that has been preserved.  Yes some of the buildings are missing bits but you literally get to walk along the original paved road into town and then down the main street.  You see the theatre, the forum, the justice area, the homes, the shops.

Brilliant.

 We got back to the motel about 3:45 and had 90 minutes to relax and recover before heading down to the lobby.  Trafalgar had changed our hotel in Rome at the last minute due to a booking conflict so to say sorry for the inconvenience they shouted us all a drink in the hotel bar.

 From there we headed out to an included Roman dinner.

It was amazing.  The food was beautiful - we had 5 courses.  Bruschetta, Spaghetti, Ravioli, Salmon and ice cream.  The waiters were so much fun.  They serenaded the ladies, gave out hugs and kisses and even singled some ladies out for special treatment!!

I love the look on Tasha's face (and yes she did blush... a lot) when the Italian waiter gave her a kiss on each cheek and presented her with a red rose.

 But the night was not over there.  For those of us who still felt like walking we made the trip to the Trevi Fountain.  It was so busy but Kyle and I made our way to the front.  I had so much trouble with pictures but it was awesome to stand there in front of the fountain.

 From there we went to the Spanish Steps.  Wow it was busy!  People everywhere.

One of the hardest things about walking around Rome is avoiding the street sellers.  They get very very pushy and literally shove their products into your hands.

All in all a brilliant day.  A long and exhausting day but I wouldn't want to miss any of it.

Todays tally:

Steps:  19412.   Wow!
Level of awesomeness:  off the chart