Day 22 - Rome

08.13am - Today began with a bit of false advertising. The posters in the hostel say breakfast begins at 7am, but the sullen waitress says it begins at 7.30am. This meant one thing, McDonalds for breakfast. I am sick of the place. On the bus ride to that greasy hell, the ticket man got on. He checked our tickets and then turned to me, pointed back towards Dee and Katie and said something about 'no Italiano'. The man thought I was Italian. He spoke to me in Italian. My dark hair and newly acquired tan had fooled a real Italian man. I didn't not tell him I couldn't understand the rest of what he said, I just smiled and nodded. I wasn't going to spoil this wonderful moment. We got to the station and went to McDonalds. It was the slowest place on earth. We were in the front of the queue and still had to wait 15mins before Dee and I gave up and went to McCafe for coffee and croissants instead. That was a good choice. On the train to Rome now, we should be getting there about 9.45am. We are on a Eurostar Italian and currently going through the misty Tuscan hills (don't be too jel). I am sat at a table next to a businessy looking man who is doing very important work on his laptop and blackberry and I am trying my best not to nose. I also miss my blackberry. Sarah is having the same problem on the table opposite with her businessman friend. Dee is opposite her with her headphones in, probably listening to Celine Dion again, and Katie is sat opposite me, with a sleepy old lady next to her. She looks really warm and snuggly. The old lady, that is, not Katie.

19.13 - What a day. We are shattered. Rome is amazing, we have seen so much today. The journey to Rome was super speedy compared to other journeys. When we arrived at Rome Termini, my businessman friend next to me asked me a question in Italian and I answered him. That pretty much makes me fluent. We got out of the station and were pounced upon by pushy tour bus operators, but we knew which one we wanted so we elbowed our way through to get our tickets. If we have heard the word 'facade' once on this trip, we have heard it a million times. Everything has 'imposing' or 'attractive' facades. First stop was the Colosseum, which is the definition of 'imposing facade'. It's so strange the way you are just driving through normal, modern looking streets then you turn the corner and BAM Colosseum. We stayed there for a while, looking around Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Then we decided to get our picture with some gladiators, one of whom was extremely camp and near enough pounced on me, wanting me to touch his 'muscly armour'. They were hysterical.

Back on the tour bus and we drove round the rest of the city, past the entrance to the Vatican (which is tomorrows excursion) and past St Paul's in the Walls (yes, that is its actual real name) then we got off by the Trevi Fountain and found food. The best pizza of my life. Possibly because I was ravenous, but also because it was gianormous and covered in every kind of vegetable known to man. After a good feed, we found the fountain. It was gorgeous! Loads of people around, but still amazing to see. We threw our coins in and made our wishes, then asked a Scottish man to take our picture. We sat by the fountain to cool down cos it was now 29degrees and we had a bit of a walk ahead of us. Sweet shops are scarce in Rome, and we desperately needed a drink. We ended up in a wine shop buying water and the woman made us try Limoncello which was so strong it nearly made my eyes fall out. After finding water, we then found the Spanish Steps. Dee was immediately grabbed by a man trying to sell roses and as much as she tried to say no, he was having none of it. We were no use, as we were half laughing at her and half trying to find out why the steps were Spanish. The man followed her down the steps and kept on trying. I've never laughed so much. I have decided it was her Irish charm that was luring him back. We snapped away at the steps and then trekked to the Pantheon. This was incredible. We went inside and saw Raphael's tomb and the whole place was just unbelievable well kept, considering how old it is.

We were now wilting. We found our way back to the tour bus to go back to the station. On the way to the bus stop, another creepy man slunk up beside me and whispered 'ciao bella' in my ear. This one was old enough to be my father so it was so much creepy as just plain wrong. We got back to the station and have now collapsed on the train. We witnessed some emotional goodbyes on the platform and some, umm, over excited welcome homes. I am too tired to care, I just want to nap.

22.39 - back in the hostel now, completely shattered from our wonderful day in Rome. On the bus home I was spoken to in Italian again, and misunderstood this time. I thought he wanted me to put his ticket in the machine so I took it off him and did it, but it turned out he just wanted to get past me. Awkward. If anyone else mistakes me for ring Italian, I'm just going to stay here. I just love it here and I definitely do not want this week to end. Tomorrow we are going back to Rome but visiting the Vatican City this time. I have my list of medals from my mum that I need to get for people, and I'm ready to go.

Ps, mother, when I don't arrive home on 24th September, don't worry. I've come back to live in Italy.