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Hi again,
I drew the short straw and had to write about Rome, it could be a bit long as we've done quite a lot so here goes...
Firstly had a bit of a change of plan, as we had originally planned on getting a night train from Venice to Rome on thursday night, but when we tried to book the tickets they were very expensive - as much, if not more than a night in a hostel! After a not so comfortable ride from Salzburg to Venice and the fact the journey was only 4 hours long this seemed ridiculous. So instead we decided to try and book an extra night in Rome. Not quite as easy as we hoped and the price of the day seat ended up being 15 euros anyway so not sure how much money we saved but probably saved on a bad nights sleep instead.
The hostel we booked for Rome was actually 4 metro stops out of the city centre, which initially dismayed us somewhat after our experience in Krakow, but actually it was fine. The metro is pretty grimey here but quite quick and easy to use. We got a three day pass thing as well to cut down costs and this proved to be really helpful.
We weren't really sure what sort of accommodation to expect, the place was called Vesta Residence which left details pretty open to interpretation. Turned out to be a sort of guest house, pleasant enough (till the third day but we'll get to that later) and the owners were quite friendly.
Decided to head out that evening to get a nice supper in the city somewhere and sort of get our bearings a bit. Wandered our way through some of the more dirty streets in what I would guess to be the more dodgy end of town, eventually we stumbled across the Colosseum. It was really nice seeing it for the first time ( for Becca) at this time of night as the crowds had dispersed a bit. This seemed like a nice setting and a good place to get some food so we stopped at this little, fairly cheap looking cafe by the metro station. Mistake!!!! The food was actually not too pricy, about the same sort of prices we were paying in Venice, but the drinks- hat a joke! 5.50 euros for a Coke!!!!! The food was really horrible as well, imagine a pizza on fried bread and a portion of pasta just about big enough to feed an ant who'd already had a big meal that day!Learnt never to eat outside a main site in Rome anyway!
The next day (Friday), we decided to have a Holy day and visit the Vatican. We left fairly early, after quite a nice breakfast of brioche and expresso provided in our guesthouse (breakfast in bed). Got to the Vatican for about 9.50am and there was a HUGE queue for the museum. This actually didn't turn out to be as bad as we first thought, as the museums didn't open till 10 and then it moved quite fast. We were in by 11. Got in at a reduced price (about 8 euros) thanks to our ISIC cards.
The museums are really big and we weren't really sure if they would hold our interest for the whole way round but it was set out quitye well and you can just wander through taking in what interests you and then they save the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel till the end. These did not disappoint, very spectacular- particularly the Sistine Chapel. The only annoying thing was the amount of people they let into it at any one time. It was rammed! Quite amusing was that while standing admiring the ceiling, Becca got acosted by a Security guard and asked out for a drink! Needless to say she politely declined and we moved on!
After the museums we had some lunch in the museum cafe ( where I got charged an extortionate 2 euros for a banana) I thought 40p was expensive in England!!!
The afternoon was spent doing St Peters Basilica. Inside is really impressive, its absolutely huge. We wandered around and ticked off all the important things to see as denoted by the Bible of Europe (Bec's guide book). Then went down to the grottos to see Jean Paul II tomb. After thins we climbed the 570 steps to the top of the dome (very good training for three peaks), the view from the top was really good, had a lovely day for it as well! Came back dopwn into the main cathedral again, and just as we did Mass was starting and people were rushing to the front of the church. Confused we walked upto the front, wondering if the pope had made some sort of rare appearance. That certainly seemed to be what most of the excited tourists seemed to think, a couple of people asked a rather surly security guard and cross nun and were answered witha very definite NO. After laughing at some of the other tourists for a little while getting all excited, we left and headed back after a pretty exhausting day.
Later that evening headed out again for some food, this time heading to the Trevi fountain, however we got slightly lost and instead found the Spanish steps. At night these get quite sociable and people were out drinking etc. Just round the corner we found some nicer looking restaurants and the prices seemed reasonable so we ate there. Food was lovely and the wine was really cheap. Only downside was the really pervy waiters who wouldn't leave us alone. we ended up leaving quite late and were a little upset to find the metro shuts early as it does in London. We resigned ourselves to having to pay a fortune for a taxi. Luckily was only about 12 euros so not too bad!
Next day we had an ancient Rome day. We started with the colusseum in the morning. This was really good, and better than expected. After this we headed over to the Roman Forum which was lovely, it was so quiet inside and you didn't feel like you were in the middle of Rome at all, we stayed a couple of hours enjoying the sunny weather.
With a bit of time for wone more thing we decided to try and find the Trevi fountain again. This time we were more successful. We stayed to have an icecream and a drink and made our wishes.
As we were getting ready to go out again that evening, the room we stayed in went down in our estimation. Whilst I was in the shower, Becca had a bit of an unfortunate incident, where as she was getting her dress on she felt something crawl on her back, she shook off a rather large cockroach! I came back to find her sitting on the bed, looking a little pale! Not being the biggest fan either I joined her on the bed and we both sat cowering for a while like complete girls. After seeing it scuttle around the room, I decided there was no way I could leave it and come back to sleeping in that room so a cockroah catching mission was declared (by me) and carried out (by me), Becca was still being a wuss! After chasing around the room for a while witha bottle and chasing it into the fan, decided catching the quick little devil was going to be impossible so it had to be exterminated. Not having a blow torch handy, the bin had to do. Hoping that not too many eggs were expelled as a result and the cleaner won't be too upset when she finds a big cockroah stuck to the floor under the bin!!
That evening, in a need of a drink, we headed back out to the same area as the previous night as it had been so good.
This morning I had a bit of an accident in the room where, feely sleepy and not entirely with it, i moved the breakfast tray that was sitting on the table in the wrong direction and it crashed onto the floor making a most impressive mess! The lady was really nice about it and cleaned it up and didn't even mind when I sheepishly asked it we could have some more breakfast!
Today we have finished off the sites, after dumping our backpacks at the station. First we did the Pantheon, which was really good again. The ceiling it really impressive, though not entirely sure what happens when it rains during a service as there is a massive hole in the roof! Then went back to the Spanish steps to see them in day light. A lot of the time today has been spent in cafes having lots to drink even though the prices are ridiculous because it is soooooo hot!
Sorry if this seems a bit rushed in places, we'll fill you in on the details when we get back! Just about to catch our train to Paris, our last sleeper train, so lets hope it is a nice one!!
Will update you again at the end of Paris!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Lots of love
Zoe and Rebecca
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