Another train ride and we arrived in Rome. I’m getting sick of trains. We made our way to the hostel we had booked earlier. It was cosy and small and in aback street just off one of the main drags. Lovely place, good price- if you are in Rome and need somewhere to stay I recommend the Mona Lisa Hostel. We had a chat to one of the girls there and she recommended a place that was good, and cheap, for our late lunch (it was about 330pm at this stage). Not surprisingly, we had Italian food (i.e. when in Rome) and it was huge! I know this is a probably excessively stupid thing to say but: Italians cook bloody good pasta!
After eating my body weight in tagliatelle, we ventured out to explore. Emma had been to Rome before but seemed happy to let me drag her around to all the sights. The Trevi Fountain (gorgeous, and crowded), I did the traditional throw the coin over my shoulder thing, my wish has not come true yet but I remain hopeful. Next it was off to the Spanish steps, I don’t see the excitement, it's a lot of steps. I think I may have to do some google-ing to find out what it’s all about. I climbed them, for climbing sake, and there was a nice view from the top- maybe that’s the point?
After this we went to see the Colosseum. It’s beautiful at night. It’s one of those things that you look at, but can’t really believe what you are seeing. We wandered back to the hostel taking in the sights. Rome is lovely – and busy!
We got up early the next morning to go and see the Colosseum; I had heard all of these horror stories about ridiculously long line-ups and wanted to avoid this at all costs. We got there about half an hour after opening time and didn’t have to queue at all! It was a real surprise- especially as we were expecting the worst! It was pretty cool inside, I spent a lot of time thinking about Russell Crowe….you know, gladiator…
After this it was a trip to a really huge archaeological garden place. Roman ruins as far as you could see. It was absolutely crazy. Here we are in the centre of Rome, walking through all these ruins, and just over the fence is modern Rome. Its amazing how new and old is so close together in such a confined space. A short walk, and more gelato, we then went to the Pantheon. It was absolutely amazing. I still can’t believe how old it actually is, yet still open to the elements! We then had a relaxing walk along the river and eventually wandered back to the hostel- absolutely exhausted! That night we went to dinner with a nice Israeli girl who we had met at the hostel. This time I ate my body weight in ravioli. It was really interesting talking to Kim (Israel girl); I must admit I don’t know all that much about the situation there with Palestine and the like but she was one of the most refreshing people I had talked to on the topic. She was a very liberal Jew and really just wanted an end to the fighting. She felt bad for the Palestinians and just wanted peace. I felt bad, after telling her that we were going to Jordan and the Dead Sea, that she said she dreamed of going there but in the current situation, she wasn’t able to go there with an Israeli passport. I never realised all the sanctions that are there, and how ignorant I am about this part of the world.
After too much good food we went to bed, slept eventually (we were in a room with some very rude, loud, snoring Spaniards). Tomorrow we are off to Egypt!......maybe I can fit in one more cup of gelato…
