Roman Holiday

I wish Gregory Peck could have taken me on the back of his Vespa to see the sights of Rome.  Instead we had to use the green hop-on-hop-off bus - not quite the same, I'm afraid.  The weather here in Rome is in the 30s and the humidity must be 90% because it is quite oppressive.  Don't know why they call this the peak tourist season - any tourist in their right mind would be better off avoiding Rome (in fact most of Italy) at this time of year.

Maureen and I bought a 2 day pass on the tour bus which was sold to us as being airconditioned.  But this is Rome, and they can tell you anything.  Maureen sat at the top of the bus in the full sun.  I stayed below where it was shaded but pretty stifling.  We got off at various points to do things like visiting the Piazza Venezia, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  Maureen thought the Spanish Steps were a little overrated and looked pretty ordinary, but apparently their fame lies in the fact that they are a set of steps climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Scalinata is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.  We also took a boat ride up and down Rome's river Tiber (Tevere).  (Don't know why they change these names to something that sounds nothing like the original??)  Il Tevere is a pretty boring river with nothing much on it due to the fact they had to build huge walls around it to stop flooding.  In some parts however, they have set up some temporary cafes and restaurants and stages to host special events.

We went home to refuel, check our emails, skype and cool down.  Set out again at 7pm to eat at the same restaurant we ate at last night.  This time we ordered T-bone veal steak because Maureen was feeling iron deficient.  What was served looked nothing like the T-bones we know and love.  They were paper thin and smothered in a cream sauce.  Didn't even taste like meat.  Will stick to spaghetti alle vongole from now on.  The red house wine was pretty good though.

Boarded the green bus again for another complete tour of Rome, but this time by night.  It was terrific - much better than in the day as we could sit at the top and it was coolish.  We saw Rome by night with all the lights on and the Colosseum was all lit up.  Walking home at 11pm along the quiet streets (everyone was busy watching Spain and Holland fight it out in the soccer in cafes and restaurants) trying to remember how to get home made me realise we probably shouldn't be walking the streets of Rome at that hour.  We eventually got home safely, and crashed.