Ian and Di's last days in Rome

30^th June

Our last day of site seeing and still really hot. I still had a blister so didn't feel like walking any distance. I paid my 20E for a trip on the red and blue buses. The red came first and I sat downstairs hoping it would be cooler – not really but it was either that or baking in the sun with no roof. Not much of a choice. It is quite an experience driving around the streets tooting at all and sundry – especially the mad tourists who wander onto the road at all times. We saw almost all of the 365 churches in the city and most of the ruins.

In the afternoon we saw the rest of the churches and more ruins -and some of the same ones as the morning. By the time I got back I was little more than a grease spot in the bus – it was even pleasant walking back to the hotel – especially as I had a lovely piece of cold watermelon from one of the roadside stalls. It didn't quench my thirst for long but it sure tasted good. The biggest problem I found all the time we were on the move – walking or in a bus – was that it seemed almost impossible to quench your thirst - the over 35deg heat and humidity didn't help and constantly guzzling water was okay for a time but you always felt you needed more. We had a bottle of an energy drink which helped a bit but they don't taste very nice....

When we got back to the hotel we decided to pack most of our stuff into the one bag for me to take and for Ian to only take a smaller bag for the 2 nights he was going to be in Amsterdam before he left to come home.

 

Here's Di at the Trevi fountain

The crowds at the Trevi

The Colosseum - the roads are very difficult to walk on 

Part of the Palotine hill across from the Colosseum. Truly amazing ruins equal to Pompei

1^st July

After a really nice breakfast of bacon eggs and sausages we were off to the station for the train to the airport. We missed the first train we were going to catch because the ticket machine was so slow but I thought I had plenty of time.

When our train finally set off it was slow and and then it stopped for 15 mins for no reason or explanation. I was starting to panic by this stage and was hoping that less than 2 hours was going to be enough to get through all the procedures.

We finally arrived and when we walked into the airport it was a nightmare – millions of people and signs everywhere. Thank goodness Ian was with me and not panicking. We had to go to desk 390 to get the boarding pass and drop off my bag. Then to find the security gate. It was slow and tedious and then you had to follow the letter on your boarding pass to get through customs and find your departing plane. It was up and down stairs escalators and then onto a little shuttle train – all the time following your letter. By the time I got to the boarding gate I was frazzled and they had already called for the first boarding. When we were seated and about to leave they announced that a passenger hadn't turned up and his bags had to be offloaded – I bet he is still looking for his plane....

Ian left that evening for his flight to Amsterdam – at least he had plenty of time to negotiate the nightmare that is Rome International Airport.