When in Rome... eat lots of pizza and gelati

May 31 - June 3, 2007

Rome again, Rome again, jiggidy jig... The Colosseum is one of the best things in the world. It's a must see, absolutely amazing. And if you ever go there, get your combined ticket at the Palatine where there is NO queue, unless you're English and you like queuing, in which case jump straight into the colosseum queue where you will wait for hours. Fortunately, we had this advice from a couple of scots, before visiting the colosseum.

The experience itself is indescribable. Those of you who have been there yourselves, no doubt share the same amazement. The only downside was the number of times Russel Crowe popped into our thoughts. Wrong!

During our time in Rome we spent a day exploring the Colosseum and the surrounding Palatine and Roman Forum. Seeing all the ruins is a crazy experience... on one hand you're thinking, 'they could do a lot with this place if they cleaned it up a little bit' and on the other hand you're staring in wonder at a piece of rubble wondering what it used to be part of and trying to visualise what this place looked like milleniums ago.

As part of a national public holiday, the local fire brigade/rock climbing club scaled the colosseum to drape 3 massive pieces of cloth on the exterior. They combined to form the Italian flag which looked pretty special.

Around every corner in Rome, we found a different ancient monument, building or statue plus more American tourists. The Pantheon, the Vatican, the Tiber River, the churches, Trevi fountain, all wonderful things to see. But the highlight of the city was no doubt the food. Fortunately around every corner we also found more pizza (for Davo) and more gelati (for Fi). We couldn't get enough of it!