After being told in Pisa that it had snowed I Rome I was excited to get there. We had no idea about the extent of the snow storm. All we were told is that the train we were catching to Rome was no longer going all the way and we needed to change in Grosetto. The train guard kindly told us which platform we needed so we hurried over and jumped on the train that had pulled up at that platform only to be told no trains were going to Rome and instead we had to wait for a bus. This meant we didn't get into Rome until about 9.30 at night (not really something either of is thought was ideal but hey we live to tell the tale)
All we wanted to do was crawl into a warm but first we needed our hotel. We had our directions and all we needed to do was head in the right direction. There was an information guy that must have seen has looking a little lost and came to our rescue. He was such a god send not only did he point us in the right direction but he also have a map of Rome. You would think that we would have found our hotel with out a problem. But like every other endeavor into a new city we got lost. Normally we find it pretty funny but this not so much. Only after Naomi's very graceful entrance into Rome were we able to find the hotel. Pillows we definitely a welcome sight.
Something I have learnt about italian is they enjoy a lot of sweet foods (savory is by rare). For you guys who as kids dreamed of eating cake and cookies for breakfast, I gotta say you should have grown up in Italy. A traditional Italian breakfast consists of coffee and sweets ( cookies, cakes, jam tarts and other sweet pastries).
As our first day in Rome was sunday it limited what we were able to do. We decided that there was no way better way to see Rome than to follow what the Romans do, so we set out to explore. I felt like a little kid at christmas, except seeing snow was way more exciting than waiting for Santa. I can now say I have thrown a snow ball (I made a mini snowman later that afternoon). All I need to snow is make a snow angelwhich unfortunately will have to wait until we come across fresh snow.
Anyways back to out stroll through Rome - 3 hours later we had learnt a very important lesson. Don't do what the Romans do - always consult a map. About a 1/2 hour into a very enjoyable stroll we realized that the map in our pocket would be useless unless we could find the street we were on. This is when we realized we had walked off our map. No worries but because I was sure I knew the way we had come. When we arrived at what really looked like the outskirts of Rome I was so sure anymore. I can saw that after a few misses we did manage to find our way back onto our map and back to the hotel. All I can say is we never let the map out of our sight after that.
An interesting fact: the last time Rome had have snow was 25 years ago.
Sunday afternoon we took a stroll into ancient Rome. It was really pretty to see the Coliseum, Roman Forum and other ancient ruins covered in snow. There is so much history in one place.
Monday meant a visit to Vatican City. We ignored the numerous warnings of people trying to sell us to tours that if we did it ourselves we would be forced to wait in lines for hours and head to St Peter's Basilica - the church built on the apostle Peter's tomb and church of the pope. There were definitely similarities to St Paul's church in London however being a catholic church there were a lot more shines all over the place.
The other place worthwhile noting was our visit to Vatican museum. This museum contains the Sistine chapel. Although Michael Angelo's work is fantastic to me I think it was quite overrated. I enjoyed looking at the other ceilings in the museum a lot more.
For dinner we decided to experience an italian restaurant. My favorite thing out the resultant was our waiter. He reminded me so much of Mr Bean and he definitely gets points cos he was wearing a bow tie.
Tuesday actually turned out to be a little bit of a flop. Sadly the coliseum was still closed due to the snow (it's a safety hazard). So being unable to enter the coliseum meant that I never got to wrestle lion. I guess someday I will just have to come back for that. We did have a lot of fun browsing in designer shops. The most expensive thing we saw was a coat for about 7000 euro. Maybe on my next trip I will be able to afford it.
Now it's time to say cairo to Rome and head onto our next adventure (or misadventure)
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