We came, we saw and we conquered. We nearly didn't come, see or conquer after the frighteningly scary bus driving we experienced but we miraculously made it into Rome.

We arrived at the Colosseum and joined a tour based on advice from the Lonely Planet. The tour guide was a tad average but the Colosseum was not. What was done within those walls is rather disgusting but the building itself is an interestingly designed, monstrously sized arena.

While eating our lunch we got to enjoy the hilarious cat and mouse game between the police and illegal traders. It was amazing how quickly these huge African guys could gather their fake D&G handbags, hats or parasols and run up the hill. Probably for half an hour the police drove around the area in front of the Colosseum exit with the traders taking two steps down the hill to start setting up then quickly retreating when the police popped back around the corner of a food stand. Meanwhile we met and were chatting with a nice Dutch couple who were equally fascinated by this ridiculous game. EVENTUALLY one of the police men got out of the car and started chasing one of the guys. Brett and the Dutch guy followed to see what would ensue but sadly there isn't too much to report.

After lunch we joined a different tour guide for a tour of Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. This tour guide, Michael, was excellent as he was very good at telling stories to explain the history. It also helped that he was an American so didn't struggle with finding words ;)

The tour finished just after 3 and our heads were rather full with all we had seen and heard. For a change (ah, not) it was stinking hot ... so after a lounge about in the botanic gardens of Palatine Hill we went off in search of gelato. We have been trying our hardest, but have yet to find bad gelato over here ... we'll do our best to keep checking for all our loyal readers though :)

Re-energised we went to look at more ruins, fountains and other famous buildings and statues (I'm sure listing them would bore you to tears). Sadly we didn't find the fountain from 'When in Rome' (despite me dragging Brett to nearly every fountain on our Rome map). Later that evening, thanks to Google, we discovered that fountain didn't actually exist - how disappointing!!

We had such a great day today and it was cool to know that we were walking where people had been living some 2000 years ago. We were both pleasantly shocked to find that history isn't actually boring :)

- Rebecca