Roma, Roma it's good to be back in your crowded, noisy streets with your welcoming pickpockets, gladiators for hire and tourist touts. Oh, and Il Papa of course and his myriad nuns and priests thronging the streets. Andre, Patricia, Jeannie and I had taken the excursion where you're dropped off in Rome and do it yourself. Being Sunday traffic is lighter so we elected for the Hop On Roma Christiana Bus. Not sure how the Buddhists are getting around. St Marks Squ...

Buongiorno eager readers! Ready to blog again after two very relaxing days in sorrento, but this blog is about Rome. Aaah Roma, Roma. The incredibly congested subway with its many many stairs and sometime working escalators. And eager pickpockets. An adventure, especially with luggage. Delicious gelato every 50 meters on every street. Peak hour at the vatican with all the Priests streaming in off the subway to The Job. Fake gladiators hustling at the colosseum an...

Sunday morning in Rome and all the church bells are ringing. Sounds very nice. Six degrees at present so we are rugged up to go out for breakfast and then try the colosseum again. Hopefully open today!

Just got back to hotel after a long day around Rome. Bloody rioters shut everything down even the colosseum! We were at Rome termini when the marches started then the smoke when they started setting fires which were coming out of the storm drain grates. Police everywhere blockading streets but we were able to navigate around. Metro was useless they kept skipping stops and crowds in the subways were intense. Notwithstanding all of this we stuck to our guns and sa...