Day 129 to 132 - 8th to 11th March - Rome, Lazio Region

Point of departure: Positano

Point of arrival : Rome

Accommodation: Penthouse apartment in Rome - www.holiday-rentals.co.uk (property number 71457)

Km travelled today: 292 km Cum: 24 436km (gravel 0km cum 4 649km)

Countries so far: 12/16

Where to next? Marciano della Chania, Tuscany

No of photos: 157 (cum 6 104)

Day 129 - 30 days after our arrival in Cairo, we headed off today for another milestone… bella Roma, the "Eternal City" with over 3 000 years of history.

Our day started with the business of getting our luggage up the 98 steps (a good workout, who needs the gym), fetching the Beast from his parking lot, loading and getting under way. We stopped off at a delicatessen recommended by Marco, "La Tradizione" at Fait Monte and shopped with our "stomachs"… spending a few euros on delightful cheeses, ham, pasta and wine (we need to replenish the weight we lost in Africa).

An uneventful and easy drive through to Rome, including the ring road around Rome (a bit congested but moving), our exit at Aurelia and, after a couple of false turns, finding the apartment. We were surprised to discover that few "Romans" could speak English… compared to the little village of Ravello (Amalfi coast) - where Marina, getting ready to practice her Italian with the local police officer, along the lines "Scusi, buon giorno, puo indicarmi.." (to those of you who don't know Italian…"excuse me, good day, can you show me…") to which the officer replied "Ravello, to the right and straight ahead madam"in perfect English. So whilst in Rome we have reverted to the dictionary, phrase book and body language to get by.

Once again the unpacking and schlepping of luggage up 3 flights of steps and getting to the secure parking for the Beast. All this very pleasantly co-ordinated by Hanne Lombardo, the owner of the apartment we are staying at.

And what a warm and homely apartment! It's very well situated and convenient to the city centre and all the sights as well as buses, banks, supermarket etc. Up on the third floor (penthouse) with a balcony and terrace with barbecue, it is well appointed with a large living area, very comfortable bedroom, kitchen and a laundry area… with a washing machine, what a pleasure!For the past four months Marina has done laundry by hand (apart from the hotels where we stayed for more than a night). www.hanne-retvik-lombardo.it

Day 130 - Tuesday dawned overcast, grey and COLD… oh and did we mention it pretty much rained non-stop. We spent the day in the vicinity of Via del Corso with a combination of shopping and visiting a couple of adjacent sights.

Fontana di Trevi (completed between 1732 and 1762) featuring Neptune, god of the seas, standing on a chariot drawn by winged steeds. Following tradition, Marina threw a coin into the fountain thereby guaranteeing her return to Rome… of course she will bring GG with her.

Who is GG you ask? Giovanni Giorno (John Day in Italian).

Scalinata di Trinita dei Monti (Spanish Steps), consisting of twelve flights of steps built entirely in travertine. The steps start at the bottom of Piazza di Spagna and finish up at Piazza di Trinita dei Monti. At the bottom of the steps is the Fontana della Barcaccia - representing a sinking boat leaking water at the stern and bow.

Our walk along the famous Via del Corso started at Piazza de Venezia and finished at Piazza del Popolo with its Flaminian Obelisk and fountains.

By now we were famished, cold and wet (remember it's been raining all day) and headed off to a little restaurant off Via del Corso for a delightful lunch and an opportunity to "thaw".

By the time we caught the bus back to the apartment we were uncomfortably cold (our feet were swimming in our boots) … it just rained and rained and rained.

Sightseeing in the rain is not such fun! Hope tomorrow is a better day.

Day 131 - the sun actually shines in Rome… even if it's only for a couple of hours.

Our first stop today was the Vatican City, the world's smallest independent state, founded in 1929 and the seat of the Pope and government of the Roman Catholic Church. The word "Pope" comes from the Greek pappas, meaning "father" and the Pope's role is one of paternal. There have been a total of 263 popes of which 14 were either deposed or abdicated and 10 met violent deaths.

The entry into the Vatican (an area of 440 000 sqm) is through St Peter's Square surrounded by an elliptical colonnade with its 284 columns and saints on top and with an Egyptian obelisk (transported from Alexandria in 37AD) in the centre. At the top end, the façade of St Peter's Basilica flanked by the statues of St Peter and St Paul.

We came across the Pontifical Swiss Guard (instituted in 1506). The duties of the Guard is to stand guard in certain areas of the Vatican palaces and to defend the Pope during liturgical ceremonies and when he moves within and outside the Vatican. The Guard must be a single male Swiss citizen, aged between 19 and 30 years, of the Roman Catholic faith and meet the height requirement of 1,74m. History behind this - the Swiss were renowned for being excellent mercenary soldiers and were sent to European courts in exchange for food and trade privileges. The Pontifical guard system was created to counter the threat of aggression against the Papal state from outside forces. The Guard's Renaissance uniform was designed by Michelangelo.

Our relatively early start, we discovered later, was a big bonus because we missed the large crowds and were able to enjoy the views of the Square in reasonable comfort.

Then into St Peter's Basilica - absolutely MAGNIFICENT! Seeing the world renowned interior of the Basilica with St Peter's dome, Michelangelo's "La Pieta" (sculptured between 1498 and 1499), the sheer scale of the Basilica… full of holy relics and works of art (Renaissance and Baroque), we were immediately overawed by its size and grandeur. The Dome (La Cupola) is 132,5 metres high and was designed and partly built by Michelangelo (he started in 1546 and died in 1564) he was quite old by then. The rest of the work was completed between 1588 and 1589 by Porta and Fontana.

Then onto the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum which, it appears, cannot be done in isolation. To get to the Sistine Chapel you WILL go through the museum and the Vatican palace and various halls.Not being the original, academic and art experts, it was all a bit overwhelming but many parts still awe inspiring. Before getting to the Sistine Chapel, the statues, the gallery of geographic maps, the gallery of tapestries and Raphael's stanza , the paintings, frescoes… all absolutely fantastic in their (often violent) imagery and detail. It's not only the walls that are beautifully painted and embellished but also the ceilings... detailed, intricate and amazing.

And then there is the Sistine Chapel. What can we say that has not already been said a million times? We were able to find a seat towards the one end of the chapel and quietly absorb the Michelangelo ceiling (making sure we knew what we were looking at by comparing it to the guide book!) as well as the major art pieces around the walls. We learnt from fellow tourists from Australia that the artwork had been extensively restored in the last ten years and that the beauty and colours are now more intense than they were prior. There is just so much to see, with each of the nine separate ceiling panels each representing a scene from Genesis, containing so much complexity and detail.

As with so much we have seen on this trip it is wonderful to see, at first hand, the Sistine Chapel which we have only read about in books - SPECTACULAR!

Although the Basilica and Sistine Chapel are close by to each other, there is in fact a lot of walking to get to them, and with our heads full of all the beautiful images we had seen and feeling cold again (the weather had closed) and tired, the Days were happy to call it a day.

Day 132 - the weather this morning had us fooled… more sunshine and it even felt SLIGHTLY warm. So we tempted Murphy and John shed a couple of layers, left the gloves at home and Marina took her sunglasses.

We headed out for the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Well, the sunshine did not last and by the afternoon the wind was up, it was overcast, cold and we even had sleet!

Nevertheless, an interesting visit to the Colosseum with its iconic external walls largely intact, and a wonderful sense internally of what this place must have been like in its heyday. The publicity material tells us it could accommodate 50 000 people with all the senators, nobles and other gentry occupying the lower and therefore best seats in the house and the plebs right up in the heavens… you can still see the imprints of the ancient staircases against the highest walls.

Since John was last here 22 years ago (Donald you may recall the occasion) the tourism organisation is much improved and there is now a bookshop, lift and other services and, despite all of this, it is still spectacular.

By the time we wanted to leave the Colosseum and go to the Roman Forum, it started raining again, so Plan B kicked in again… refuge in a warm Italian restaurant and other good long lunch!Visit to Roman Forum postponed until next visit!

Thank you Hanne for the lovely apartment, the champagne and other essentials and your effort and concern in organising secure parking for the Beast.