Having welcomed in the new year just 12 hours before, I made my way to Luton Airport for the first holiday of the year. Wasting no time and being joined for once, by other people, I was headed for the Italian capital, Rome.


After flying over the snowy Alps, we eventually arrived in a chilly Rome, where we boarded our prebooked bus to the city. After stopping off for a Pizza, we eventually arrived at our apartment for the next 3 days, where we dropped our stuff and walked just 5 minutes down the road to the Colosseum.

Despite it now being cold and dark on a January evening, there were still many people outside, and we of course took many group shots behind the illuminated building. Having left our selfie stick at home it was actually handy that there were Bangladeshis selling them. After walking around the building, it was already quite late, and so I made my way back to the apartment to get some sleep for the next day, which would prove to be our busiest of the trip.

The first full day was the day we had tickets to explore the Vatican. However these were for the afternoon, and so we first got up and walked around the other attractions of the city on the way there. Walking past the President's palace, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Just as the Colosseum had been the night before, this was covered in Scaffolding, which unfortunately meant the fountain wasn't very easy to see, and neither was there any water. However there was a temporary bridge over the fountain that gave us all views of the sculptures from close up.

After this we continued walking, and as Jenna exclaimed "Oh wow..." we had reached the Pantheon - the oldest Roman building still in use. However she then finished her statement with "...they sell crêpes", having missed the famous attraction by being overwhelmed by the shop next door. Nevertheless, we took a look inside before walking on the Piazza Navona, and eventually making it to the Ponte Umberto I bridge, where views over the river Tiber of the Vatican can be seen.