Mick here - reporting on a quiet day in Rome. Took the opportunity to get a shot of Anne on our balcony. It graces today's blog.

We had a few domestic matters to attend to. First was to be sure we had all the necessary shopping done to see us over Sunday, Christmas and St Stephen's Day - Boxing Day to you pagans.

The Mercato Trionfale across the road was heaving. It would seem everyone had the same idea as us. With a "Scuzi" here and a "Permesso" there, and a "quanto costano" everywhere we got most of what we needed. More porchetta - eat your heart out Kerry Stirling- and lots of fruit and veg that are very inexpensive. We unloaded that at home and headed for the supermarket to pick up some other supplies - like food and drink for our five hour wait for midnight mass tomorrow. I expect a VERY high place in heaven after this!

We tried another local cafe and splashed out on both coffee and cornetti. Well actually one pistacchio cream cornetto and one custard ciambella - a sugar coated donut. The Italian breakfast of champions. Total cost - 4 Euro. Why are they not all the size of houses?

Our TV had not been working, so Eleanora had organised a technician to come between 1 and 2. Valerio- who turned out to be a Moldovan who had lived here for twenty years and was over Italy's dirty streets and lack of prospects- was quite prompt. It became clear early on as he wrestled with the TV that he had developed a good solid vocabulary during his twenty years. Not all of it polite. After a good bit of fiddling it became clear that the problem was not the antenna - which he had been sent to sort(and which I never thought was the issue) - but the TV itself which he described- and I translate loosely- as a piece of s***. So, despite Eleanora's best efforts, I suspect we will be TV free for the next few days. Well, we actually have a TV in the bedroom which has its own idiosyncrasies, so let's not go there.

While we were waiting for Valerio I spent an hour or so reading La Repubblica. We don't have a paper anything like it in regular circulation in Australia. It is page after page of thoughtful news and commentary, with stories that go for a whole page - or more- in exploring issues. There is no attempt at silly puns for headlines. There is real respect both for the intelligence of the reader and the craft of the writer. At the speed with which I read Italian I could get a day's entertainment from an issue!

Domestic chores complete, we decided to set off to see a part of the Quadraro district which had been designated as a museum of outdoor art, now known as the MuRo. The write ups were very positive. Off on the Metro to Porta Furbo and then we began the search for said MuRo. The area was a pretty ugly collection of apartments and shops- typical Roman suburbia. No signs at the station, or in any nearby streets. I had downloaded a map which gave us general directions to the area. We saw some work that was little better than graffiti but not quite paragons of urban art. It was a start. Turned on the wifi. Google was no help.

We wandered up and down a few streets that looked promising. Eventually we found about half a dozen works worth a look. Even some of these had an air of neglect. No signs, no explanations, no directions. I'm sure we missed a lot. Clearly there is untapped potential here! I've attached a picture of a strange but compelling piece called - we think- Baby Hulk, to the blog. See what you think. So, back onto the metro to join the throngs of Christmas shoppers.

Anne here to finish: the metro is incredibly efficient. There is a train at least every 4 minutes and there is clear information about the next stop and which side of the train is the exit etc. Most of the trains became very crowded but all of our trips went smoothly. There is a very obvious presence of police on each platform. The cost is 1.50E and this will take you one stop or right across Rome within 100 minutes.