Good bye Greece...hello Italy!!! We arrived in Rome after a mad race to the airport with a greek cab driver who told us many times that he was CRAZY as he sped all the way!! We walked into the arrivals gate and were greeted by our cheufer who was dresed in a suit and had a sign for Mr Gooden. After another interesting cab ride filled with us, and the cab driver singing that dont impress me much (shania twain) we arrived at our apartment. we had a bit of a walk around before going to bed after a long day of travelling. the next morning we woke up to loud voices coming from the street below and found that there we markets all the way down the street, fresh fruit, clothes and jewllery, was a nice suprise, so after a wonder and a shop we headed to vatican city. we started at the sistine chapel, the line wrapt around 2 corners which took about an hour but was well worth it. the roof was amazing (even for the second time). we then went to st peters and went down to the tombs of past popes, inlcuding pope john paul II, on thing that we noticed was the earier popes had been sculpted as they lie in their coffins and the later were simple haed stones, reading their name, which we found interesting due to the supposed tradition of the church. the vatican was a truley amazing experience, we understand why its called a city, the shear size of the church could fit a suburb in sydney. we all bought momentos which included crosses and rosary beads which we dipped in the holy water blessed by the pope. the next day was a day at the ruins..colloseum was first on the list, which brought flooding memoris from the movie gladiator. we just pictured russell crowe running out from his cell to fight the lions way back then. unforntunatley we couldnt go underneath the colloseum due to the shear decay, though the view from where we were was fantastic. the parliament biulidng was next on the agenda and all i can say is the italians certainly overdo everything. this building was massive and was covered in magnificent statues. but be sure never to sit down on the steps or lean on the walls for any photos as a little man will be running around blowing his whistle at you!! we went to the spanish steps for dinner, this is a place wher everyone meets and is a very social spot for the italians. when u sit on the steps u are faced ith gucci, chanel and dior...trust treve fountain, what can i say exactly wat it looks like in the postcard but the postcard cant capture the atmosphere youre a part of, people eating gelato, dogs licking middys knees, people in love, kids running around and the general flash of the cameras blinding your eyes. The last days in Rome consisted of visiting the catacombs, the underground tunnels used by the early christians for meetings and burials, the pantheon, the mouth of truth and lots of shopping!! a sad farewell to rome but definitely returning bec & bec