A quick hop across the Med and we found ourselves in Rome, we had to catch the aptly named 'Leonardo' train into the central station and then work our way to our new home for the next few nights. After settling in and adjusting to the heat, we ventured out for some dinner….albeit a bit too early by the looks of it; we weren't too sure where we were going but headed in the general direction that had been recommended (up to the end and then right)…came across a little bar/restaurant which we thought would be perfect…but being only 6pm, the chef hadn't turned up yet - how did we forget that Europeans eat much later than us Brits?! Assured it would be no more than half an hour, we settled in with a beer to wait. Sure enough, not long after that - we had our meals (ordered with the help of the phrasebook!). All was well. Until we took a wrong turning on the way home (how on earth did we manage that!?) and ended up walking much further than we needed to…"Hello? Sense of direction? Where have you gone?!"

Our little apartment was lovely, described as a 'loft apartment', but in actual fact, it's a ground floor apartment with its own front door and a mezzanine level bedroom and an upstairs neighbour. A supermarket right out the back - great! It certainly retains the heat though and the fans provide minimal relief. Still, I think we're just about getting used to the night time heat…the daytime heat however…..

First day exploring Rome! We had a full day planned - Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Colosseum and all within walking distance (just about!). The first challenge, though, was working out how to get a ticket for the metro! Our host had suggested the best way to reach the apartment was by tram, but the evening before we had dinner next to a new metro station - try as we might, we could not find it on any of the metro maps on the internet - but it must have been a very new one. Sure enough, there were trains running and it was so clean and sparkly and new! After a bit of a faff trying to work out how to get a ticket…and then which barrier to go through - we were finally on our way to central Rome.

So, first up were the Spanish steps - I think we expected a few more than there were! But we climbed to the top and got a few pictures and then escaped the mass of people and headed in search of the Trevi fountain.

Ah, the Trevi fountain - fountain implies water…hmm. Unfortunately, the fountain seemed to be under construction - there was definitely no water flowing here! Feeling a little disappointed, we stopped for lunch, when in Rome; eat pizza! Feeling refreshed, we stopped into the Pantheon, which was stunning (although we can't compare it to the one in Paris as we couldn't find that one!), I don't think we'll stop being amazed at some of these old buildings! From here, we decided to walk the rest of the way through the really old part of the city instead of getting the metro. The old ruins are amazing - although we couldn't work out how to get down and walk among them - but the elevated view was just as good. After a much needed refreshment break from the mid afternoon sun and cool down in the air-con, we headed off in search of the Colosseum…as usual though, we took the wrong road. After a bit of a detour, we made it - and what a sight! As seems to be a running theme with most of the things we've visited throughout Europe, it was under construction, so the view was slightly tarnished by big blocks of scaffolding, but you could still get a good idea of the scale of it. We wanted to save some pennies for the Vatican the next day, so chose not to go inside - not to mention the queues! Time was pushing on a bit and we carried on with our walking theme and headed home on foot. It was a fair old way and in the heat, was probably not the most sensible idea we've had, but we made it back in one piece, albeit, a little bit exhausted. We'd stopped at the supermarket on the way home for a light dinner - meat and salad. The meat we picked up interestingly translated as 'Nut of Old Maid'…hmm…after another go at translating, we worked out we'd picked up some super cheap veal steaks. Yummy.

In an attempt to avoid the worst of the queues for the Vatican, we set an early alarm and went off to join the thousands of people hoping to get into the city. We arrived at about 9.30am and already the queue for the Vatican museum/Sistine Chapel was enormous! All along the way we had touts offering us inflated prices to skip the queue - naturally we declined. Most of the others in the queue seemed to be in it for the long haul too, but it was interesting watching people break the longer we were all stood there. It was moving slowly, so we held on…and then it started to rain. Wow! Rain - we haven't had any of that in the last month! And boy, did it rain! With a load of thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure, by the time we got to the front, we were soaked through with our waterproof's safely stowed in the dry at home…oops.

Finally after 2 hours, we were in! It was difficult not to get pushed along by the throng of people, so we just went with it. The museum was huge and we could have been in there for days, but we also wanted to get round to see St Peter's square and the Basilica if we could, so we made a beeline for the Sistine Chapel. I wish I'd been able to take a picture in there - it was breath taking! Unfortunately though, as there were so many people, we were all herded in there and it felt more like being at a concert! After staring open mouthed at the walls and ceiling for a while, we tried to make our escape! We really wanted to get outside and walk around (in the rain and thunder) and eventually we found a door, but were quite disappointed that you couldn't really walk round more of the outside. Whilst there was a break in the weather, we decided to go and find St Peter's square - naturally, we took the long way round…and again, the heavens opened on us!

By the time the rain was easing to a slow drizzle and completely soaked through, we found the queue for the Basilica - hmm. Feeling, cold and soggy, we decided to settle for a few pictures outside and went in search of some lunch. If it brightened up afterwards, we'd head back and join the queue. After a mediocre lunch (tepid mushy lasagne - mmm) we re-assessed the situation…nope still drizzling…time to head home and dry off! At least we can leave something to do in Rome, should we come back again in the future. This time, thankfully, we opted for the quicker metro route home.

Tomorrow Pisa and then onto Florence the day after. We're both a little tired after rushing around Rome, but the next week or so should be slightly more sedate sightseeing - give our feet a chance to recover!!