Firstly if you haven't been to Rome before (and we hadn't), we could only describe its summer temperatures as hot, very very hot, in fact hotter than Hong Kong & equally humid, so yes once again large amounts of water was consumed by all and there was of course lots of sweat. Rome is also a very dirty city, rubbish & graffiti everywhere, on walls, doors, buildings, sides of trains, you name it, it had graffiti on it! But it is also a city crammed full of history & beautiful ancient architecture.

After meeting up with our friends from Auckland, Doug & Janet, at the airport in Rome, no not a strange coincidence, our first stop was to pick up the Euro lease car that Doug had booked. The choice of car had us debating among ourselves for a while, do we choose the racey red Fiat Bambina or the small red three wheeler truck. Both had advantages & disadvantages. The Bambina would of course be cheap to run, easy to park and we could all sit together, but with four adults it would be cramped and we would have had to strap our luggage to the roof, sort of Mr Bean style. In contrast the truck had plenty of room for bags, excellent air conditioning in the back, but only two seats in the front! We finally settled on a very comfortable Peugeot, 5008.

After Tony & I flying in long haul from Hong Kong & Doug & Janet from London, we checked into our hotel, then headed to Monte Cassino, a ninety minute drive south of Rome on the auto strada, with tolls, or three hours taking the regular highways, we chose the quicker option. Monte Cassino was a significant site during World War Two, where it was believed by the allies to be occupied by the Germans, so was bombed and destroyed, it was later discovered however that the Germans had previously withdrawn, but 300 plus locals seeking refuge in the Abbey were killed in the bombing. The Abbey has been completely rebuilt and is a beautiful spot to visit with stunning grounds and magnificent views over the town of Cassino in the valley below. Tony and I had both been awake in excess of 28 hours, so we left the driving up to Doug, which was a good thing as on our return journey we were both falling asleep in the back of the car like a couple of dribbling geriatrics. Our first impressions of Italian drivers is one of not madness but of complete insanity. Road markings don't appear to be anything more than decoration and lane changes occur fast and frequently leaving little room for other road users who either have to quickly test out the efficiency of their brakes, or make an equally lightning speed manoeuvre to simply get out of the way. So when in Rome ...... learn quickly to drive like an Roman and ....... eat pizza. A short walk from our accommodation took us to a lovely restaurant, where we were the only tourists, and we sat outside ate pizza and relaxed a little after what for Tony and I had been an extremely long day.


Despite extreme daytime and night time temperatures and only a fan in our room, exhaustion took over and we managed to get a reasonable nights sleep before an action packed second day in Rome. And yes those of you back in New Zealand who are experiencing an extreme cold snap are probably muttering, don't moan about the heat, but at least when it's cold you can put on a heater and snuggle up warm, when it's 38 degrees there is only so much you can strip off without getting arrested.

Rome - day two. After meeting up with Sarah and Farhaad, yes pre-planned, we spent the morning on a tour of the Vatican City. Sarah and Farhaad are currently traveling in Europe also & Rome was one of two pre planned catch up spots. The Vatican City is huge, full of history and art and having booked onto an extended tour we were able to walk the spiral stairs, 'Bramante's Staircase', now permanently closed to the general public. After a short break, we were off to see the Capuchin Crypts and the Roman Catacombs. A bus ride in between the two was a welcome relief as by this stage our legs and feet were asking us what on earth we were doing to them. The crypts, under the church of Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuccini, contain the ancient bones of Capuchin Friars, some literally displayed as skeletons, others more decorative, if you can call skeletal remains decorative. There were clocks and chandeliers, all made of human bones in the 1600's, so very very old and the walls were decorated in fancy patterns that could only be described as morbidly creative. The Roman Catacombs are an ancient underground burial site, where you step back in time several thousand years. As you meander through the tunnels you are taken back to ancient Roman times and learn about some of Romes history.

Rome - day three. The morning consisted of a tour of the Coliseum, the Roman forum and Palatine hill. All iconic tourist attractions, packed with centuries worth of history. Once again the temperatures had soared to the high thirties so every little bit of shade we could find was appreciated. After a free afternoon wandering around the inner city taking in the sights sounds of Rome, the evening was spent having dinner with Doug, Janet, Sarah and Farhaad at an Italian Restaurant (no surprises there), before enjoying gelato and viewing some of the historic sights of Rome by night.

So, when in Rome ........... Do what the tourists do, take in the sights, the sounds & the smells, eat pizza & pasta and learn to drive like an Italian.