All roads lead to Rome

We left Florence and headed to Rome via train - an easy trip.  Our hotel is near the train station so a short walk over and we were settled by noon.  After a quick bite at a little cafe - best pizza bread on the trip so far!  just like Mama Zitas!! we headed off for a walking tour - first a ride on the Metro to Piazza di Spagna - the metro is fairly easy to ride - just have to keep your eyes open as there is much construction.  Our tour started at the Spanish Steps and we weaved our way through the streets to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Colonna, past modern shops with designer clothes to cafes and gelato shops.  Yep, you are right we had to stop for gelato - we are all wine drinkers and gelato slurpers... ;) We made our way down to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuelle II (wedding or birthday cake) then to the ruins, Roman Forum and Collosseo - all very impressive.

Friday is the last day for the tour so Richard planned a leaving dinner at a nearby restaurant - so much laughter and wine - we then ended up at a place called Yellow which we then figured out was a bar in a hostel.  I think many of us were reluctant for the night to end and some were a bit tipsy on the walk back to the hotel.  After breakfast on Saturday morning, we said our good-byes - most people were off to other adventures - Greece, France, England, Germany to name a few.  It is wonderful to hear all the adventures and exciting things people are doing.

I have stayed on for a couple of days in Rome and joined Katie, one of the other tour members - we set off to explore Rome and ended up finding the National Museum of Rome which is very interesting with a beautiful centre courtyard. We then watched a bride and groom have wedding photos taken and then wandered into a church - we then figured out it was the Santa Maria degli Angeli which as created out of the Baths of Diocletian and the current church was partly designed by Michaelangelo.  The really unique part of the church is that on the floor is a merdian  - a line that points north and acts as a sundial and calendar.  A ray of light enters the church through a tiny hole 65 feet up the wall.  The light sweeps across the meridian at exactly noon.  Where the ray crosses the line tells you the date.  We were too late to see the light but a really neat place to explore.  After wandering down to the Roman Forum again and to the Colosseo again - we found a great place for dinner - our complete view was the side of the Colosseo - gorgeous as the sunset. (photos to come)