Rome (text blog)

(The words are separate to the pictures as the upload thing was playing up.)
Last night we arrived at our site and went straight for a hot shower and
to put a load of washing on in the Laundry. The site is really close to
Rome (http://www.ecvacanze.it/en/elite_family/rome/camping-village-roma)
and fairly expensive at €29 a night - but then anything is expensive
when you consider we've been staying for free most nights!
It was a wonderful evening and we put the awning out on the van of the
first time and sat under it with tables and chairs. We got talking to an
Australian family in a German registered van they had hired for a few
weeks and shared some of our books of free places to stay - it was nice
to have a proper conversation in English! We had Spag Bol for tea and
sat outside drinking bear until 11 before heading inside to bed. There
was an almighty thunderstorm in the night, followed by a loud bang this
morning - the awning on the Australian family's van snapped under the
weight of the rain. Ouch, I'm glad I put ours away before we went to bed.
We got on the bus and were at the Vatican for 9am. We decided against
joining the ques and set about seeing some of the other sights Rome has
to offer. We quickly established that we would have to stay another
night at the site to cram it all in! The weather was warm - about 22C
but overcast and we walked round Castel Sant Angelo, The Spanish Steps,
Fontana di Trevi and of course the Colosseum plus plenty in between. In
fact the only thing we didn't manage to see is the Pantheon which we
will visit tomorrow as well as the Vatican. I discovered that as a under
25 EU citizen you get a half price entry at most places. Hurray!
At 5pm, however, it suddenly went pitch black we were treated to a
massive thunderstorm. The back pack I had been lugging round all day
with mine and Sophie's waterproof jackets suddenly became worthwhile as
we dawned them as soon as we saw the birds swarm and the fork lightning
dance across the sky.
So first impressions of Rome? Fantastic history and great sights - the
skyline is littered with Roman and historic buildings and monuments with
no 'modern' buildings in sight. It would be even better if you could
remove the insane traffic, however, and I can't imagine how busy it
would be in season.
However, to clarify something in the other post - the 'Lookie Lookie men
(that is, Look what I have to sell you, rather then Lucky Lucky as
Sophie reported earlier!) were everywhere. From trusting roses in front
of Sophies face to dressing up as Caesar and charging to have your photo
taken next to them - which was comical. What was even more comical was
how they suddenly switched to selling umbrellas for €5 when it started
to rain and to see people buy them only to open them and they'd
instantly turn inside out or if you was less fortunate come off the stem
completely and fly across the road! Oh how we laughed!
It's 10:30 here now and I can already here Sophie snoring from the bed
as I type this, so it is time that I joined her - another early start
tomorrow and I want to make the most of those hot showers....