Day 6 The Catatombs 11 November

Travelled to the catatombs by taxi and joined a tour. A bit ordinary, but the grounds were lovely. We did have some trouble flagging down a taxi to get back into Rome, but finally managed to find one and on our way, hey Mike!

Yes, that's me in the distance. My bf must think I take a better photo from that far back, lol. We walked all the way down this road, down another road, turned around and came back up this road, took another path, just to get back to where we were at the end of this road! Story of my life while travelling with my bf.... but still luv ya Mike xx

Back in Rome and off to see the Spanish Steps. Yep, he was ordered to go to the top so I could get a photo from the street.

Made it!

....my turn

A short walk up the road and we arrived at the Piazza del Popolo 

Following this we just walked....and walked.....and walked. Here are a few more sites of Rome we saw on our walk.

The Palace of Justice

 Piazza Navona - This is the Fountain of Neptune

The modern piazza is a lively place, a place where both locals and tourists like to hang out. Artists gather in the sqaure to paint and there are many entertainers and vendors selling souvenirs. http://goitaly.about.com/od/romeitaly/ss/piazzanavona.htm

One more stop on the way back to the hotel was to buy a gelato! Can you believe we only had one the entire time we were in Italy! Unbelievable for someone that loves ice cream as much as I do. I think this is worth another visit, don't you?

Day 5 - Rome Colleseum (Thursday 10 Nov 2012)

The Colleseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum! We walked everywhere and that's what is great about Rome. Unsure about how long the queue would be to get into the Colleseum, we opted to join a tour which also included the ruins and forum.

We later walked to the Pantheon and the Trevi Foundation. We arrived back at the hotel to enjoy the sunset on the hotel rooftop with a bottle (or 2) of wine. We didn't make it to dinner that night!

(Update - I think this was the best night of our holiday - I loved sitting on the rooftop watching the sunset and the birds making awesome patterns in the sky! My most favoutite memory of Italy)

The Colosseum - On Mike's ToDo list

Day 4 - Rome (Hotel Campo de Fiori 9 Nov 2012)

A beautiful hotel and in a fantastic location central to everything in Rome, well almost everything. We walked everywhere from about 10 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon and a few times did not stop for lunch. Yep, I was amazed too that Mike could go without lunch!

So, as promised here are a few of the photos we took around the hotel.

This is not actually the hotel but a little deli in the market sqaure... where we got our wine :)

Sunset over Rome on the rooftop garden

And the beautiful rose Mike bought for me

I just found a few more photos of Hotel Campo de Fiori - where we had breakfast each morning

It was lik a little cave, but a lovely one

Day 4 - The Vatican (Wednesday 9 Nov 2011)

Amazing!! After heading out and after a minor mistake reading the map (who understands Italian anyway!) we turned a corner and there was Vatican City and we were at St Peters Basilica. There were a few large screens and a priest speaking, of course we had no idea what was being said. Then before long the Pope appeared on the screen, talk about good timing. Apparently the Pope speaks every Wednesday and Sunday.

We joined a tour and spent the afternoon walking around Vatican City. Although the tour guide was a little over the top at times - rambled on and  on - all in all it was amazing!

St Peter's Basilica

Yes, it's the Pope speaking!

St Peter's Square, btw my boyfriend is the one in the stripe shirt

View of St Peter's Dome within Vatican City

So many statues and amazing paintings

I was fasinated in the painting - The School of Athens by Raphael,  - Raphael is in this one

Below is Michaelangelo - information from http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Raphael-Vatican.html

This figure is not on the original cartoons by Raphael, it is a later addition by the artist.

The rivalry between Raphael and Michelangelo was intense, Michelangelo had accused his young rival of trying to poison him. The first part of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling was unveiled, to great acclaim, on August 14th 1511. Raphael's reaction was to include a portrait of a weeping Michelangelo as Heraclitus, into this already finished masterpiece, in a parody of Michelangelo's style.

View of St Peter's from the hotel rooftop

Day 3 - Rome (Arrival - Tuesday 8 Nov 2012)

Rome! Love, Love love Rome!

After very little sleep and 27-28 hours of plane travel, we both agreed on our first (and I'm sure there will be more) "next time....." we will stop over in Hong Kong on the way". Incredibly long flight, not so much bad, just lack of sleep was the problem.  Although, it's great time to have a movie marathon. 5 movies in total!

After stepping off the plane, a bit of confusion which invovled a short train trip to the baggage collection, "do we get on this one?" and just a tad too late we saw a man waving us on, before the doors closed. We waited patiently for the booked driver, then impatiently, when he turned up. An hour later and we were standing outside of Hotel Campo de' Fiori. Beautiful! I wanted to get the camera out straight away and start snapping.

Guest toilet in the foyer of Hotel Campo de' Fiori. Impressive or what!

There is the most amazing market outside of our hotel.

Taken outside our hotel a cafe, I'd upload one of the hotel, but it'll have to wait until sleeping beauty awakes.

Our first Italian meal.......

.....served on brown paper, sitting on a stool in the corner of a bakery. Delicious!

Day 2 - On Our Way (Monday 7 Nov 2012)

6:00am
Stop looking, Katie had the camera charger.... phew. I still have a few things to do, pack the cabin bag, double check the suitcase - surely I can buy what I need and really, do I need all the thermals I packed? The weather in Italy is..... oh no raining and 12deg :(

Did I say we are flying to Rome, today!!!!! Flights at 3:40pm, excited much :D

11:45 - Leaving now, but a little holdup, Mike has overpacked!!!!

Day 1 - Getting Ready (Sunday 6 Nov 2012)

Of course Mike is all ready, has a "portfolio" of all the bookings and his suitcase is now locked. Me on the other hand..... well it's late Sunday night and I'm still packing! I haven't even started on the cabin bag yet. But on the positive side, I do know what I want in the bag  :)

Only have one major problem at this point, I can't find my bloody camera charger! I so hope Katie has it :(

Did I really need to buy the extra light suitcase, surely I had enough to choose from!
Not so extra light once it was packed :(