Saluti da Roma!

Greetings! We are starting to adjust to life Italian style -finally we have a chance to relax a bit now that we have begun to settle into Perugia. However, before we get too carried away, I'll up date our adventures in Rome.

Firstly, it seems like a lot longer than a week ago that we were doing final preparations for the trip. The first flight to Singapore seemed to pass relatively quickly, especially once the students discovered that they could use the in-flight entertainment to play games against eachother on opposite sides of the plane. Our 7 hour stop in the airport certainly provided enough time to explore the shops, check out the massage opportunities and snack on some delicacies from Burger King before the next flight into Rome - only 12 hours but luckily most people managed to sleep. Our arrival into sunny, blue-skied Rome was relatively painless, except for the unfortunate incident of the small child being ill in the arrivals hall of the airport. This may have passed without further incident except for the fact that the floor was extremely slippery which, despite the valiant efforts of the embarassed father to clean up the mess, became like an icerink for unwary travellers. Many skidded through with flailing arms while our students (ie Nick and Luke) found it hilarious. Once we had recovered from that sight, it was just a matter of waiting for someone to offer us to a deal to get us to our hotel, which they did quite predictably. The ride in from the airport provided yet another adventure for the students, with the usual tailgating, standover tactics and general oblivion regarding speed limits. After all, waht's wrong with 140 in an 80 zone?

Once we had installed our luggage in the Hotel Mariano's rather small luggage storage facility, it was time to explore Rome - which of course Dee-Arna noted was still full of Italians. We headed off in the sunshine to check out the bling of Santa Maria Maggiore with its Palm Sunday blessings, followed by the Spanish Steps. Jennifer claimed to be culturally and linguistically confused at this point as there was a Palm Sunday blessing happening on the Spanish Steps, with the priests speaking French, in Rome. We then proceeded down the Via Condotti with its designer shops, much to Sharon's delight - luckily though it was Sunday and they were all closed. This was followed by the boys discovering the Ferrari store so further purchases were planned. Our stroll down Via del Corso took us to the Fontana di Trevi, where we threw in the requisite coins and made our wishes while fending off the persistent street sellers. Lunch beckoned so it was then time for a visit to Pizza Planet for our now traditional pizza con broccoli e salsicce , which then gave us the energy to head towards the Vittoriano, the Forum, and of course, the Colosseum. By now, our feet were steaming and jet lag was beginning to set in, so it was back to the hotel for showers followed by an early dinner and a very early night.

Day 2 in Rome had us experiencing the Metropolitana with the hordes of Romans to get us to the Vatican museums. After waiting in line for over an hour, our visit to the Vatican's many treasures was a little overwhelming. Once again, the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking, but the guards telling people to be silent and not take photos rather detracted from the ambiance. Lunch in the Vatican gardens seemed like a good idea, so then we headed off to St Peter's to check out the basilica, via a visit to Michelle's preferred rosary bead shop. Alas, the church visit was thwarted by the small matter of an upcoming papal mass for Holy Week, so instead we took some pics and Michelle had an exciting encounter with a cute Swiss Guard, much to the delight of the girls. With potential romance clouding their vision, we dragged them away to wander back over the Tiber towards our hotel, via Piazza Navona (and some entertaining caricatures), the Pantheon and Michelle's favourite church with the stunning blue ceiling. Dinner in one of Rome's many restaurants ended our day, with more tired feet and the weight of some shopping dragging us down.

The next day was spent in Pompeii, which will no doubt get its own post later. On to our last day in Rome then...Nick spent the morning mingling with the locals thanks to Lino, his father's cousin who came up for a visit from Naples. The rest of our group headed back past the Spanish Steps to enjoy the panorama of Rome from the Pincio, and then indulged in more shopping (as well as a few more visits to mobile phone establishments to try and sort out sim cards). We then reunited as a group to head back to the Vatican to actually see inside the church, which we duly did. The scale of the building never ceases to amaze, no matter how many times you see it. On our way out, Michelle was crushed to see that 'her' Swiss Guard was nowhere to see, but she valiantly went on regardless. We wandered back over the time, stopping for dinner near Piazza Navona, and then one final night time visit to the Fontana di Tevi finished off our day.

On Thursday it was time to pack up and check out of our Rome hotel. One last visit to the Colossem, the Circus Maximus and the Bocca della Verita` finished off our morning before the arduous task of moving luggage to the train station. Of course, our train left from the opposite side, but we made it with time to spare. The Eurostar ride was so smooth that many took the opportunity to sleep - although all the walking in Rome may have contributed too. Taxi rides up from the station made our arrival easier, and then it was time to settle in and unpack in our new home. A stroll down Corso Vannucci and some preliminary window shopping finished off the day, and got us ready for the next phase of our Italian adventure.