We're Back!

Its so nice to be home!! no matter how long or short I spend away from home, its always so nice to get back :) We were in Rome for 2 weeks, and it was great! I met some uncles and aunties for the first time, enjoyed the cold winter Christmas atmosphere and ate so much food and drank too much espresso coffee! LOL But we saw all the sites we set out to see, plus a whole lot more :)

We took about 800 photos in 2 weeks. Lots of self portraits so I dont have to photoshop us to look like we were sitting together this time!


First three days we spent by ourselves. Stayed in a nice hostel and with the help of our Roma map we set out and explored the city each day.


Saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Vatican, Sisteen Chappel, Roman Forum / Pallatine Hill, Spanish steps and all that in those first 3 days.


I have so many photos of paintings from the museum leading into the Sisteen chappel.. its just ridiculous! I got so excited in there and just went beserk. They were all so beautiful though :)


We would leave the hostel after breakfast around 8:00 and generally not get back there until well after 12:00am. So we had the most solid sleeps!! My poor feet were so so so sore though, and my lower back also started having issues... but walking the streets was so much fun. Especially at night as the city was decorated so beautifully with christmas lights.


We hung out at the Spanish Steps all night on the weekend before Christmas as they had all music and Spanish dancers and the street was closed to traffic.


Speaking of traffic, we had fun crossing the streets :) The first day we were there, we arrived at a pedestrian crossing (I use the term losely!) and watched what the "locals" do... well, they just wait until there was a gap in the traffic and then go for it. Even when you are on the crossing you have to be careful as cars just do not stop... scooters and motorbikes just go hooning around you, and cars as well. So funny!

But even still I just loved the streets.. the side streets with little traffic, cobblestone streets, beautiful buildings and deliciously smelling shops!


Anyway we soon met up with my Aunty, uncle and cousin. My cousin was out here a few monthsback, but my aunty and uncle I had never met before. We stayed with them for about 10 days and spent Christmas day with them.

We went on an expedition to Pompei.. that was an adventure and a half! A 2 hour train trip to Naples, which we bought at the travel agent the day before. The agent booked us for the 23rd and we asked (and went on) the 22nd... Only realised when a lady had the exact same seats as us! LOL But the train had already left the station so she was allocated naother seat and we still got to go, Phew! We also missed our train from Naples to pompei and had to wait another hour. But then once in Pompei, we spent ages walking around. I never realised it was so big! I was under the impression it was just one street! But its huuuge. all kinds of things to see in there.


I was amazed at the frescos which were still so vivid and clear after almost 2,000 years. The body casts had me feeling a bit weird though.


We spent so long looking around that we almost got locked in. Literally. We were smack bang in the middle of the whole village, and we came across a guard. "What are you doing here, we are closed". uh-oh! We said we were getting out at a certain entrance cos we had to catch a train back, so he said ok, but run because the gates are about to be locked. So we sprinted!! My cousin was all scared of spending a night with "Roman ghosts" and was in a bit of a panick. Travis and I found it hilarious, especially when we got to dead end, had to climb a fence and then had a 1.5 meter drop off a wall. LOL We made it out in time though.

Stupid comment of the day went to me, when I asked Travis why dont they DNA test them to identify them. (I saw a bone of a toe poking out). Travis told me it was a stupid question and I still needed explaining. Eventually he said "And what will they compare the DNA TO.. I doubt they had records 2,000 years ago" hahaha Point taken!

We went to a football match, Lazio and Inter. It was fun but soooooo cold and the seats were filthy!


We also went on a day trip to Tivoli. Went into this old, huge mansion which had a billion awesome fountains in the surrounding gardens.. I wont ever need to see another fountain again!


Travis as usual had to be a pest and ruin my shots...


I ate way too much food over there. We went to a restaurant on Christmas day which had a set menu... it was our breakfast, lunch AND dinner for the day! we had cold meat platter each, followed by cheeses. next was some minestrone soup and bread. Then out came a bowl of ravioli. Then canelloni. Then fettucine. By this time I was getting full, and thought 3 bowls of pasta would be the end of the meal. NOPE! out came a huge plate consisting of one giant T-bone steak, a piece of veal and one lamb shank. Then we had Tiramisu. Then Panettone, coffee and grappa for those who wanted it. Talk about stuffed! The lunch spanned a few hours and there was a nice gap in between plates so I did actually manage to eat it all.

Whenever we were out we grabbed a gelato, much to my cousins astonishment. "Its WINTER! you must have bionic stomaches, its too cold for ice cream". LOL


So yeah we had lots of adventures, I have a whole diary filled with funny stories and a 2 gig memory card which was almost filled up :) Keep an eye out for some of the stupid photos and funny adventures to be scrapped soon!!

Thanks for reading, or just looking at the pics :)