Our last day in Rome and actually more of a half day as we had to leave after lunch to catch our flight. We were going to go to what we thought was a Klimpt exhibition not far from the flat, but when we got there it turned out to be some sort of multimedia “experience” so we gave it a miss! Instead we checked out a local church and cathedral which we hadn’t had time to see previously. First
Category: Rome 2018
Rome 2018 – Day 8
Today we divided our forces. Mum and Sophia went to see the Hiroshiga “Visions from Japan” exhibition of 19th century Japanese art whilst Dad went to see the Roman port town of Ostia Antica. The exhibition contained 230 prints by Hiroshiga, mostly landscapes from some of his famous series of views. It provided some excellent variety, delightfully lacked large deranged groups of tourists and instead contained mostly educated looking Italians of a certain age. Sophia was able to practice trying
Rome 2018 – Day 7
Dad’s Health Tip – Don’t wander around a Roman world heritage site in the pouring rain if you want to remain able to speak to people or, at the very least, don’t be so pig headed as to ignore your wife when she insists that you take and use an umbrella! A relatively quiet day with Dad’s throat not permitting much in the way of communication! After a late start we header for the Vatican. We weren’t really intending to
Rome 2018 – Day 6
A serious change in the weather. After several warm and sunny days, today it was cold, windy and raining heavily. Dad elected to go the Colosseum as the tickets from yesterday we valid for two days. In the end it was far from successful as the Colosseum is almost entirely outdoors and the rain was heavy and unrelenting. Never the less, it was still heaving with people. On his shivering return Dad admitted that we wouldn’t have been wetter if
Rome 2018 – Day 5
Today we spent the morning at the flat basically having a rest and recovering from the exertions of the last few days. After lunch we headed for the Palatine Gardens. It was the day of the Rome marathon so there were hundreds of runner milling about. Observing a long queue that was for ticket holders only, we proceeded up the hill until we came to the Church of St Bonaventura. There we met a very nice man who for a
Rome 2018 – Day 4
Today we decided to try and look at the area near the river. We took a bus to the circus maximus and then walked over to the river. Since it was nearly lunch time we tried to find somewhere to eat in the Trastovere district but this proved quite tricky as most had only average Trip Advisor ratings. Eventually we located somewhere suitable, but then there was confusion about the order and they only brought one lasagne instead of two.
Rome 2018 – Day 3
Today we decided to go to what we hoped would be the relative calm of Villa Borghese. The Metro was miraculously and without explanation working again so we were soon at Piazza del Popolo. This magnificent square was marred by two elderly gentlemen who were clearly fans of rock and roll and also the worst buskers we had ever heard. It seems likely that even Dad could have sung better. We then went into the Villa Borghese park and had
Rome 2018 – Day 2
Gosh it’s crowded here! This morning (after a relaxed start) we spent in surveying the local area, buying week long bus/tram tickets and visiting the supermarket. After lunch at the flat, Mum decided that she wanted to check out the Trevi Fountain and deduced that our best plan was to take the metro. Unfortunately, when we got to the metro station it was mysteriously closed with no signs in any language to indicate why. At the time of writing this
Rome 2018 – Day 1
Well, here we are at the start of our “Roman Holiday”. Our flight from Heathrow was slightly delayed but the promised taxi driver was waiting for us when we arrived. The flat “El Case Di Rita” is in a large apartment block with several entrances and there was no sign if anyone to meet us or where exactly it was. Fortunately, Mum speaks Italian and found a caretaker who took Dad to a local shop where the owner works. About