Rome wasn't toured in a day.....

Hello! Did you wonder where I had got to? The last three campsites had wifi that was quite honestly next to useless, we were lucky to have updated our emails before the signal dropped so uploading my blog was impossible! Luckily we have now landed on a site with stronger wifi so you just might be seeing a few posts in quick succession as we have some catching up to do!

We arrived at Camping Tiber on the outskirts of Rome after an uneventful journey down the motorway, the Italian roads take some getting used to with regard to the crazy driving but at least the tolls are relatively cheap. We had a walk around the site to find a suitable pitch and were surprised to see about ten UK traveller caravans camped up in the central area of the site. We did wonder what they were doing in this part of the world!

The weather was still unsettled but we did get a chance to enjoy a cup of tea in the sunshine during the afternoon before the storm clouds loomed again.

The next morning we took the short ride on the shuttle bus to the train station to catch the train to Rome. We met another English motor homing couple and chatted as we got on the train and it was only once we were on our way that we all realised that we didn't know the name of the station to get off for Central Rome! Eventually we found out from a helpful passenger who didn't speak English but understood our problem! The English couple had toured the Baltic States last year and inspired us to travel to that part of Europe maybe next year.

We arrived at the train terminal and then took an underground to the Coloseum (we bought rover tickets which cost 8€ for the day - very cheap!) we all know what the Coloseum looks like but nothing prepares you for just how enormous it really is! We decided not to join the huge queue to tour the inside and we ignored the ticket touts who offered to get us in -"skip the line" being their favourite catchphrase - it came at a cost though - 80€!

The building is magnificent and would still be complete if it hadn't been plundered at some time for its stones. It could hold 55,000 people all seated according to rank, can you imagine the hustle bustle and the noise of all those people watching the Gladiators fighting each other or the wild animals and the poor people thrown to the lions. We wandered all around the area of the Coloseum and Palantine hill trying to imagine what it must have been like all those years ago.

We sat nearby taking in the ambiance and had some lunch whilst we watched all the other tourists but we also noted the storm clouds looming overhead. And soon it began to spot with rain so we decided to go on the underground across Rome to the Vatican and St Peters square. Whilst we were underground the heavens opened and we were lucky to escape the heavy rain, but when we arrived at our destination the rain hadn't stopped so we hung around and waited for it to ease off. As it happened it was more eventful than expected as we saw a woman chasing a pickpocket through the station and another poor woman falling down the stairs on the slippery wet steps. 

Eventually the rain eased and we set out in our lovely plastic ponchos for St Peter's square. And what a queue to go into the basilica!

I would love to see Michaelangelo's paintings but not enough to wait at least 3 hours in a queue in the rain! Still, we can at least say we have been to the square where the Pope speaks to the people.

We then decided to walk to see the Trevi fountain via the Piazza Navone and it's fabulous fountains designed by Bernini

We never made it to the Trevi fountain as we got lost, tired and footsore so we headed back to the campsite, we later heard from another camper that the Trevi fountain is covered in scaffolding and not working so it wasn't such a bad thing that we never found it!

At the end of the day we felt we had seen quite a few of the important sights of Rome and maybe will return one day to see some more of this wonderful city.

Next stop Pompei!