Day Three

Well day three (actually day four as day 1 was lost in the air) was another busy one! We set off just after 8 to Termini to catch the metro to The Vatican. Our first challenge was to get on the metro as it was already packed like sardines. Luckily, the trains run every minute in peak hour because it took us four trains to get on and even then only half made it on. We prepared ourselves for this and I stayed with half the group whilst the rest were with Carmina. We met again at Cipro station and walked towards the Vatican Museum.

There were people everywhere and lines for everything but again we had pre-ordered tickets so didn't have to wait too long. Inside the Vatican Museum it was like we were going through customs with all the security checks. Once through all that we proceeded up towards areas like the Gregoriano Profano Museum, Chiaramonti Museum and of course the Sistine Chapel! Some amazing artwork and plenty of photos but none in the chapel as it isn't allowed (neither is talking or any clothing that doesn't cover shoulders and knees).

From there a few kids bought souvenirs and then we proceeded into St Peter's Basilica. Another amazing feat of expansive architecture and hundreds of paintings on the ceiling. We stayed for a hour or so until our stomachs were telling us it was time for lunch. After leaving the basilica we had a quick walk around St Peter's Square and took plenty more photos. We left the Vatican and headed back to the metro to have lunch on the Spanish Steps!

Carmina's cousins had been in touch earlier on mentioning that they would like to meet up at lunch time and bring some of their own bocconcini for the kids to try. They did just that and brought along some fresh bread and Italian sausage also. It was so tasty I couldn't stop eating until I was about to burst. The kids enjoyed it but were more excited about the fact of trying Macca Ds in Italy. This was another experience, a huge restaurant with self service machines where you could order and pay like you do for some of the larger supermarkets in Perth. The kids then got their take out and ate Macca Ds on the Spanish Steps.

After lunch, we headed back to Termini and did a bit of shopping for essential items and killed some time whilst we waited for our booking at the Roman Forum and Colosseum. Upon arrival at the Roman Forum, we realised our booking was for 5.30pm and both close at 6.15. Luckily, the let us do a tour of the Colosseum when we got their and didn't need to rush both in the 45 min time slot. Again, an amazing building and so much history. The sheer size of this bundling gets me every time and photos just don't do it justice. The Roman Forum is very similar except very little remains of it so its hard to imagine what it was like exactly.

Once we had enough, we caught the metro back to Termini and walked over to our restaurant for dinner. We were served lasagna, caponata (red capsicum, celery, eggplant, zucchini, carrot, potato and onions in a minestrone type sauce) and pannacotta with berries for dessert. We walked back to the hotel and most of us will sleep like a log tonight.

Tomorrow we're getting up around 7am to get the train to Florence.

Speak to you all then,
Carl