Arrived in Rome

Greetings from Roma!


I arrived in England on Sunday night, after a very long trip from Adelaide-Melboure-Singapore-London-Cambridge. Luckily, Jarnie (the friend I am travelling with) and I arrived in Cambridge in the evening, allowing us to fall straight into bed and wake up the next day at a decent hour. The temperature (3 degrees upon arrival) was a bit of a shock!

We set off from Cambridge to Stansted airport, where we got on a flight to Rome. I say this as if it was a simple act, however, we may have gotten a bit cuaght up in the shopping within the departure area as we suddenly looked at our watch and realised we had 5 minutes until the boarding stopped! The 600 metre dash has never been done so quickly! However, we arrived (in time) to find our flight had been delayed.

Arriving in Rome was very exciting, we could see everything from the air. Luckily it was a bit warmer here as well (though not much). The bus into town gave us some insight into Italy- reckless driving in tiny cars, very public displays of affection, vespas and motor bikes everywhere and quite narrow cobbled roads. Also, the juxtaposition of historical sites next to more modern buildings, car parks and the like.

After a great dinner of gnocchi followed by gelati, ordered in my very simple primary school Italian, we set off back to the hotel, just near termini station.

Included in our room rate was a voucher for breakfast from the local coffee bar, which is quite Italian- cafe latte and a pastry eg chocolate croissant. We had a massive day of sight seeing, first on a bus that gave us a tour of the city, then on foot, finding amazing churches hidden behind innocuos doorways, shops selling priests robes for all occasions and the Trevi fountain, where we ensured our return to Rome. Dinner was in a simple cafe, where we were served 3 different types of bread we hadn't ordered- and then charged for it!

Happy New year to you all,

Anneke