Rome (Day 2)

At 9.00 this morning it was 26c. Today was going to be hot, hot, hot! So on with the lycra, and the sunscreen. As we prepared to dice with death once again in the city, a pair of parakeet's flew by Marge, gone as soon as they'd arrived, in a flash of green.

An easier ride into the city centre today, as a German man, parked next to us, advised us on an easier route, to get to the cycleway, which avoided much of the busy road near the aire. Once in the city centre, the cycleways stop, and you're either cycling on the pavement, or the road. Because of some demonstrations, quite a few roads were closed to traffic, but one of them was still O.K. for cycling. As a result of these road closures, in some areas, the traffic was being forced down to one lane from four, resulting in commotion. Car horns sounded incessantly, and sirens from police cars and ambulances were continuous. There is a huge police and military presence in the city, and the Italian lady who booked us onto the aire yesterday, said we must carry our passports at all times, because of spot checks. Trying to concentrate on the circus going on around us, we managed to stop and look at everything of interest, including some beautiful churches, where at one this afternoon, we met a couple from Essex, who were lost.

They'd flown out of Heathrow airport this morning at 2.30 and were staying for four days. Despite their tiredness, like us, the excitement of seeing so many treasures and masterpieces, kept them going.

At lunchtime, we sat near to the Trevi Fountain, and enjoyed a delicious Italian delis sandwich we'd bought early from a small supermarket. After lunch, we made our way along some cobbled back streets to the Pantheon, where one of us couldn't resist a strawberry gelato, well, you would, wouldn't you?

Today, we have also mastered the art of crossing the busy roads of Rome. This morning, there were policemen at the crossings, blowing their whistles in a shrill an authoritative manner, at the vehicle drivers. But this afternoon we were on our own. So we decided to adopt the same principle, the tour guide taught us, when we visited Vietnam. Just walk slowly across, and the traffic will either stop, or drive slowly around you. It worked, no ambulance, with blaring siren required!

It has been a tiring day, but well worth it. The temperature reached 29c this afternoon, and now one of us has a headache and feels a little sick, perhaps the cause, not the sun, but the strawberry gelato. We are very glad that we visited the city in May, as we couldn't imagine how awful the crowds and the traffic, will be in August. Even today, we found it difficult to take photographs, without too many people in them.

A bit photo heavy, but here's a tiny selection of today's shots.

Tomorrow, we would like to visit the Vatican City, so have made some enquiries at the tourist information office, which is just 50 metres down the road from our aire, about using the bus to take us into the city centre, from where will we walk the rest of the way.

Note if you want to use any of the photos for any purpose please do so, but put a link to: https://www.muddymarge.com