Day 6 Rome - our last day in the eternal city

I am glad it is the last day here. I am overwhelmed by this city. Shauna sends a rallying text message in response to my text to her that we haven't seen everything we had set out to see. 'Walk faster, drink less limoncella and visit the Vatican.' We take heed. By 8.45am we are at the Vatican and signed up for a tour to beat the queue.



The Vatican is extraordinary. Words cannot describe the experience so I won't even try apart from saying I am so glad that I have been lucky enough to visit it in my lifetime. For me it is one of my most memorable experiences in Rome. We are told that there is so much artwork in the Vatican that if you spent just one minute looking at each it would still take you 15 years to see it all.


We write postcards and post them at the Vatican post office then eat the lunch Alan made this morning outside in the square with the pigeons.


Alan has a burning desire to visit the Forum and the Palatine area. It is incredibly hot now and I am flagging. The site is extraordinary as are so many other things we have seen in Rome but I am completely wilted. I lie under an umbrella pine (I am quite taken with these trees) while Alan roams around taking pictures. I don't feel too bad as there heaps of other people doing just the same thing as me.


I am feeling like I want to go back to our apartment for a lie down but the thought of the metro and then five flights of steps is as much to put me off as just continuing on. We still have to visit the Travestevere area Shauna has recommended. We take a taxi. I am glad we do as it is a pleasant change from the rest of Rome. We wander cobbled streets with interesting shops and have a late lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the piazza.


We return to our apartment feeling like we have conquered Rome. Phew.

Funny moment of the day - At Termini station we both want to use the loo. We find one, and you have to pay a Euro to get through a turnstile. I am a bit worried when we get inside as there are only men in the queue but there are two toilet attendants in there who they don't say anything, they are busy arguing with one another, gesticulating wildly. I assume it is one of those unisex loo stops. After several minutes one of them finally notices me and ushers me rudely out: “NO SIGNORA.” When I finally pay another euro and get into the ladies loo I find a bewildered old bloke in there who has managed to get past the toilet attendant in this one.