Ciao Ciao we are leaving Roma...

Ciao Ciao to everyone from the gelato capital of the world - today we had

a choice of 100 different gelato flavours - and we got to choose 3 different sorts to be put into a plastic cup.

Clare chose: Limone gelato x 1, meringue gelato x 2 Clare liked both equally.

Celine chose: Peach and orange gelato x 1, cream and strawberry gelato x 1, and fruit di bosch, which had almonds in it as well. Celine liked the peach and orange gelato best.

I chose: Watermelon gelato x 1, Banana and chocolate gelato x 1, and coconut gelato x 1. I LOVED all the gelato, but if I had to pick only 1, the watermelon was so gorgeous.

So many people eat gelato here - businessmen and women, priests and nuns, schoolkids, policemen, tourists - especially in the area of Centro Historico and then Pantheon you are very out of place if you aren't licking a gelato.

Today after we had taken a quick metro ride to Termini station we brought tickets to Assisi, where we are going tomorrow. That was so easy as there are automatic ticket machines, so Clare decided to purchase our tickets for 3 days time when we go to Lucca as well.

After getting the tickets we wandered around Termini station looking at all the gorgeous bag shops they have here in Italy. Celine brought a cream-coloured bag which is covered in flowers. very pretty. I brought a HUGE bag which will be big enough for all my Uni books and laptop for when I start at Curtin Uni in July. It's black with flowers/braiding and very pretty and unlike ANYTHING I would find in Australia, so I'm happy with that.

For lunch we had decided to take the 117 bus to Piazza di Popolo, and wander around the gardens of the Villa Borghese, and have a picnic lunch there. We got flat bread pizzas with a home-style tomato sauce spread on it - very healthy as it was just bread spread with tomato! and very yummy. and then we had bananas and tropical juice.

Clare & I in the Villa gardens.

This afternoon as well as eating the icecream, we just wandered the streets of Centro Historico - a really lovely area of Rome - we went inside the Pantheon and dicovered that it is in fact a Basilica!!!!!! wow, we never, ever knew that!

Clare and Celine sitting near the fountain opposite the Pantheon.

And then we took the leisurely walk home through the streets of Rome at about 5.30pm past some beautiful monuments...

Interesting shop windows..

Ancient ruins..

the Colesseum..

Well there it is - 7 days in Rome! I had hoped to be able to write more on this blog about each day in Rome, but was simply either too exhuasted or wanting to spend time in Rome! Looking back on the experience, It was great considering when we first arrived here at about 2pm West Australian time we were confronted with a stuffed trains (I kid you not we nearly saw a guy lose his nose because he couldn't be squished any further into a train before its doors closed!), and had been without a hotel since 12pm the previous day, were sleepy because we didn't sleep much on the plane from Hong Kong, and dehydrated because we couldn't find safe water to drink in Hong Kong!

Some of the unique things about Rome was the maniacal traffic, the way people look to see if traffic is coming, and even if it is, cross the road, the way traffic signals mean nothing, the way that bussses just make it through tiny cobblestone alleyways, the way that Italian restaurants here play cheesy English music, when I've been told by a (reliable source , my sister! ;) ) that back home they play Italian music.. the beautifully dressed people, the icecream-eating priests, the crazy tourist groups..

I would say what I'll miss most will be St. Peter's Square and the Basilica, Our beautiful walk past the Colessuem and the strolling around the Palantine, and eating icecreams in front of the Pantheon....

Arrivederci Roma.. Assisi and Lucca here we come!

- Mary