Sunday 16th October - Rome

We caught the campsite shuttle bus to the local train station, Prima Porta, to catch a train into the city.  We had already purchased tickets back at camp but for some reason couldn’t get the station turnstile to work.  In the end, we had to clamber over the turn stile and hope we weren't being captured on cctv.  The train terminated at Flaminio and it was about a twenty minute walk from there to the Vatican city.  As it was a very hot day, we stopped for ice cream on the way at a very special galleteria, Roma Galletaria.  They have a constantly running tap delivering liquid white chocolate that they fill up the ‘handle’ of the cone with, they then add three different flavours of delicious ice cream, then top that with double cream – basically, it’s a heart attack in a cone and it is totally delicious and they only charge €2.50 each.

Although the Basilica was closed to the public on the day we visited, the Vatican City was still very crowded.  There were the usual tour guides leading with raised umbrellas or selfie sticks held aloft with scarves attached, but also the people on pilgrimages who were led by guides carrying large wooden crosses. 

         
                    Vatican Guard                                                        Fountain in St. Peter’s Square

         
Pilgrims following the cross to St. Peter’s                                                 St. Peter’s


            
               Castel Sant Angello                                                       Along Tiber near Castel Sant Angelo

                  
   Bridge over a pretty murky looking Tiber                               Rome Street (Vicolo Delle Palline )   


         
Circus Maximus where chariot races took place               The Palatine   


                 At the Vatican City

We took an open top bus tour of the city but rather than hopping on and off we stayed on and did the whole route in one go.  That way we could get an overview and decide on what to revisit tomorrow.  It was a great tour, but there was a bit of a skirmish in the queue for the bus because when it arrived a French couple pushed their way to the front. Of course, they wanted to ensure they got a seat on the upper deck and they really couldn’t see why they should wait in line.  The two reps from the tour company were really good and absolutely insisted, against strong opposition from the couple, that they must go back to their place in line.  The strange thing was, the French couple really didn’t seem to understand why.

By the time we got back to the local train station, we had missed the shuttle bus to the campsite and had an hour and a half to wait for the next one.  We thought this would be a real problem because the station is very poorly lit and we’d noticed in the morning that there were some dubious looking characters about.  By now it was about 7.30pm and when we got to the station it was dark and lonely and we weren’t sure what to do for the best.  We’d hoped there would be some taxis around but there were none.  We looked down the road to see if there were any bars around and were surprised to find that the dark building in front of us was the back of a 24hr grill and bar that was absolutely buzzing – what a relief.  As well as serving very cheap beer, it also sold pizza, cooked in a wood oven and sold by weight at a very reasonable €10 a kilo.  A very happy end to an enjoyable day.

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