We are heading south to Rome. We have 4 nights booked right in the heart of the old city, so easy walking to lots of sights. We aren’t expecting long queues at the various venues either. Weather forecast for mid-teens for the next week, so a little warmer than Sweden. We are at the airport awaiting the flight. Jill is annotating our Lonely Planet guide to pick the highlights to visit.

Day 1. Arrive. Baggage collected we head to the SIT airport express bus that gets us to near the Vatican, as close as we can get to our accommodation which is an apartment right in the historic centre… in a maze of little twisty passages all alike… with no vehicle access until after 6PM. Fortunately, towing our bags over the cobbled streets, we finally found it (GPS has problems when all you can see of the sky is a thin ribbon 4 or 5 storeys up). Once set up we had a wander around the local streets in the gathering night, all very interesting.

Day 2. Off to the Vatican, dodging the touts for guided tours… there are so many of them and all are very pestilient. As expected for early morning, Wednesday (everyone is heading to the Pope’s address somewhere every Wednesday) in the low season there are no queues (except for the guided tours where everyone seemed to be hanging around waiting, looking glum). A quick twirl around the Vatican museums took most of the day, and we barely touched the surface of what is there – mostly we just gawped at the opulence and artistry. They had a special display of Rembrandt drawings – I wouldn’t mind one or two of them on my wall. I assume they are worth millions of dollars each.

St Peter’s Square from the cupola on the Dome of St Peter’s Basilica

Day 3. Off early again, this time to St Peter’s Basilica, dodging more tour guide touts, and sellers of selfie sticks. No queues again – people don’t get up early round here. Up, up, up – 321 steps to the inside of the dome. Sadly the walkway there is fenced off with heavy duty wire with narrow gaps, so not so conducive to photography. But this place is HUGE. The people on the floor below appeared tiny. The dome has a diameter of over 40 m and rises high above. There is a narrow stairway climbing between the inner and outer shell of the dome that takes you up to the cupola on the top. From here there are amazing views over Rome (somewhat muted by the layer of smog). Then down, down, down to the Basilica floor below and the crypt below to be awed by the gold and splendour.

Day 4. Another beautiful sunny day. We headed off for a gentle walk around the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum. Those old Romans really knew how to party. Sadly the buildings are mostly ruins now (after 2 millenia I guess you can expect a little wear and tear). The elaborate marble that was once fixed to the walls has gone – recycled on other constructions over the ages, leaving rough brick or stone. But the scale is HUGE. The Palatine hill was where the Emperor and other VIP’s lived and the reconstructions in the museum show amazing architecture. Our word Palace derives from the Palatine.

We also visited the Trevi Fountain, a spectacularly sculptured monument. This is clearly THE place to be after dark. The area facing the fountain was jam packed. I guess there isn’t much on television on Friday nights so what else do you do in Rome?

Day 4. Today is a quiet day to catch up after the frenzy of the last few weeks. Another lovely day with sun and blue sky. Amazing luck. After a sleep-in we wandered along the narrow twisty roads towards the “Spanish Steps” which are a famous landmark. The steps are large, ornate, branching marble steps with a fountain at the bottom and a church across the road at the top. And a gazillion tourists. Then we headed on to the grounds of the Villa Borghese – huge areas of parklands and buildings, mansions etc. We visited a few of the galleries, enjoyed wandering around, then headed home via the Spanish Steps. Did I say they were crowded when we went up.  They were crowded to the power of 10 when we went down. The road leading to them was just a surging mass of humanity. Amazing. This seems to be the neighborhood for designer labels – Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari etc etc. We asked a local police officer if this was normal and she said it was a fairly typical Saturday there. Maybe a little busier than normal because Christmas was a week away. Time for dinner than an early night in preparation for heading south to Pompei in the morning.

Lots and lots of photos at https://goo.gl/photos/wCp2cn2j78DYKNwo9

Enjoy.