Friday 8 May

Another beautiful, sunny day both as we leave Athens early in the morning and all day in Rome.

We are up at 4.10am, get rid of suitcases. Insight have organised a hot drink and croissant which was nice of them. We leave for the airport at 5.30am and I fall asleep on the shuttle. At the airport we say goodbye to Ann and David Grady - they have become good friends over the last couple of weeks.

Air Aegean - good leg room, just an hour 40 minutes flight, light meal served featuring yoghurt. Put watches back an hour - now 9 hours behind NZ.

We are met at Rome Airport by a driver who takes just us to the St Peter's Crowne Plaza Rome Hotel. It is set in large grounds with a high wall. Later we go for a walk and there is NOTHING around - other buildings with high walls. No shops. Nothing to see. We are in a little isolated bubble with their own shuttle bus to take guests into the centre.

It is very hot - gets to 30 degrees C later. Lovely hotel. As we arrive at the reception desk the smiling Italian women checks our passports and informs us she is soon to marry a New Zealander. Although he is from Auckland so does he really count???!!! The good news is that our room is available. So far we have been lucky in this - we keep arriving early and tired and every room has been available. We are in room 227 which has TWO double beds. The double beds are small but the room is big and the balcony is a heat trap. Tina immediately washes our pjs (we've been in them a while!) and they dry in less than 2 hours.

We nest (here for 4 nights) and go to lunch. The Italians do things in style. The bottle of water Tina gets is glass, is green and has a lovely label. There were lots of business meetings going on. Men is lovely suits and Tina was looking at the women's shoes - I was just looking at the women as I ate my $21 hamburger!

We caught the shuttle into central Rome at 3pm. Behind us are a young couple. The young woman, with a lovely Irish accent, is on her cell phone arranging to meet a friend. "Let's meet at the place where Caesar died". I'm sure Julius would be happy to have helped them out.

We get our bearings using the map the hotel gave us and we get to the Pantheon. Tina loves it and we stay for ages. Then I am puzzled. I want to take her to the Piazza Navona. I remember it being on the left of the Pantheon (as you face it) but the map says to go right. I trust my memory and go left and get to the Piazza in a few minutes. It then hits me. The graphic on the map has the Pantheon 180 degrees around the wrong way!

We saunter, people watch. You can spend hours (if you have the time) in this Piazza. I notice a lot of tourist coming out of a smallish door so we wander in. Glad we did. An absolutely gorgeous church - Church of St Agnese in Agone. We sit and take it all in.

Time for a cold drink. We go to one of the many cafes in the Piazza. I order The Freddo al Limone which the menu translates as Cold Tea to the Lemon!!! Tina has The Freddo alla Pesca - peach. Both refreshing. Other translation gems from the menu are "stained milk" and "grogs".

Saunter some more and then it's time to have pizza in the Piazza!!! Very thin base compared to NZ; tasty. Accompanied with salad and beer. Yes, Tina drinks a small beer!!!

Time to wander back to the pick up point for the shuttle. We go past a pasta shop (read the last 4 words quickly). Amazing shapes and colours. There is pasta shaped like hats, wheels and ... hmmm, how do I put this delicately ..... a bloke's meat and two veg/wedding tackle!!!! Tina won't let me buy a packet! Just imagine that on your plate staring at you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are first at the shuttle meeting point but being newbies we don't understand that the sign "first come, first served" doesn't mean what it says. We expected to be the first on the bus but it is survival of the most aggressive. No standing is allowed on the bus so if there are more people than seats then, bad luck, some miss out (and this had happened in the last couple of nights). People push in. We get a seat.

We have been awake a long time so immediately crash.