Saturday, 9 May

Tina wakes just after 5am obsessing about washing. Yesterday she discovered that the laundry does not run on both Saturday and Sunday. This throws her and is a bit pathetic for a 4/5 star hotel. She is up just after 6am doing washing.

The bed/pillow combination are the best so far on the trip.

Magnificent breakfast.

We catch the 11.30am shuttle. This is the last one you can catch until 3pm so you need to get to it early or you are doomed. It fills quickly. A family of 4 roll up at 11.29. Ha! Waste of time, people. This is what is wrong with this hotel. On the one hand it is beautiful and comfortable. Great rooms and food. But it is isolated. The mid-size shuttle bus needs to be bigger AND it needs to run more often (as the one in Athens did). This survival-of-the-fittest thing is ridiculous.

Once in town first stop is the Piazza Venezia and its beautiful buildings and then over to Trajan's Column. We then notice a wedding about to end so with hundreds of others we sit on the steps and wait. Tina comments on the women's fashions: high heels, off the shoulder thingees and wrap around thingamabobs.

Down Via del Corso which is filled with women's shops and we go into every one. Tina buys a lovely top. Dark navy with nice pattern and interesting bits. She's had a bit of a disaster with two tops brought from NZ so needs one as a standby.

A light lunch in the shade - the temperature is climbing - and on to the the Trevi Fountain which has Tina gasping when she first sees it. I buy a tie - normal one, not weird. Before we leave Trevi Fountain ("Drove my Chevy to the Trevi but the Trevi was dry") we go into a clothes shop called Paul and Shark. Had nice things in the window. I see this amazing tie. It has between 10 and 15 2-3 cm sharks on it in "diamonds" (Tina says they will be crystals). It is so cool. It is 309 Euros ($NZ618!!!) so we get out of there fast! But it was so cool. Deep sigh.

We have a small parcel to post home so find the post office I used in 2006. It is virtually empty. I go up to a young woman behind the counter who says I need to go to the shop to buy a posting bag. No worries. Do so and come back to the young woman. There is NO-ONE else around. She tells me I have to get a ticket from a yellow machine and then come back to her when my number comes up (THERE IS NO-ONE ELSE AROUND). I find 3 yellow machines but they don't give me a ticket. I find another young woman who shows me the right yellow machine and I am number 53. Number 53 comes up so back to the counter I go but 54 has pushed in. He is sending serious legal looking documents. He has a big official stamp which he puts on each one and each one goes into a separate serious looking envelope (registered mail???). This takes ages and I stand there until it is my turn. I really wanted to do serious harm to number 54.

We make our way to Spanish Steps. Along the way we find a street which has Jimmy Choo (no prices on the shoes - if you have to know/ask then you shouldn't be in the shop), Cartier, Prada, Armani Louis Vuitton, Gucci (I fancy a tie but it's 120 Euro [$ZN240], Dior, Yves St Laurent. I try to hurry Tina along to the Spanish Steps. Her reply, "Bugger the Spanish Steps - this is THE street!".

Finally get to Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna but all hope of catching the 3.15pm shuttle has gone. Tina notices The Keats-Shelley Museum right next door - the last home of Keats (he died in the house). She is very excited and all hope of the 4.30pm shuttle disappears. It was very interesting and one of those bonus little things which she enjoyed. Go to http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/ for more. Whilst she was in there I pottered around and found these instructions at the bottom of the Spanish Steps:
Do not dirty having meal or drinks
Make camp or get bedding is not allowed
Using the area for defecating is prohibited
Do not shout, racket or sing"
I am happy to report I obeyed all these rules.

Right next door was the Byron shop. It wasn't what I expected - no sign of the man since Athens - it was a men's clothing shop. I bought a tie! It is the latest thing in fashion for ties - comes in contrasting colours so the knot is different from the hanging down bit. I'll be a fashion trendsetter! So far, 3 ties purchased on the trip.

We make our way back to the shuttle. Find a beautiful piazza with another column that looks like Trajan's. I need to do some research to find its name.

5.45pm shuttle back, yummy buffet in the hotel with excellent wine (a very dark red from Sicily).

Musical observations:
1. Song of the trip - Pokerface. From the mall and desert of Dubai, through Turkey, Greece and now the shops of Rome this song is following us like a bad smell.
2. Tune of the trip - My Way. Every street busker, lift, pianist on the ship or in hotel dining rooms. "Regrets, I've had a few; then again, too few to mention"