Some like it hot!

Day two Rome. A bit of a sleep in...nice after a massive couple of days. We did want to get down to breakfast at a reasonable hour though as the people on the tour were all heading off and it may have been our last chance to say good-bye! We didn't know what it was going to be like with a group, but we loved it! The only thing that would hold us back from another tour like this is the lack of nights spent in each place.

We checked out and took a crazy cab ride into the city to our new accommodation in central Rome. We had a short chat in our very limited Italian with the cabby and sat back, albeit with white knuckles and enjoyed the journey! So funny!

We met with our B&B guy Davide and checked in. He was awesome and really friendly. Thanks for deciding not to charge us the nightly city tax! The room is really big and comfortable and the breakfast setup looks good. We are once again pleased with our own Internet searching....travel agent not required!

Straight away we toddled off through the park next from our hotel and we found ourselves at the Colosseum. It was wicked to be so close and not to have to worry about the metro. Woot!

No way were we going to worry about battling the line there, so we headed to the Foro Romano (Roman Forum) entrance and waited about 30 minutes for our tickets. It was a combined deal, so we headed back the Colosseum and started there. It made sense to us, as we wanted to travel throughout the day in the direction of the Pantheon to lead us to dinner.

At this point it was friggen hot! This would have been our hottest day yet. 30ish. Doesn't sound hot, but being politically correct, these Europeans love their concrete...making it hotter than the reading on the Internet!

The Colosseum is absolutely impressive. It was interesting to see the lengths they would go to for pomp and ceremony. We opted for the headsets to guide us around, which was money well spent! We recommend this option if going.

Tan: Richard seemed to be struggling today! "Oh my feet, oh my ankles, god it's hot...I may actually die today...it's death day!" I must admit, it was hot. We were smashing the water so that we didn't end up dehydrated and have another 'incident' like the one in the Barcelona metro station!

We had a bit of lunch after the Colosseum and ended up with a sandwich and pizza and sat in the shady area out near the Colosseum metro stop. A delicious, cheap lunch with a first class view of this incredible site! No we're not talking about the metro stop!

All around the city you can find running water, mostly near the fountains - ideal for drinking. Beautiful, clean and fresh spring water is carried by aqueducts into the city and has been for many centuries. Yet another invention of the Romans! You never drink directly from the fountain itself, but from the spouts around. Drinking the water from the Trevi Fountain is said to restore one's virginity! There seemed to be a lot of thirsty people there...enough said!

After the Colosseum we headed back to the Forum, which was only next door, but heading closer to the centre of the city. It was hard to find a place to escape the heat today. We only managed about 1.5 hours there and didn't bother with Palentine Hill. It was hard to concentrate and enjoy the Roman Forum in the heat.

It was a good time to go towards the Trevi Fountain for a splash! There were lots of people there as expected, but it wasn't hard for us to get a spot to sit on the edge and cool down a bit. It made sense after that to head for a cheeky gelato! That helped!

On the way there we spotted some people from the tour and we also chatted to the restaurant maître d' from last night. We loved practicing our Italiano with him and had a few laughs!

We still had an hour or so before meeting up at the Pantheon for dinner with the tour people, so we meandered towards Piazza Navono. There were restaurants surrounding the square, market stalls, two large fountains, loads of buskers and lots of people there. A nice place to sit and relax and people watch.

We stumbled across others from our tour in this area and we had a catch up and a laugh before heading back to the Pantheon. There were fourteen of us who met for an awesome dinner back at the same place from last night! It made sense - great location and could easily seat out group out the front in prime position. Grazie Lorenzo and co!

After dinner, everyone headed around to a 100 year old gelato shop. Our resident Italian Aussie Matt ordered a few of us a Strega to try. My god those bar men know how to pour a drink - easily a double in each and only 3€50 per serve! Woot, woot double woot! OMG so nice, but so strong. Apparently the same as Galliano, but Strega was the original!

After dinner, gelato and the Strega, it was a sad farewell. About 8 of us walked back towards the Colosseum and then finally farewell to all the others! So many great new friends!