There is a Gecko in my house.

Today we toured the Testaccio area of Rome and sampled many of the local delights with Eating Italy Food Tours

The menu consisted of -
Shop - Food item (english translation)
Barberini - Cornetti (crosant),  Tiramisu (coffee-flavoured Italian dessert)

Volpetti - prosciutto di San Daniel, salame al Barlo (two types of meats) pecorino al tartufo, parmigiano reggiano (two types of cheeses)

This shop has over 400 different cheeses.

Our guide, Tiana

Volpetti Piu - Pizza Margherita (best pizza i've had this trip)

Just a small sample

Testaccio Market - bruschetta al pomodoro (tomatoes on toasted bread) insalata caprese (mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil), cannoli (pastry desserts)

Piping Cannoli

Flavio Al Velavevodetto - cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta dish), amatriciana (traditional tomato and pasta), carbonara (traditional Italian style - no cream)

00100 Pizza - suppli alla genovese (street food similar to arancini balls)

Giolitti - gelato (two flavours from fourth generation business)

So as you can imagine after this tour we needed to do some walking, so it was off for a walk through the Roman Forum.

My new 7 Euro sunglasses

The afternoon was getting a little warm and there is nothing worse than being in the sun in Rome. We caught the bus back to our accommodation and rested for a couple of hours.

Around 6pm we felt ourselves being pulled from the room and out into the streets. This is a tradition in many Italian cities known as la passeggiata (the walk).  Between 5 and 8 pm the streets are filled with local couples, families and in fact everyone. It is an opportunity to see what people are wearing, but more importantly for Italians, it gives them the opportunity to be seen.

Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps, under those people.

One last item of note, we are actually sharing our fourth floor apartment with a local. It was unexpected but we are coming to terms with it. His name is Giuseppe, and he is a Moorish Gecko and is apparently quite common in this area.

Giuseppe, the Moorish Gecko

Tomorrow - The sun will rise, the sun will set

Jingle Jingle

We made it, we finally made it into the Colosseum. Checking the map it was going to be a 1.6km walk, so with the help of Google maps on the phone we were able to successfully and easily use the bus to get to the Colosseum.
But as promised...a few snaps below of our "quirky" accommodation:

View from our room

Our kitchen and living area

Demonstration of how close the ceiling is

To ensure we weren't going to miss our reserved tour, we arrived about an hour early, this gave us time to find the correct entry and meeting point of the tour.

The tour we chose was directly through the government agency that operates the building and with this tour we were given access to see under the arena and also up onto the third tier. Getting access to these areas was great and gave us a good understanding of the history, however the tour was a little long and the guide also covered may things that we believe most visitors should already know, so at some times it was a little boring.

The afternoon was spent having a "Grande Caffe" at Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè, basically a large espresso that is made in a secret way. This caffe was very busy and also very Italian, queue at the cashier, place order with the cashier, get a receipt, queue for the barrister, hand over receipt, wait for coffee. It was one of the best espressos we have had and there is a very good chance we may be back tomorrow!

Next was a little surprise for Katie the Elephant at Piazza della Minerva

Followed by a visit to the Pantheon.

The evening was spent at a very typical Roman restaurant Armando al Pantheon. A lovely place and once again very local. It is a family business, however was a little on the expensive side, but as they say, when in Rome.

Finally it was Jingle Jingle time.  On our first tour in 2010 we noticed many African men in Paris selling miniature Eiffel towers, Katie gave them the name Jingle Boys as this was the sound they made as they walked around carrying the souvineers. So now we are in Rome there are no Eiffel towers but there are the African men and this time they are selling handbags, watches, laser pens, all counterfeit along with poles to hold your phone to take selfie photos, ponchos, umberellas, sunglasses. These guys are always on the lookout for police as we understand they're not allowed to sell products in this way. However it does make some interesting people watching, with the tactics and also the methods the tourists use to get away.

Tomorrow - Please, Sir, I want some more.

All roads lead to Rome.

Today saw the end of our week in beautiful Tuscany and the start of our week in Rome - my favourite city. Last night we had a drink with our fellow La Maesta guests to say goodbye and this morning were farewelled by Rosalinda, Stefano, Lilla and Virginia. A beautiful family who have become special friends. Stefano drove us to the train station and we were on our way.

Shannon and Alan

Shannon and Billy the cat

Me with the lovely Lilla

We've become quite familiar with travelling on trains and the quirks that are involved. Purchasing tickets...validating tickets...finding the right platform...train...coach...seat. We had purchased first class tickets for today's trip - it was a 2 and a half hour journey and usually first class provides more comfortable seats and air conditioning. We were annoyed to find there was no first class coach!

The trip was entertaining however. We had a couple sitting across the aisle from us. The gentleman had on a rather large pair of headphones and was clearly enjoying his music, because he decided the rest of us on the coach needed to hear it too. He was singing along so passionately we couldn't help but laugh. We couldn't sing along with him because he wasn't singing in English or Italian, but Chinese! Every now and then he'd pass a headphone to his wife who would then start to clap and dance along to the music. It was pretty funny and made a boring train trip go a little bit quicker.

We arrived in Roma Termini station - a shock to the system after a quiet week away from the crowds. We were swept up in the bustle of people coming and going, like ants on a mission to find the nest. We blew out of the station and began the journey to find our accommodation. Like most city's in Europe, Rome's Metro is user friendly, so we were able to buy tickets and get on the underground train quite easily. We had decided this time in Rome to book an apartment, to get a feel for what it's like to live in the hustle and bustle of the big city. We are literally around the corner from the Trevi Fountain (which is covered in scaffolding at the moment while under restoration) and are surrounded by restaurants and souvenir shops selling everything under the sun. The apartment is so quirky. It's a tiny little place on the fourth floor of an old building. The lift is that small that only two people can fit in it at a time. Or, as we discovered, one person and two suitcases! Photos to come of the strange angles on the roof and poky little bathroom! We had a relaxing afternoon reading and a little planning. We ventured out to the local supermarket to get breakfast supplies and some snacks and decided to do some washing.

First walk through Rome this afternoon.

Even though the apartment owner provided a step by step guide in a booklet with pictures on how to use the washer/dryer, we're still not sure how our clothes are going to come out in the end. They have literally been in the machine now for 4 hours...yes you read correctly! First we got it going but then the water wasn't flowing. Then the wash cycle took forever...we thought we had it on the dry cycle...but...well it's still cranking away. At this rate it might be done before we go to bed...watch this space!

We decided we needed a break from restaurants and were both craving a burger...so Burger King it was! We then enjoyed a gelati and a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow - The Colosseum - third time's a charm.