24 September - Rome

Our Alitalia flight to Rome this morning departed Istanbul at 06:15 which mean the alarm clock went off at 02:45. Just as well we got an early night last night last night. After a two hour flight we landed in Rome, and we also wound the clock back one hour which meant is was only 7:30 am. The ride from the airport to our hotel was nearly an hour due to some horrendous traffic even at that time of day. The check in at the Espozione Hotel was a pleasant surprise. When the checkin staff realised we had been up half the night they gave us one room straight away and the second one only a half hour later. That meant that we were ready to hit the tourist trail by mid morning to see what we could see.

Our first stop was the Trevi fountain, which unfortunately is under renovation. We have seen this famous landmark in many photos, brochures and movies of course but we were not prepared for the sheer size of it. The central statue must be the height of a four story building. A pity about the renovations but it gave us a pretty unique view of the Fontana di Trevi.
From here we wandered off to find the Colloseum and en route found many other famous landmarks including the excavations of the Forum Romana.

Next stop the Colloseum, another short walk away.

By mid afternoon we were getting a bit weary - not surprising given the early start, so back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and a beer and some bubbly. Tonight we'll try our luck at one of the many pizza and pasta places we spotted along the way. Tomorrow we expect to visit the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica.