I ate my little packed lunch and said goodbye to our lovely tour guide who we were going to meet tomorrow at the Vatican. We had closer look at everything again and started a competition that would consume the rest of the holiday. The most artistic picture of the day competition! Here’s mine, it’s beautiful!



We left the Forum and managed to get to the top of another one of the 7 hills of Rome, The Capitoline Hill. It’s home to the Senatorial Palace and a piazza designed by Michelangelo. Very Angels and Demons! Our aimless wanderings continued until we were completely blinded by the brilliantly white structure that is the National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II. It was a sunny day, like all the days we‘d been there, and climbing up the huge white staircase was like Robert Scott coping with snow blindness (a doomed South Pole expedition from the 1900s simile, how cerebral). It was so reflective! Stupidly so in my opinion! Inside was a huge museum. Interesting fact I learnt about the statues of chariots (I think it’s interesting anyway), is that they generally have four horses pulling them representing the four corners of the Roman Empire.




Wandering through so many beautiful piazzas, visiting so many fantastic buildings there’s no way I can remember them all. That’s why Rome is so fantastic! You just stumble upon amazing places.

We were heading towards the Pantheon and, to be honest, I had no idea what the Pantheon was. It’s another amazing building which is famous for having a big hole in its roof. It’s on purpose though! It’s an ancient concrete dome with an oculus at the apex. Everything in Rome is huge and this building is definitely no exception with the dome weighing 4,535 metric tons! Wikipedia tells me that ‘…the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.’ It was built to be a temple to all of the Roman Gods but was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. Another impressive building. DAN BROWN ALERT!!! Yes, this is a location in Angels and Demons. Another place used in the book was the Trevi Fountain.




It just springs up from nowhere! It’s another huge structure that’s completely breath taking. I thought it would be in a huge piazza but actually it felt pretty cramped. So many people there throw coins in for good luck. If you throw a coin in you’ll return to Rome in the future, so fingers crossed that’s true.


A pretty hectic and exhausting day! We retired to the hostel and had a few glasses of wine. We got into a random conversation with a drunk American (they really can’t hold their wine). Today was a milestone for me because it was the first day I washed all of my clothes. We booked our next hostel in Pisa and in Venice. It was nice to do it all on a computer and not on an iphone for a change (I dread to think of the phone bill).

It was truly an amazing day with places that I’d remember for the rest of my life. Tomorrow was going to be even busier! I was going to meet the Pope…well, just go to the Vatican!

The Colosseum is an icon, not only of Italy, but of an entire civilisation. Every film based in Rome probably has scene with it in and, let’s face it, we all love watching Gladiator (Russell Crow, what a legend!). We got up early, grabbed a European MacDonald’s breakfast (coffee and croissant) and jumped on the subway to the Colosseum. We had a bit of a walk but that only built up the anticipation I felt. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations but it really exceeded them.

It was even bigger than I expected it to be! We got chatting to a girl who was promoting tours around the area (she was going to go to university in Birmingham…unlucky) and we decided to go on one. I was a little concerned they were going to run off with our money but it turned out to a fantastic choice. As you’d expect, there were huge queues to get into the Colosseum and we managed to skip them because we were part of a tour. We were given snazzy headsets and told about all animal slaughtering, Christian burning and gladiator slaying. I found it completely fascinating! People might say it’s too touristy but I encourage everyone reading this to go have a visit.

Here’s a little bit of boring information about the Colosseum:

*Emperor Vespasian ordered its construction at around 70AD on the site of lake.

*The Roman people loved it because it was seen as giving an area in the centre of Rome back to them. It was Emperor Nero’s private garden.

*It took 10 years to build and was the site of many gladiatorial battles and public executions.

*As time went on, the site was robbed of metal and stone.

*In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV sanctified the Colosseum as it was a place where early Christians had been martyred.

*The Colosseum was partially buried so Benito Mussolini, in the 1930s, ordered it to be excavated.

*In 1993, the Colosseum was restored with portions of the structure being rebuilt.



What I found particularity interesting was that Ancient Romans had their own seats in the Colosseum. They had seat numbers like in football grounds today. So it was like going to the New Camp all over again!

In most places, we found that we were spending all our money on water. So we came prepared that day. We had nipped to a supermarket by our hostel before we left and got some drinks and snacks. A top tip there to save money!

I thought I’d save a bit of money too by getting post cards off this nice old woman for a couple of euros…I found out later they were being sold for €1 at the shops. I was not happy!

Our tour continued, with the lovely Mya, into the Roman Forum.



Palatine Hill is at the centre of the mythology of Rome. I was completely ignorant to this story until the tour. It just shows why the cost of the tour was completely worth it. Anyway, it’s the story of Romulus and Remus who were the original founders of Rome. Legend has it, (sounding corny..I know) that Amulius was worried that his niece would bear a child that could over through him. So he made is niece, Rhea Silvia, become a Vestal Virgin (virgin being the main word). His plan was going well until the god Mars got the hots for Rhea. He seduced her in the woods and 9 months later she had twins, Romulus and Remus. This is where the story gets very familiar! The King orders the death of these infants but instead they were laid in a basket and placed on the banks of the River Tiber. The River carried them down stream until they ended up on Palatine Hill. They were nursed by a she-wolf and this is why you see this sculpture everywhere in Rome.



Of course, as Shakira taught us, She-Wolf is an ancient slag term for a prostitute. Good video but terrible song! Anyway! Many years on the two brothers manage to kill the King Amulius and give the crown to his brother. The twins then went to back to Palatine Hill to build a city. After an argument, Romulus killed Remus and built Rome. It attracted many people seeking a new life but the majority were criminals, escaped slaves and refugees. It was a complete sausage-fest! So Romulus invited all the men from a neighbouring tribe to a fake festival, killed them all and took all of their women for Rome (‘The Rape of the Sabine Women’).

Just over the hill is the Roman Forum. The centre of democracy in the Roman world…well, when Rome was being democratic…It’s such an amazing area with so much Roman architecture pushed in one place. Let’s just run through a few:
Temple of Castor and Pollux
Temple of Saturn
Temple of Vesta
Temple of Venus and Roma
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Temple of Caesar
Temple of Vespasian and Titus
Temple of Concord
Temple of Romulus
Shrine of Venus Cloacina
Basilica Aemilia
Basilica Julia
Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine
Arch of Septimius Severus
Arch of Titus
Arch of Tiberius
Arch of Augustus

It’s such a spectacle to see all these fantastic buildings. My favourite building (I realise that’s a sad statement before I continue), was the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. This was where St. Laurence was martyred by being grilled to death. Funnily enough, the Catholic Church made him the patron saint of barbeques. There are huge gouges in the pillars as well from where chains were wrapped around them in an attempt to pull them down. Not even elephants could move them. A nice little story there!



Just so much history! So much so that the day isn't over....To Be Continued!!!

Rome, this was the biggy for me! The place I most wanted to go! It’s got so much history and that something that gets my geeky heart beating! When I arrived in the train station, I felt a strange mixture of excitement and complete exhaustion. The overnight train was a complete drain and to make matters a little worse we couldn’t get into our hostel until midday.

The hostel was called The Yellow and generally was very nice. It was close to the station which is always a good thing but this did mean it wasn’t the closest place to all of the sights. Anyway, we managed to dump our bags and began exploring. I have to say that this wasn’t a hugely memorable day as I was so tired I was practically a walking zombie. Even so, we visited the Piazza della Repubblica, Trinta del Monti and got to the Piazza del Popolo.



The Piazza del Popolo was what I expected Rome to be. Full of Roman architecture, fountains, sculptures and symbology. When it got to midday, we headed back to our hostel and had a well earned nap. 6 people in our room this time so we outnumbered the strangers…yey! I had a bit of a read of the Lonely Planet (the backpackers bible, definitely worth a purchase if you’re planning this sort of thing). The hostel had a bar downstairs so we had a few glasses of wine (to be more Italian and it’s a lot cheaper than beer) and went out locally to get some yummy Italian food.

We discussed the next day, we were heading to the Colosseum. Oh yes!! I was very very excited!

This was the biggest travelling day so far! By the end of two days we wanted to get into the heart of Italy. We thought it would save us money on accommodation and save us time if we got an overnight train to Rome. We booked the cheapest tickets and started our journey from Nice. Have a gander at the map below:



This shows our journey, our stops and the distance we covered. Our first change was in Italy at a place just over the boarder called Ventimiglia. Quite a nice place where we grabbed something for lunch. This was my first taste of Italian Coffee and it was amazing. The rumours are true, Italian coffee blows the English rubbish out of the water. We all then realised that non of us knew any Italian, apart from the occasional swear word that would have no use in polite conversation, so we tried to brush up as quickly as we could…I still know no Italian. I tucked into some great tasting Gnocchi (Italian dumplings) and waited for our next train to Genoa (Italian: Genova).

This was another uneventful journey and I’m pretty sure I slept through most of it. Genoa didn’t seem to be a massively tourist orientated place and, like Marseilles, seemed to be more of a working city. It’s a very old city and does have some very good looking buildings. One of these gems was the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato. As I’ve said, Genoa is where we’d catch an over night train to Rome from so we were wandering round looking for things to do. I saw the huge façade of the church and talked everyone into going in with me. It was completely gorgeous inside with baroque paintings covering every inch of wall and ceiling. It was very beautiful. A steward of the church came up to us and started talking to us in Italian. As I’ve said our Italian isn’t just rubbish, it’s non existent. We both realised and he walked us over to a wall full of photographs. He showed us pictures of the burning ruins of the church after a world war two air raid…then we realised it must have been an allied bomb..oh dear! The uncomfortable feeling quickly subsided as the bloke was very enthusiastic about the church and the work they had done to repair it. They did an extremely good job. After ‘talking’ to him for a bit, we had a wander into the city. We visited the huge fountain in the centre of the town (Pizza De Ferrari) and then walked back to the train station and got something to eat near by. Again, some very nice pasta.



On quite an eventful walk to the station, a crazy lady started shouting at us for no reason and managed to corner Drew. Being good friends we didn’t stop to help. He didn’t get killed though, it’s fine! Anyway, we spent the rest of the time playing cards in the station until the train.

Genoa to Rome on an overnight train was the worst idea we had. We were cramped in a full cabin, were in the noisiest train in existence and sat with annoying people who got phone calls all night. Unless you reserve a bed, I really recommend you avoid an over night train. Though this was the first time we got our passports checked. We got our passports checked every couple of hours all night and the Italian ticket inspectors are very angry people.

We got into Rome at 6am. Pretty exhausted. Weather was still amazing though! So hot!

Nice

The last day was spent sunbathing on the uncomfortable pebble beach. I also managed to finish the book I was reading. I took The Lovely Bones with me. It’s an emotional book about a girl who’s tragically murdered looking down at the world from her heaven. Definitely recommended! This meant I was onto my second book, Twilight Saga: Eclipse! Oh Yes! Team Jacob!

Anyway! We finally finished exploring Nice at night. We had a drink at an Irish pub in the Cours Saleya and watched the premier league highlights. We then scoured the city for a nice place to eat in Nice. We wanted something authentic and we managed to find a restaurant in the place Rossetti. This an amazing area of the old town with restaurants and fountains occupying the main square. I ate some of the best duck I‘ve ever tasted! A really amazing last meal in France!
On the walk back to the hotel, we stumbled upon florescent men on poles…Strange. The huge square’s called Place Garibaldi in celebration of a historical figure who helped unify Italy.



We walked down the main strip by the beach (Promenade des Anglais) to find the drumming van man and the spray paint man again.

We got back to the hotel and watched CSI in French…it was the one with the murder in the house that was up for sale…I had to explain. I think I’ve watched CSI too much!

Nice is a fantastic base city. It’s very laid back and gives you the opportunity to quickly jump on a train and visit Monaco. I’m classing this as a new country because it’s a principality. It’s technically the second smallest country in the world! This was one of the places I was most looking forward to because I am a massive formula one fan. Monaco is synonymous with the sport and is one of the greatest challenges a formula one driver can undertake. I really wanted to walk the track!



We had a look at all of the incredible boats in the harbour and found the ‘Force
Blue’ which, after some superb googling, we discovered was Flavio Briatore’s. It’s truly steeped in F1 history so I was so excited when we began to wander the track…backwards. We walked from the tunnel to the Loews Hairpin. This is one of the most memorable corners of the track. One of the more peculiar things we saw there was a heart defibrillator on the side of the road. Thankfully, no one needed it while we were there.



As much as I enjoyed this, Monaco was slightly disappointing for riches. We were hoping to see hyper-cars and super-cars surrounded the casinos but the highlights were a couple of Ferraris, a few Maseratis and an Aston Martin. Still pretty cool but no Bugatti Veyrons! Sad times!

The Palace was the next pit stop on our tour of Monaco. Through completely luck we got to the palace just in time to see the changing of the guard. It happens once a day so it was a fantastic spectacle to watch. There were fantastic panoramic views all around the palace looking over the town and out to the ocean. The old town (on the Rock of Monaco) is a fantastic place and generally what we expected from Monaco. Fantastic architecture and another beautiful church. This is where Grace Kelly was buried. A really beautiful location.

We travelled back into Nice where we ordered pizzas, got a couple of bottles of wine and watched the sunset on the beach. A really relaxing night that was pretty cheap too. Later that night, we wandered around and perused the street performers. One guy painted fantastic landscapes with spray paints while another bloke played country and western drums from inside a van. In the future, if my career goes down hill, I’ll buy a van and roam the country drumming. We also watched some skaters perform jackass like stunts and get a little hurt. I don’t rejoice in other peoples pain but it was pretty funny!!

Day 5 - Cannes and Nice

Our original plan was to stop in Nice our first night in France but, because we got caught in Marseilles, we thought we’d head straight to Cannes so we didn’t loose another day. We dumped our backpacks in lockers at the train station and went for a wander. Cannes is obviously famous for the annual film festival but did you know it also makes satellites. Fascinating fact there! The festival is held in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès with the whole area filled with film nostalgia. Like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but on a much smaller scale, there are actors hand prints cast in the floor. We ignored the obviously French and rubbish actors but found our hands are bigger than John Claude Van Dams, this obviously means we could take him in a fight.



Anyway, Cannes itself is a very beautiful place with a long sandy beach stretching into a crystal blue sea. It’s truly the place for the beautiful people with Aston martins cruising about and huge Yachts moored in the harbour. Again, fantastic weather! After a few hours there we get the train to Nice.

Nice is nice! We had booked a hotel with all four of us sharing a room. This was a nice change from the 12 strangers we had to stay with in Barca. We were in the oriental district of Nice which meant we could get some fantastic and cheap Chinese food. The beach was stone which meant some very uncomfortable sun bathing but the weather, like everywhere else was incredible. On the first night we had some fantastic Chinese food with everyone venturing with the chop sticks, apart from me as I have no coordination.

Day 4 - Marseilles

Travelling day! Due to the French trains being stupid, we were worried about our journey to Nice. Fortunately, everything ran smoothly. Trains in Europe are so much better than those crappy excuses for mechanics that we call trains. I surprisingly managed to sleep through the entire journey. We generally guessed the direction on the trains and managed to get out of Spain. Unfortunately, we got stuck in Marseilles, which is like the Birmingham of France. We got a shoddy hotel outside the station, had a few drinks and waited to travel in the morning.

Final Thoughts - Barcelona

It was a fantastic city for the first stop on our whistle-stop tour of Europe. It’s completely huge, everything is epic! A huge church, a massive football stadium, beautiful port, fantastic weather, some weird Gaudi buildings, a really good subway system and a very good hostel(Centric Point). I’m going to miss sitting on the roof terrace sipping some Spanish beer.



Places Visited

Olympic Village
Castell de Montjuic
The New Camp
Sagrada Família
Park Güell
Columbus Monument
La Rambla
The Barri Gòtic
The Port of Barcelona
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya