I have no idea if this will work since everything I am looking at is in Italian but lets find out shall we..... Well I arrived in Rome yesterday and promptly dumped my gear, grabbed a map and started walking - four hours later I had had dinnner at Piazza Navona, sat on the Spanish steps, gelati at the Trevi fountain and been to a few churches, gotten lost several times and walked a few kilometres. It was all good and when i finally got back to the hostel most people staying in my room were already there. Since this is the first time I have stayed in a hostel it was interesting to meet different people - mostly everyone kept to themselves but I did talk to a veritable UN along the way - you know me I can't shut my mouth.

The room I was staying in was interesting though as there was a Japanese guy in the room who coughed the whole night. When i asked him this morning did he have the flu it turns out it was a smokers cough - considering that he is probably all of 25 he sounded shocking so i am wondering if its worthwhile to invest in some earplugs tonight so I can sleep alright since he obviously doesn't care either way. Ahhhh the joys of sharing rooms with strangers.

Todays itiniary contained a walk to St Peters square followed by a look at the Basilica. Although i have been there before its so ornate it was worth another look. As it turns out they now have a side benefit whereby you can get right to the top of the dome of St Peters Basilica (cost is 7 euros). 200 odd steps later and in a very confined space I came out at the top feeling v.v. sweaty but glad i had done it since the views were great. For all I know this was around last time I was in Rome and I missed out but who knows. After making my way down from there I went down into the catacombs to see the tombs of the past popes and even saw John Paul II's tomb. The crowd was huge down there and I wanted to take a photo of his tomb but since no-one else was I didn't want to risk getting into trouble so missed out on that one.

After that I walked through St Peters square around the Vatican to the entrance of the Vatican museum. I rented a 'douvie' to tell me all about what I was looking at and did find it useful but about half way through I was starting to lag and pulled up and had a rest in a garden somewhere in the middle of the tour. Finished the tour and gawd almighty they spent alot on the Vatican over the last 1000 or so years because it is so ornate but still worth a look.

After that was finished I wandered down the road to Castel Sant Angelo. Considering I wasn't going to go at all since my feet were killing me I got lucky and it turns out today was women's day so I got in for free. Anyone who has read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown may remember this Castel as the one where the popes were smuggled to via a 'secret' passageway from the Vatican to ensure their safety in times of war. Personally after seeing the Castel it was OK but I don't know if I would pay 7 euros to get in. The views from the roof though was great so I got a few pics in then sat down on the roof and wrote out some postcards. Sorry to those of you who will hear this twice but just remember that I was individually thinking of you when I wrote the cards.

Last but not least I headed down to the Panthenon where I checked it out then found a cheap pasta place (always find plenty of them around Rome) for dinner. After this I am going to be heading back to the hostel for a hot shower then bed since I am well and truly stuffed. Bye for now.