Day 1: Rome

We started off our first day in the città eterna (eternal city) with a typical Italian breakfast. On offer were croissants, panini, crostata, tiramisù, fruit, yoghurt, toast, muesli... and of course coffee and a range of fruit juices. We also met Benda, the dog here at the hotel, who loved to be patted. 

After our meal, we filled up our water bottles at the nearby nasone (big nose - drinking fountain) with the freshest, cleanest water most of us had ever tasted. Along the way to the Basilica, we enjoyed browsing the souvenir shop with the Italian equivalents of our typical Australian koalas, kangaroos, and boomerangs being replaced by Pinocchio toys, Venetian masks, and images of the statue of David. We had a quiet moment of reflection inside the Basilica as we admired the beautiful mosaics and religious art, and took a moment to pray or light a candle. 

Before returning for lunch, we stocked up on fresh fruit and Italian snacks at the local market and the Italian equivalent of Coles which is called Conad. We all successfully used our Italian skills to decline or accept the plastic bag offered, understand how much money we needed to pay, and of course say buongiorno and grazie to the people serving us. 

Lunch offered us more language using opportunities as we asked for panini filled with salami, mortadella, formaggio... basically anything we wanted from the local bottega. 

We earned our lunch by walking along the Tevere, seeing la bocca della verità (the mouth of truth), il buco della serratura (the keyhole - which has the most stunning view of Rome inside), before arriving at giardino degli aranci (garden of orange trees) to finally enjoy our meal. Here, we were treated to a relaxing musical performance by a busker in the park and took in the gorgeous city as we had a panoramic view from the top of the park. 

We cooled off at la Chiesa (church) di Santa Sabina before making our way to the Colosseum via Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus). We didn't need a tour guide as Tim told us all about the history of the Colosseum before we entered. Inside, we explored the multiple levels of the amphitheatre and watched a pair of pigeons re-enacting some gladiatorial scenes. We then made our way up to the Roman Forum. Looking at all of the ruins, we wondered how significant a building must be for its broken, worn-out form to continue to be visited and photographed centuries later. 

After all of our walking and exploring in the heat, we needed some time to freshen up before dinner at Otello where we were treated to a private room downstairs. We each ordered our own pasta or pizza, learned how to pronounce Sprite with an Italian accent, and discovered that Fanta here is more like sparkling orange juice with far less sugar added than we are used to. We thanked our waiter, Pasquale, and then walked to the nearby Piazza Trilussa to immerse ourselves in the local night-life. We sang and danced along to the musician in the square before finishing the night with a quick gelato and leisurely stroll back to the hotel for bed.