Today we are off to do an underground tour of the Colosseum and then the Roman forum. It says it starts at 8.45 am and the small print says we should be there 30 mins prior. D&K are posting snaps from the Spanish steps at 6am and I decide that I want to do the washing at the laundromat we passed just down the road on the way to the Trevi fountain yesterday. I KNOW RIGHT.
But really you are never quite sure of when the next one, laundromat that is, might present itself. Another point being that I got pomodoro pasta sauce on my jersey and it’s quite cold so i need it. And another point is that we have a balcony at this hotel and it will be easy to dry them. Another point being that whilst the washing is washing we can walk to the Spanish steps, which are past the Trevi fountain, and also get beautiful crowdless photos.
We arrive without getting lost and place our washing in said machine but then we can’t work out how to turn it on. It doesn’t want our money or our card and nothing works. We take it out and try another machine. Nothing. We try to translate on our phones but alas no signal. We are nearly ready to give up when I accidentally touch the screen and it beams to life with a sign to push if you want English version of instructions. Too easy. So now feeling like dumb and dumber we exit the laundry to make our way to the steps.
We chat over the fact that there are so many surveillance cameras in the laundry that they shall be able to keep themselves and their friends amused for days by our efforts to turn on the machine. We walk up the big hill and walk some more and then some more still. We eventually get the top of nowhere and realise we have walked in the opposite direction and are simply at the top of a very uninteresting hill. I KNOW RIGHT.
We walk back down. I have no lovely morning light photos to share nor stories of stumbling upon across something wonderful. Just a walk up the hill and then a walk back down. The washing is still washing even though it’s supposed to be finished and the kids text to ask if we are coming to breakfast before we leave. The last 2 minutes of the cycle take exactly 4minutes and 25 seconds. I KNOW RIGHT.
We go back to the hotel hang, or drape the washing and we are off. Quick breakfast and walk to the meeting place where the small group tour which clearly states it has no more than 15 people has 24. I KNOW RIGHT.
And we are off, follow the umbrella, up here, through here, down there, round there.
The Colosseum is interesting and it’s a real privilege to retrace the footsteps of people from thousands of years ago. It’s a privilege to visit one of the world’s most iconic monuments. Our booked skip the line tour is definitely worth it, despite the size nearly doubling as we walk past the crowds lining up for what we are told we be about 2 hours. for When in Rome you must go to the Colleseum
We leave the Colosseum and go across to the Roman forum but I am now past my use by date for umbrella following or at least listening. The skip the line queue is very long and by the time we are inside my feet ache so I sit on a wall. I chat to Pops and his lovely wife, who are not sitting on the wall, who inform me they have been married for 60 years and I am impressed by their stamina not in their long and lovely marriage but there ability to not have sore feet and be sitting on the wall.
With the tour at an end we walk to the Jewish quarter to have lunch at another of Marco’s recommendation. We try the speciality of fried Artichoke and carbonara. We drink Prosecco and Peroni. When in Rome.
We head back to our hotel and 17,000 steps later I sit here writing this with my washing nicely dried and my feet feeling the joy of having no shoes on and D&K sending snaps of yet another monument and no doubt having clocked up another 10,000 steps.