The Adventures of Wickse, Eric & Sharon: Rome

The heat had really got to us, so having got our heads together in the cool of Mt Etna we decided to get back onto to the mainland and head due north. A full day's driving later we arrived in one of the world's mightest capitals, and one of our favourite cities, Rome.

Now driving in Rome isn't one of our most favourite activities in life, and certainly isn't recommended for the faint of heart, so here's the bit when we send our utmost thanks and love to our very own special friend TomTom. To be honest we would have been totally lost without him directing us through the traffic in search of the camping ground. Heaven only knows how we managed this last time around in the technologically inept TanVan. But sure enough there we were, navigated direct to the reception (humour and relationship intact) and our home for the next four nights.

Romulus & Remus with the She Wolf - iconic symbol of Rome

We had last visited Rome back in 1998,and we keen to revisit the Camping Flaminio, a sort suburban train right from the central city. The girl on reception informed us that there had been quite a few changes to the camping since then, but nothing could have prepared us for the shock - or rather pleasant surprise which was to await us at the shower blocks... What were once humble ablution facilities had been totally replaced with a fully marbled beauty complex, with full length mirrors, skylit showers, automatic flushing WCs, a beauty room complete with magnifying mirrors, and to top it all off - opera and classical music was being played through the stereo!!

Being our second visit to this magnificent city, we really were able to relax and enjoy ourselves a little more. While we certainly had places to go and things to see, we weren't in such a rush to cram in all the tourist sights, which left us plenty of time for soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the food and engaging in another of life's pleasures, shopping!!

Ensuring our return to Rome, tossing a coin at the Trevi Fountain

The shopping fest aside (I think we've seen at least every shop in Rome, some even twice, and it's much better than in Florence should anyone be interested), we did manage to revisit some of our favourite sights (the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Plaza Navona, St Peters - including the trek to the very top of the dome), as well as a few new ones - the Capitoline Museum, the Basilicia di San Giovanni (Rome's cathedral), Via Sanni market, the very spooky skeleton construction of Chiesa di Santa Maria della Concezione, where everything including the chandeliers are made out of the bones of generations of our old friends the Capuchin monks, hmmm must say it's not a terrribly good look...

I won't bore you with too many more details, but rather let the photos do the talking.

Unfortunately, yet again these Capucin monks aren't too fond of the paparazzi so we don't have any snaps of the skeletal chapel to share with you : (

The masive Basilica di San Giovanni, the city's cathedral

The Colosseum

Admiring the view at the Forum

Just the two of us, the Forum

Lat in roots

Sanduwiches galore!

"You don't say!" - Swiss Guards gossiping at the Vatican

St Peter's Square

The Roman skyline

Pigeon and friend, Ponte Sant'Angelo

Detail, Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona

However the Capitoline Museum was without a doubt the highlight of our visit, and deserves particular mention. It is perched high upon Capitoline Hill, standing proud over the Forum and Colosseum beyond. It also happens to be one of the world's oldest museums, founded in 1471 when the pope of the day donated a few bronze sculptures to the city. It also happens to be one complete and utter knockout for anyone remotely interested in art and history, crammed to gills with one exceptional piece of sculpture after another, the very original version of Romulus & Remus with the She-Wolf (the enduring symbol of Rome), and pisellos galore! Here's just a few of our favourites...