We left Tuscany/Umbria on 8th September. JP went to London to shoot a wedding and I went to Rome for a week at the end of which I took a boat to Greece. After a few days, we were reunited in Athens (although we did our damndest to avoid each other at the airport, managing to wait at different gates for an hour before JP twigged that I was in the wrong place) and are now on Syros, an island.

When I left for Rome, we realised that we had never thought to get me a camera as JP would be taking all the photos. As a result, this post will have no photos but in any case, you've probably all seen it all before. In fact, I'm not going to write about most of what I saw as it was all the famous touristy stuff. Instead, I present 'Rome in tips and quotes'.

Tips

If you decide to visit the Vatican Museums, it can be worth taking a tour. I was assured by the guide I spoke to that the tour was needed because there are no information cards in the museum, which turned out to be correct. You also don't have to queue to get in, which is nice. The tour I went with claimed to be the only official one but who knows whether this is true.

If you take a tour and you are not going at a peak time i.e. not during the height of summer or at weekends, it is definitely worth haggling – the group I went in with could have been twice as big and the guide told me that business was a bit slow. I can't claim any credit for haggling, however, as it was rather accidental. Having watched a guide trying to sell the tour to people walking by, I marched up and asked why I should go with them. He gave me the spiel, I said I might return the next day and he, when handing me their leaflet, said 'I'll give you the student rate' (5 euros cheaper). Next to 'student', it also said 'under 26', so I automatically said 'I'm already under 26'. He hesitated but with very little persuasion, gave me another 5 euros off giving a final price of 35 euros instead of 45 (including entrance to the museum which costs 14 euros and two hour guided tour). I think I should have had to show my student ID to get this price when I returned the next day but this had not been stipulated in the hand written offer and no one asked me for it, luckily, as I don't have one. I was asked not to mention the price to anyone else on the tour and the organisers didn't look too happy so I assume it was a very good price!
The tour was very good – led by an ex-history of art student who spoke well and was very entertaining. For 20 euros above the price of the museum, it added a lot to the experience. I recommend it, but haggle!

If you go to the Cistene Chapel, don't bother taking a camera. All photography is banned as a Japanese TV company has all copyright over it since they paid $100 million to have it cleaned in the 1990s. Instead, take binoculars, which I had happened to do. Stare at God and Adam and all the famous bits then look at the point where the ceiling meets the back of the chapel. In the middle is the Pope of Michelangelo's time looking wise, reading something with two boys peering over his shoulder. One of the boys has his arm around the other boy's shoulders. When the chapel was cleaned and restored in the 1990s, having been covered in soot for a long time, the boy's hand was seen up close for the first time. Michelangelo had also darkened the area in case the distance was not enough to make the boy's hand unclear. Even with binoculars, it is difficult to see but the boy's thumb is just discernible between his first two fingers – the then equivalent of sticking your middle finger up. Michelangelo's difficulties with his boss are notorious and who doesn't dream of doing what he did?

Quotes

“2kg for 75 euros” - overheard while walking back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning, I didn't stop to ask what the two guys on the street corner were selling.

“That's what I think of when I think of Rome” - English tourist looking at the spot where Romulus was apparently stabbed by other senators. (Well, I still think he ascended into the heavens, and became a god, just like the nice senator said - J-P) Effect somewhat spoiled by the spot being invisible as it was covered in scaffolding and plastic.

French woman looking at the spot where Julius Caesar is supposed to have been cremated. Flowers and messages on postcards have been left in some form of shrine. Woman's question: “Is it a bin?”

Lastly, I must send my love to my uncle, aunt and cousins in Rome whom I saw while I saw there, some for the first time in over a decade. Each of my three cousins has had a child who also came to the family dinner and it was lovely to meet them all at last. Zio (Uncle) Matteo appears to be quite a fan of this blog, which is gratifying. Spero che continui a piacerti, Zio. E' stato tanto, tanto bello vedervi tutti. Grazie di avermi fatto vedere tante belle cose intorno a Roma e spero che ci vedremo piu' presto la prossima volta! Amore a tutti. (Sorry to all of you who don't speak Italian, learn it, it's a beautiful language...)