Rome

As far as city touring plans go this one was pretty laid back ! Head in the general direction or Rome, find the Tiber, walk to the nearest identifiable ruin then continue walking in the direction of the Vatican hopefully not getting lost down one of the myriad of narrow alleyways before finally looping back to our starting point in Trastervere.

The first part of the plan worked well. From our accommodation in Trastervere we made our way on to Via Trastervere before crossing the beautiful Tiber river on a sunny morning. From here we soon picked up the amazing Circus Maximus now a park for wandering locals but then a 200, 000 seat amphitheater for racing chariots the obvious forerunner of todays Italian car driving habits.

From CM it was just a short distance up the road to the famous Palantino and Coluseum easily identified by the thousands of holidaying tourists queueing for entry. Trying to take a picture here without people stepping into the camera shot was almost impossible !

Our real joy in Rome though was simply just wandering down the narrow alleyways and past the squares / piazzas with architectural gems seemingly on every corner !

With some lucky navigation we made our way on to Fort de Angelo and then on to St Peters where the day before the Pontiff had delivered his Easter message to thousands of Pilgrims

Taking in our surrounds we finally left St Peters and walked back to Trastervere (admittedly a fairly lengthy walk) to complete a tiring but hugely rewarding 15km circuit !