Day 38 - Sun 5 Oct 25: Rome

October 05, 2025

Sun 5 Oct 25: Rome

After a very late sleep-in (both waking feeling less than average, we ventured down to breakfast at 09:00, and after catching up with a few stragglers from the bus tour, we returned to our room, purchased a multi day Hop On Hop Off Bus pass ticket to get around the city to the main attractions. The aim today was to firstly go to the Colosseum to find the meeting point for our tour on Tuesday, then to the Vatican two stops later to find the meeting point for the Vatican et al tour. Sounds simple enough, but when there are millions of other people on the streets and crowding the popular venues, it's no easy task. Sunday is the busiest day of the week in Rome too, so we did pick a bad day. The traffic this morning was horrendous, and it took forever to complete a lap. This is one place where I will gladly never return. After eventually finding both meeting points, we got off at a couple of other stops on the way back to the railway station opposite our hotel where we sat and relaxed in a cafe for a late afternoon brew. Noel returned to the hotel to take the washing to a nearby laundromat while I continued exploring. A visit to the National Roman Museum including Baths of the Diocletian, the Michelangelo Cloister and a bunch of exhibitions and displays with lots of old stuff - very old stuff filled my afternoon. It's too late to write about it so you can have a look yourself if interested. National Roman Museum

After 75 minutes, I wandered further to a Basilica that I was keen to look in - the Santa Maria Maggiore, only about 500m from our hotel. Unfortunately, Sunday is not a good day as everyone else also thought it was a good idea. When we drove past on the bus this morning, the queue was about 500m long. When I returned at 5pm, it was still about 200m long (obviously many people had already passed through in the meantime). I walked around the outside of the Basilica then decided I wasn't lining up, and returned to the hotel - I'll try again tomorrow. Why is it so popular you ask? Well there are a lot of famous artists and clergy, and 8 Popes including Pope Francis who passed away earlier this year, buried there. Back at the hotel, I showered and changed then Noel and I went up to the 10th floor bar for a sunset drink with Al and Marg (before they leave for home tomorrow). The views are fabulous and the sunset nice, but the price of one drink each was ridiculous. We all went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and, as we have an early start tomorrow morning with a tour of the Vatican etc, we said our farewells. Tonight, Noel is coughing worse than she has all day, and she appears to have another infection, so it looks like another doctor visit is needed tomorrow.

Maybe some photos tomorrow - not tonight..

...and here they are:

A walk around the Colosseum - it's hard to comprehend the size of it

A walk around the Colosseum

Castel Sant'Angelo on the bank of the Tiber - An ancient fortress with centuries of history

Looking towards the Vatican City

National Roman Museum

National Roman Museum - Michelangelo Cloister

National Roman Museum - Ancient Scripts

National Roman Museum

National Roman Museum - Baths of the Diocletian

National Roman Museum - Baths of the Diocletian
contructed between 298 and 306 AD, the largest public bath complex in the ancient world accomodating up to 3,000 people.