Short ride to Rome. Saw the Colosseum as I came out of the subway--very reminiscent of my first trip to Yankee Stadium. Rome has lots of old-ass motherfucking shit. Had dinner at McDonalds but didn't get a royal with cheese. I had several Cokes in Rome, which pepped me up. I realized that I had been feeling sluggish the first half of the trip due to a caffeine deficiency (normally I drink a dozen cups of Coke at work every day). Plus I had only a few brews the second night in Florence so for the first time I felt very alert in Rome.
The campsite was huge, and crawling with pigs, emus, peacocks and monkeys (I didn't see the monkeys though). Apparently the owner is an eccentric Italian millionaire. Or I guess in lire he's a billionaire. There were 6 tour groups at the campsite. A couple Aussie girls from a Busabout tour tried to mingle with us but then disappeared when the bar closed ("In disco! In disco!"). In the disco the bartender was a beefy Italian model with his own calendar.
For our full day in Rome, the only remaining thing I wanted to see was the Vatican, and I didn't feel like getting up early just for that. Tony gave us inside info about a Busabout bus that leaves later in the morning, so that gave us some extra partying/sleep time.
Colosseum
Colosseum
Colosseum
Colosseum
Forum (mostly below street level and excavated only a century ago)
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps