Energy level quite low (both mine and the computer's) so entries will be brief. In the morning Merilyn slept and Bruce wandered, marvelling at the number of illegal ways cars can be parked and also the skill needed to get cars into and out of tight spaces.
Ended back at the Spanish Steps where they must have learned I was coming because they put on a brass band who played well known Italian songs such as Volare. It was great sitting in the warm sunshine, the happy crowd sang along for some songs and vigorously clapped along with others
Back to the hotel to pick up the now bright eyed and bushy tailed Merilyn and off to the National Museum for the afternoon. This Museum, one of hundreds, features the history of Rome in the centuries when it changed from a Republic, with a Senate elected by the people, to a dictatorship ruled by an Emperor. Statues and frescos recovered from homes of the different ages were the main features of the exhibition. It was all quite interesting. After dinner we had a short stroll to a square to listen to some of the music, dodge the vendors, and have another gelato ! - 8 flavours down and about 10 to go -can I keep up the pace?
Sunday 5th November
Merilyn has needed to replace her nearly full container of sharps for a new one - very easy to do at the Chemists in Australia, and also in Ireland and Britain, but not so easy in Italy. The 3 or 4 Farmacies (Italian spelling), we visited had no idea and had never seen a sharps container. Finally one Pharmacist ( English spelling) suggested we try a hospital - probably because they would be dealing with drug addicts. So, this morning we found a hospital, entered by the Maternity Ward and followed signs through a maze of corridors and stairs to get to the Farmacia, which is not open on Sundays. We got thoroughly lost trying to get out, no one was around, but finally down in the bowels of the building, a nice young man took us to a lift which got us to Reception (un-manned) and we escaped through the front door. A bus trip took us to the San Callisto Catacombs where we had a very interesting visit which included going quite deep underground and walking past many graves, including family ones which were actually a room with graves of various sizes (not one size fits all) dug into the walls which often also had frescos telling Christian stories. Our guide was very informative and we learned that the early Christians did not actually hide in the catacombs, as many people have thought, the were just used for burials. We saw the tombs of the first 5 bishops of the church - they were not called Popes then. Apparently there are about 20 km of tunnels and thousands of graves in this part of Rome - outside the walls to keep diseases away from the residents. .
We came out from underground into a mighty storm - very dark, much lightning and thunder and torrential rain - we thought we were back in Singapore! It lasted for over an hour but finally we were able to bus and train it back to our favourite restaurant and then home to prepare for our train journey to Siena tomorrow.
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