Europe Rome- Day twelve

Day twelve

Today I got up nice and early, had breakfast, stuck an apple in my bag and went for a walk. Turns out I was reading my map wrong and ended up walking in the other direction. I stopped at a little coffee shop to ask for directions. The man behind the counter was like sit down have a hot chocolate. I didnt want to disagree with the man because lets face it hot chocolates are awesome and it was bloody cold.  Italian hot chocolates are fantastic.

Hot Chocolate... Yummm

I sat and drunk my hot chocolate and reevaluate the map and worked out what I did wrong. I went to pay for my beverage and the man behind the counter starts hitting on me. Saying "what are you doing later, I will take you to gucci and prada at the spanish steps." I apologised to him and said I have a tour this afternoon but thanks any ways. He was quite persistence about me coming back. I ended up telling him sorry my husband is waiting for me.

Tip: In Rome I found that if I looked at a some males in the eye they would see that as an invitation to come up and talk to you. Especially if they are a shop owner they than put a spot on your map that you cannot go back to. In Rome being a lady by your self you may get hit on alot. I know I did. There is a couple ways of going about this. 1. Pull the husband or friend card by saying: "Sorry my husband is waiting for me." (Even though I do not have a husband this line works) 2. If they talk to you even if it is in your language shake your head like you do not understand what they are saying. 3. Wear a fake wedding ring 4. Be rude and blunt and say "NO" because sometimes be nice and saying "no thank you" gets you no where.

After that awkward encounter I continued on my adventure. I ended up finding a long stretch of shops that I had a look in that had alot of sales on. 

Tip: There is a shop called KIKI which is a make up shop. SOOOOO cheap. 

After having a bit of a shop I went back to the tour office that I was at yesterday to go on the Colosseum and Ancient Rome tour. This tour started at 3pm and went to 5pm. It took 5mins by bus to get there. Outside the Colosseum there are alot of Gypsy's selling items and begging for money. 

The Colosseum

The tour was really interesting. They had rough 15 people on the tour with one guide. Going on a tour of the Colosseum with a guide ensures that you skip the large line out the front. Two lovely ladies from Queensland on this tour. We spent about 30mins with the guide in the Coleesseum and then the guide let us wander for another half an hour.

Inside the Colosseum

I wont wreck it for you but the information that the guide gave us was fantastic. I would highly recommend going on a tour you get alot more out of it.

As the Sun started to go down started to walk to the Roman Forum. 

 Sunset over the Roman Forum

The sunset was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen so many amazing colours in my life.

The tour ended at the top of the Roman Forum and the guide said that if we tell the driver where we were staying they would drop us back to our hotel. I let the driver know and I got on the bus. After about 5mins the bus stopped and called out my hotel name. I looked out the window and I was thinking this has got to be a mistake I cant see my hotel anywhere. They called my hotel name again and I walked to the front of the bus and said "Where's my hotel? This is not my hotel" The guide said its just up around the corner to the left.

The bus wasn't going to drop me at my hotel. I was so annoyed and nervous as it was pitch black and they dropped me somewhere that I didnt know.  I started walking the way the guide told me to and realised that I didnt recognize anything. Trying not to panic I walked in to a shop and asked them where my hotel was. They didnt know. I asked 2 more people and they didnt know. I then found a police officer and he said it was on the other side of the train station. I walked through the busy train station and ended up on the street of my hotel. I didnt want to go back to my hotel and have room service so I went to a little restaurant. I was the only one in the restaurant but I got excellent service.

I started off by having bocconcini and prosciutto. So good. Than I had gluten free pasta. SOO SOO GOOD.

Gluten Free Pasta

When I was planning on going to Rome originally I was so worried that I was going to miss out on eating all the wonderful wheat filled treats in Rome. But they do cater for people who cant eat wheat. After dinner I walked back up the street to my hotel. And WOW. Rome is so dodgy at night.

Since my hotel was near a train station it was packed with people. But there was some homeless people or people waiting for the train sitting on the foot path against the wall. These people had pee'd on the foot path and thrown up. So I made a bee line to my hotel.

Tip: If you ever feel uncomfortable in any situation make sure you follow your instincts. Go into a shop or go and talk to some other tourist until you feel comfortable again.