All of Rome is a Museum...

Well, it feels that way, there are Roman ruins literally littered everywhere!  Our next day in Rome provided sunshine (although it was colder than the day before, it doesn't seem right that clear skies are colder than cloudy ones!) and we thought we should start at the Trevi Fountain.  I must admit that when I threw in my last coin 25 years ago I didn't really expect to ever return, and I wasn't even so keen on including Italy on this trip, so maybe there is something in it!!  I threw my one coin but Greg and Liam, determined to aim for the top pool, kept throwing until they pretty much ran out of coins!  Bella had a couple of throws too, just for good luck - she is determined to return :-)  We wandered over to the Pantheon, where the kids were suitably grossed out to see that the grave (and reputedly the body too) of where Raphael, the famous painter, was buried.  Then it was onto the Colosseum and the ruins of the Roman forum!  Unfortunately the sun was being covered by clouds so I wasn't able to get a shot of the Colosseum with a lovely blue sky behind it, but we really enjoyed exploring the entire building as much as we were able.  I am so in awe of the Roman engineers, the things those people thought of!!  Amazing!!  By this time it was 1.30 and we all felt in need of a little sustenance, so we thought we'd try the restaurant we'd wanted to go to the night before (but which didn't open until 7.30pm and were too tired and too cold to wait around).  Bella says it is exactly how she imagined little Italian restaurants would be.  It was crowded (with locals as well as those who had looked up Trip Advisor!), friendly, and the food was wonderful.  I ordered 1/4 of a litre of wine but the owner bought me 1/2 a litre, he thought I needed it.  Just as well he did, as it was lovely wine and I had to share it with Bella and Greg who both liked it too!  When we asked for the bill he said "no, no, no,no, no, you must have desert!  Panna cotta, cream brulee, gelato..."  I'm a total sucker for a cream brulee so of course we ended up ordering all three (and he bought Greg a spoon!).  Then he tried to get us to order coffees!  I told him I honestly did not drink coffee, which he accepted, and bought Greg & I a glass of limoncello with our bill.  I'd never tried limoncello before and the first sip shocked us both - it was like drinking a spirit - but I found I quite liked it!  We wandered back out to the cold feeling much warmer and maybe a little merrier (or at least I was!) to wander around the ruins of the Roman Forum.  I don't think I bothered seeing that bit on my last visit, or maybe they've uncovered heaps more in the past 25 years, but there was lots to see and it was all so interesting!  The site of the first ever "Palace" which set the tone of grandeur for all palaces to follow; gardens, temples, and the forum - we didn't manage to see it all before we ran out of energy.  Greg claimed to be "ruin-ed".  After our big lunch we had a simple dinner of bread, ham and cheese.... and an early night!