We headed straight out into the city on a walking tour to see the major sights, including the brilliant Trevi Fountain, which was packed with tourists...
The Pantheon is even more impressive. It's almost 2,000 years old and still has the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. I was in Rome for 3 days and went back on every one of them just to marvel.
Phil's panorama shot of the interior of the Pantheon.
Our walking tour finished outside the Colosseum, where there was still time for one last group photo before we headed back to the camp-site pool for our last night on tour.
The next morning we visited the world's smallest state - The Vatican City. We paid for a guided tour and it was well worth it. Our guide spoke 4 languages and knew the answer to pretty much anything you asked him. Unfortunately they didn't allow photos in the Sistine Chapel, but we did get one inside the Basilica itself.
La Pieta inside the Basilica was very impressive. Sculpted by a 23 year old Michelangelo, it makes me feel fairly inadequate having not yet sculpted a masterpiece of my own.
That night after a quick nap in our hotel, me and Phil had to say goodbye to our fellow travellers. It wasn't easy - it'd been an amazing 10 days and we'd made some friends for life. The rest of my time in Rome wouldn't quite be the same...
The next morning I was feeling pretty good though. I'd had my first proper night's sleep in a real bed since July and I was ready to see the parts of Rome I hadn't managed to the night before, starting with the Roman Forum, followed by a look around the inside of the Colosseum.
The weather was so hot that day, I retreated to my hotel pretty early and spent the last of my euros on Fanta and Pringles. While sat watching the news in Italian in my underpants it hit me that another trip was over. Topdeck part two was fantastic - I got on with everyone on the trip, we had an excellent crew and the destinations were all brilliant. This won't be my last trip with the company, I'm sure of that.
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