Kia ora! Hello!

Controversial opinion, but I love a Hop On Hop Off Tour - do a loop see all the stops, get off at the ones you want to spend time at, can get you across the city faster, don't need to worry about locating which bus/train/tram to catch, let alone how to get tickets (some countries make it so much harder, yes I'm calling out Oslo here!)

So with that being said, we purchased a 2x day for $50NZD ish each and I tell ya, this was worth it! We were out the door all day, used the bus to get to the top of the hills/stairs and then wonder down (think smarter, not harder) and we really got our money worth. It made it easier to see all the little nooks and crannies in the city but also helped us gain some insights on navigating around efficiently.

The evening of the travel day here, I was insistent on watching the Mary-Kate & Ashley 'When in Rome' movie but had no luck locating it. Instead settled for 'Love & Gelato' on Netflix which is also set in Rome and pretty good. Now we have set the scene and ready to tackle the next few full days with site seeing!

Day 1 - full day

*Started by jumping on the bus and heading to Vatican City and visited the Piazza San Pietro and Basilica, which was incredible!

*Admired the round castle - Castel Sant'Angelo.

*Wondered over to the Spanish Stairs which were incredibly crowded, so we grabbed some lunch and decided we would try again in the morning.

*Checked out an art exhibition, I left feeling incredibly confused about it all.

*Monument to Victor Emmanuel II

*Church of Ara Coeli

*Circus Maximus

*Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore

Day 2 - full day

*Woke up early to go make a wish at Trevi Fountain - we got there at 9 and given its Winter I was quite surprised at how uncrowded it was. Would hate to see the crowds at these sites in Summer!

*Spanish Stairs - another controversial opinion but I don't understand why people rate it.

*Jumped on the bus to the Colosseum

*Massive lines for tickets so we went on the free tour to see part of Palatine Hill.

*Jumped back on the bus to get off at the top of Villa Borghese, which is a nice big garden that we walked around after having some lunch nearby.

Day 3 - full day

*Fiiiiiinally, a sleep in. Tackled most of our lists in the last two days so a catch up on some sleep was key.

*Wondered to the Cathedral of St.Ignatius of Loyola - we didn't have a euro so we couldn't light the mirror up but regardless this was spectacular. The illusion on the ceiling with the frescoes was incredible. It makes it appear that their is another couple stories to the building when this is not the case. Then there is the dome, which is that well done that it looks real when infact it is only 2D. Highly recommend seeing this.

Day 4 - half day & travel

*Started the day with a massage, which was relaxing but I'm in dire need of a deep tissue after carrying around this back pack asap!

*Had time to kill before our train so finished off watching Boy Swallows Universe - if you haven't watched it, it's pretty good. I lived not far from where it is based back when I lived in Brisbane.

Now off to Napoli!

Haere rā! Goodbye!