Rome the first

So, reasons I didn't want to go out:

My room is great and the bathroom is adorable. Rainbow adorable.

Welcoming fruit platter. Although I have to concede that welcoming half-pineapple is a tad awkward.

Welcoming cappuccino with wee chocolate, that I ate before realising the photo was blurry. Sorry.

Reasons I'm glad I went out:

See that?

See that?

See that? There's a street in Rome that commemorates my birth! Eat it, everyone else except Justin. Especially Dean.

Whoa mama. If Rome ever gets tired of being The Eternal City (and wouldn't that be ironic) it could easily be "The City With More Everything Than Anywhere". This is Il Vittoriano, the monument to Vittore Emanuele II, the first king of the unified Italy.

Heh. It's like they took their spelling of Rabbitohs from listening to Russell Crowe slur drunkenly.

When in doubt, head to the water. Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, bridge of overblown magnificence.

I had a moment of face-slappingness when I realised that the Tiber and the Tevere are the same river - the former is just the anglicised name. We shall never refer to those many minutes I spent poring over the map and wondering where the hell the Tiber had got to.

Time for the cross solo!

Tiny tree-horses.

Some nice Gothicism across the river in the form of Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio. Sounds cheerful!

A new building in Rome? That dog won't hunt, monseigneur. It is sheltering something rather ancient-looking though.

There was some little Spanish Steps. Also, I struck crowds in a big way. Boo!

Mary howling at the moon.

I think this is Castor and Pollux, being mighty posers. Also I was staring into the sun at the time and didn't realise I snipped off the top of the obelisk. Bung.

Fountains? One! Two! Three! Four! Each on a corner of the same intersection.