Jingle Jingle

We made it, we finally made it into the Colosseum. Checking the map it was going to be a 1.6km walk, so with the help of Google maps on the phone we were able to successfully and easily use the bus to get to the Colosseum.
But as promised...a few snaps below of our "quirky" accommodation:

View from our room

Our kitchen and living area

Demonstration of how close the ceiling is

To ensure we weren't going to miss our reserved tour, we arrived about an hour early, this gave us time to find the correct entry and meeting point of the tour.

The tour we chose was directly through the government agency that operates the building and with this tour we were given access to see under the arena and also up onto the third tier. Getting access to these areas was great and gave us a good understanding of the history, however the tour was a little long and the guide also covered may things that we believe most visitors should already know, so at some times it was a little boring.

The afternoon was spent having a "Grande Caffe" at Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè, basically a large espresso that is made in a secret way. This caffe was very busy and also very Italian, queue at the cashier, place order with the cashier, get a receipt, queue for the barrister, hand over receipt, wait for coffee. It was one of the best espressos we have had and there is a very good chance we may be back tomorrow!

Next was a little surprise for Katie the Elephant at Piazza della Minerva

Followed by a visit to the Pantheon.

The evening was spent at a very typical Roman restaurant Armando al Pantheon. A lovely place and once again very local. It is a family business, however was a little on the expensive side, but as they say, when in Rome.

Finally it was Jingle Jingle time.  On our first tour in 2010 we noticed many African men in Paris selling miniature Eiffel towers, Katie gave them the name Jingle Boys as this was the sound they made as they walked around carrying the souvineers. So now we are in Rome there are no Eiffel towers but there are the African men and this time they are selling handbags, watches, laser pens, all counterfeit along with poles to hold your phone to take selfie photos, ponchos, umberellas, sunglasses. These guys are always on the lookout for police as we understand they're not allowed to sell products in this way. However it does make some interesting people watching, with the tactics and also the methods the tourists use to get away.

Tomorrow - Please, Sir, I want some more.