The double glazing made the room quiet overnight although we did need to have the aircon on for a while, even with just a sheet. Breakfast was good – a coffee machine, cereal, croissants, a toaster, jam and honey and some meats and cheeses.

We have 3 keys for the BnB . One gets through the main street door into the courtyard area, the second into the Apartment 2 area and the third into our own room. To go out there are red buttons that open 2 doors from the inside but having to lock your own room means you are unlikely to go out without keys.

We had been asked to check in properly after breakfast and at that time the woman in the office gave us information about the metro lines, buses and the transport pass (4 euro a day or 11 for 3 days).


We had not done the Hoho (hop on hop off bus) here so picked up the brochure and then got them to book it. This was a mistake because we still had to go to the office to pay the balance and there the company, Ciao Roma, told us the first bus we could take from there was not one for another hour. However, if we wanted to walk to another stop we could get on the next bus!! Weird. This company only ran 4 open top buses so it was not a very convenient one .


We walked down to the Colloseum to find the first bus to arrive was not open topped. We were puzzled but got on as I recognised the name of the bus company. This bus had a guide talking in Italian and English about the sights. When we arrived at the Vatican we were told the proper bus was there so all moved into this one instead. This meant we ended up on the top and went back to the start of the route, about 5 minutes from the BnB


We had lunch at a place offering a 10 euro tourist menu, with 3 courses!! Mine was a pizza, mixed salad and coke. John's was lasagna, pork chop and some lettuce. In small print the 2 euro cover charge was mentioned but we have learned to look out for this in Italy.


We took the Hoho back to the Colloseumum and had a walk around . We bought drinks at the metro station and walked as far as the Wilhelm II memorial , which is always spectacular although the white can be dazzling.


We then picked up the Hoho at a nearby stop – although it arrived at a time half way between the times on the timetable for 2 buses. By this time we were wondering why we had bothered with a 2 day pass. However, we could usually get onto the top deck and take photos and it was saving our legs, especially as the afternoon was warm.


We had tea at a place 1 block from the BnB. We had looked at a couple of places but the waiters here were very friendly which did the trick for us. We ended up sitting near a woman from Wanganui who had eaten here a previous evening and said she had tried another place but this was cheaper, nicer food and more fun.


The waiters were a floor show in themselves . The youngest one would say 'East or West (your country) is the Best’. He greeted any Aussies with ‘Gudday mate’ and was taught by the woman from Wanganui to say ‘Cheers bro’ to Kiwis. He did a double act with another one – saying he was single but the other was married. They would chase potential customers, especially women, along he footpath with menus in hand. However, it was always in good spirits and non-threatening.

The food was fine and the service was also very good. In spite of the floorshow, the waiters never mucked up the orders. An amazing number of languages were covered and most spoke very good English. We went happily back to the BnB.