00.01 Felice nuevo anno! We are standing in the rain of fireworks by the Monument of Victor Emanuel II, Rome, Italy. The wet rain is staying away this year. There are puddles of water here and there. The year was cheered in with beer. We are to be more precise at the Forum of Augustus.

01.12 We’ve returned home. There were a lot of explosions on our way home. We also met some ambulances with flashing lights. I am looking forward to get some sleep. 2009 has been an excellent travel year. What will 2010, a new decade have to offer?

The Victor Emmanuel monument lights up the New Year night.

09.14 Good morning New Year! Several of our room mates are safely sleeping. We are looking forward to have some breakfast. There are still places to see here in Rome. After breakfast we´ll try to find out where we will head today.

11.08 A young French woman said "Oui c’est bon, c’est bon!" as I left the room. She was in her bed talking in her sleep. I wonder what she was dreaming about. It must have been something great. A man went to bed just as I left the room for Rome. I guess there were plenty staying out long to celebrate the New Year. We have done some walking. We are in the area around Colosseum. We are to be more exact on a wall by Terme di Traiano (the baths of Trojan). These were public baths which the old emperor Trojan had erected between the years 104 and 109. We are on the Oppian Hill which is a part of one of the Seven Hills of Rome, the Esquiline.

11.47 I am sitting in front one of Rooms classical landmarks. It is huge, mighty and impressing. They sure knew how to build in the old days. Colosseum is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. This is the second of them which we have seen. We went and saw Petra in 2005. Who knows which will be the next? Colosseum was built between 70 and 80 AD. The emperor Vespasian started it and it was finished by his son Titus. It was during the days of the Roman Empire a place for battles between wild animals, executions, gladiator games and theatre. It has room for a huge crowd, 87 000 at the most. Next to us is also Ludus Magnus, a school and training camp for gladiators. It is one of many gladiator schools which were in the ancient Rome.

Terme di Traiano.

Colosseum.

Here you can see the remains of the Ludus Magnus, school for gladiators.

12.24 The clouds are gathering above of us. We are inside the area where Circus Maximus once were. It was a chariot racing stadium where there were competitions between quadriga (four horses abreast). The arena was also used for other things such as gladiator fights, parades, triumphs and public executions. Most of the Christians that died a martyr death during the persecutions was killed here. This arena had seats for over 250 000 and just started to rain.

12.51 The bad news just keeps coming. First it was the rain and now we just found out that Forum Romanum which we had planned to visit is closed on New Years Day. It is open on all but two days of the year and we’ve managed to find one of those days. We are inside a small church on yet one of the Seven Hills, the Palatine. The church in question is Chiesa Di San Bonaventura. We saw the Arch of Titus on our way here. It was erected in the year 81 AD to commemorate Emperor Titus’ sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Titus was commander during the sack. He himself has dies earlier during 81 AD.

Not much remains of the ancient Circus Maximus arena.

When the rain began to fall, we suddenly were faithful Catholics.

13.35 We’ve returned to the area where we celebrated the New Year. I am surrounded by a group of Americans. There is also a statue of Julius Caesar here.

14.14 We’ve walked up a steep stair close to the Monument of Victor Emanuel II and have looked at a beautiful square called Piazza del Campidoglio. It was projected by Michelangelo. Campidoglio is Italian for the more familiar Capitolium. Here are among other things Rome’s City Hall.

14.30 The time has come for this year’s first lunch. We’ve sat down in a Chinese Restaurant, a restaurant which name we don’t know. We are not here to figure out the name. We are here for food.

A map of the Roman Empire when it reached its peak. It was during the reign of Trajan 98-117.

Caesar´s Forum.

15.12 The dining place which we are about to leave is called Città Sovrana. The food was delicious but the portions of noodles and rice were pretty small and not that filling. It was after all a cheap meal. The restaurant is at Via Florida 23-24.

15.24 We are standing on the place where the body of Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found. Aldo Moro was kidnapped on the 16th of March 1978 by the Red Brigades. They were a Marxist-Leninist military group. The body of Aldo Moro was found after 54 days of negotiation, on the 9th of May that year, in the trunk of a Renault 4. He had been shot eleven times in the chest, It at this place at Via Michelangelo Caetani that we are standing right now. We are ever so slowly heading down to the river. It is as it comes to Rome and rivers the Tiber River that’s the one. The Tiber River is called Tevere in Italian and the area on the other side of the river is called Trastevere (beyond Tiber).

A scooter in a miserable condition was parked close to the old synagogue in Rome.

15.37 Behind us we have the Tiber, the river which flows through Rome. In front of us is the city's main synagogue. The synagogue is now a Jewish Museum. Next to us is a motorcycle which seems to have been here for a while. We, the motorcycle and the synagogue are standing along the street Lungotevere De'Cenci.

15.47 We’ve crossed the Tiber. First we walked over the Ponte Fabrizio from the year 62 BC. After that we passed over Tiber Island (Isola Tiberina), with its church of San Bartolomeo, before we reached the other side via another bridge, Ponte Cestio. Now we will examine the district of Trastevere.

A street in Trastevere.

This spot is reserved for the handsome Francesco Mezzi. So it is written on the wall.
Despite this, Peter sat down here to make a few notes in the travel journal.

No, Santa is not drunk. He can not sit upright because of rain and strong winds.

16.06 We walked around and looked at Trastevere. This part of the city is probably even nicer when it's warmer and sunnier. Now it's raining and the wind blows. At a table outside a restaurant, sits a lonely, inflatable Santa.

16.43 It's raining. We have tried to get into an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci. We will not pay to enter it. However, it is good to get inside. My umbrella has seen better days and do not like the wind and gusts of wind. Along the way we passed the Piazza Farnese. It has a Swedish connection. First of all, there is a Birgittine-house here. There are nuns who call themselves the Birgittine order and where Saint Birgitta (Bridget) lived until her death 1373. In the grand Palazzo Farnese Square was the home of former Queen Christina in the 1650's.

17.43 It's raining and we are on our way home. The rain doesn’t become us at all. We are walking in a lighted tunnel, a tunnel for both pedestrians as well as cars.

The Bridgettine residence in Rome. The place is Piazza Farnese.
It was also here that the Saint Bridget lived in the 14th century.

17.55 We’re back under a roof/ceiling at Piazza della Repubblica (Republic Square). The rain comes and goes. We, however, are craving coffee.

19.04 Our thirst for coffee is quenched. We did some shopping in Conad before we went on to Momento opposite the shop. Christer ordered a blueberry muffin and a coffee Americano. He didn’t want to get the wrong kind of coffee. I ordered a chocolate muffin and an Americano. The cashier lady put two cups on Christer's tray and one on mine. She had thought that he would like to have two cups. Everything got solved.

19.36 We’re temporarily back in the room. The umbrellas are placed to dry before we are going out for dinner. Two happy young American women are sitting by the room table and are planning their stay in the city.

19.56 We’ve ordered the red wine of the house for dinner. To that we will eat a pizza each. We are at the restaurant La mensa di Bacco Via P. Amedeo 75 A / B (http://www.mensa-di-bacco.com). I told the young ladies about Mussolini before we went here. We are looking forward to have food that we haven’t cooked ourselves.

You have to experience at least one real restaurant visit on a trip to Italy.

21.19 We had accordion music to the food, a food which was incredibly tasty. One shouldn’t forget the importance of fresh ingredients. The pizzas were delicious. Now we are sitting in the living room of the accommodation. We are planning future events. It inclines to a trip abroad. We’ve heard "Wind of Change" by Scorpions from the reception. One of the guests just did his best to sing that song. We, the Scorpions and “Wind of Change " have met before. We got together on Borneo in 2006.

23.49 We’ve read some pages in our books. Now we are just relaxing before the lights are off. Tomorrow, we expect a new day and for Christer an entirely new country.

Saturday 2nd of January

09.16 We probably walked a lot yesterday. Today, we will walk even more. We are about to head for the breakfast table. We should manage that.

10.27 After yet another breakfast it´s time to head for the streets

11.01 We’ve been walking in a northern direction. We have passed the old Roman Pools Terme di Diocleziano (Diocletian Baths) and the Ministry of Finance. We are sitting down on a small wall in the district Ludovisi. Behind us is a high iron railing. It is time for battery replacement for Christer. Well, for his camera. Two ladies on the road somewhere in life just passed us. One had a fur boa and the other a fur coat.

Orange trees in wintertime.

11.34 High pines stretches for the sky. We are in the huge park Villa Borghese. It is quiet here and it's a lovely greenery everywhere.

12.15 We’ve sat ourselves beneath one of the countless equestrian statues which can be found all over the world. Why are they always sitting on a horse? It had perhaps looked strange with a bull or a pig though? The rider we are talking about is the Italian king, Umberto I.

Villa Borghese park.

View of the Piazza del Popolo.

12.50 We’ve walked through the beautiful park area and reached the square Piazza del Popolo. A 3000 year old obelisk, originally erected to honour Ramses II in Egypt, is standing here. It was brought to Rome on orders from Emperor Augustus in 10 BC and was first erected at Circus Maximus. A man, beside the obelisk, is standing here. It isn’t that strange. The strange thing is that he is standing on his head. He is also gathering money. I wonder what he will do if someone snatches the money. Here is also a beautiful fountain, a large portal by the architect Vignola from what might have been an idea of Michelangelo. Some decorations on it have been made by Bernini to commemorate the memory of a visit of another Swedish citizen, queen Kristina of Sweden. Well she has already abdicated as she got here. There are as always in this city, loads of people here. Vignola by the way was also the architect that made the Gesú church we saw two days ago.

The head attraction of the Piazza del Popolo on this day.

The queue to the Vatican Museum was too long for our taste.

13.20 We’ve taken aim for today's big excursion, Vatican City. We have a hope of being able to enter the Vatican museum. Sure, there is a risk that others have had this idea as well.

13.58 After a long walk we reached the outer limits of the world’s smallest country. It was a huge queue into the museum. The queue kept on for 2-3 streets. In order to replenish the energy of queuing, we went to the pizzeria La Medusa at Via Vespasiano 25. We have ordered the daily special. There is limited space at the tables on the sidewalk but it is cheap.

VATICAN CITY

14.51 We skipped the queue to the museum. We went straight to Saint Peter´s Square. We are standing in the line for Saint Peter´s Basilica. We’ve reached yet another country, the Vatican City or the Holy See. It is the world’s smallest country. It is 0,44 km² big/small, about the size of 60 soccer fields.

15.22 We are approaching the church. A nun is standing next to Christer. A nun with a rosary and wind jacket with Adidas printed on it.

15.47 We are finally inside the basilica. We had to pass through a metal detector and x-ray our small backpacks to get inside. We’ve now been taken pictures of Pietà, a marble statue of Mary with Jesus dead body. It was produced by, yes guess. It's actually not Bernini, this time, but none other than Michelangelo. In 1972 an insane man climded up at Pietà and began beating on it with a hammer. He caused damage to the Virgin Mary's arm and her face. However, it was possible to repair the statue. Now Pietà kept behind bulletproof glass so it can be preserved for future generations

Piazza San Pietro.

We are waiting in the long queue at St. Peter's Basilica.

16.10 I’ve just taken a picture of the bronze statue of Saint Peter. It is the work of Arnolfo di Cambio. Earlier I took photos of St Peter's canopy. It is 30 meters high, made of bronze and made by, yes he is back, Bernini.

16.37 We’ve been walking around in this stunningly beautiful and large church. There is plenty to see here. There is so much to see so much to write about. The church is so large that it is really several different churches/chapels under one roof. In various parts of the church are various things at once.

Inside the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica.

Bernini's baldacchino, a pavilion-like structure 30 metres (98 ft) tall above the altar
and claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world,

Saint Peter and his popular toe.

16.46 You can actually book the church for christenings. We just read a sign about it.

16.52 After many ifs and buts we have managed to take some pictures of the Swiss Guards. For some strange reason, almost all photos of them got blurry. Costumes make them reminiscent of some kind of clown. The guards that there are 110 of, are the Vatican’s only military strength. The Swiss Guard's main task is to protect the pope and his residence. To become a Swiss Guard, one must be a Swiss citizen of the male sex and the Roman Catholic faith, have completed Swiss military education, be aged between 19 and 30 years old, at least 174 cm tall, unmarried and have obtained a vocational qualification or baccalaureate. It isn't many of these that we meet.

A woman began to pray in front of Christer and his guidebook. Suddenly he got a priest-like appearance.

Two members of the Swiss Guard.

It is getting darker over St. Peter's Square.

17.00 I am sitting by the fountain at Saint Peter’s Square. Soon we will leave the country. I've been at the post office to send postcards with stamps from this unique country. To visit the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica is a must for any visitor to Rome. It is worth the lengthy queuing.

ITALY

17.43 We’ve walked pass the fortress Castel Sant’Angelo and the bridge there walked over to our side of the Tiber again. I am feeling a particular craving for coffee. I tried to order a cup from a cart inside the Vatican, but they had none. It had been a cult to have had a cup in that country as well.

18.01 An error must have been made as our map was drawn. It made us go wrong but we found our way. We met Santa Claus in Piazza Navona. He sat in his sleigh with a few children who let them be photographed. I guess he is in the need of a proper vacation. I must be honest and admit that there were several Santas there.

Castel Sant´Angelo.

Christmas time remains on Piazza Navona.

18.19 We are sitting in front of an obelisk. Behind us we have the country's parliament, Palazzo Montecitorio. We were actually here the other day in daylight. It is located just behind Piazza Colonna. When we were there we knew nothing about the parliament.

20.11 The rain came and we got going. We did some shopping at DeSpar. We walked on through a rain-free Rome to the railway station. The cafés had sold most of their pastries. Now, however, we are sitting on Acafé or is it 4café? Anyway, we´ve had some coffee and pastries and will soon go home.

These machines make it easy to buy train tickets in Italy.

20.50 It was easy to withdraw some money. The ATM was actually equipped with rear view mirrors. Was it like that so that one could if someone was standing behind you? It was not as easy to buy automatic train tickets. The first machine did not want to receive notes. The second machine accepted the notes but we found no note input slot. It turned out that the payment was made in a machine next to the one we used. When we got the ticket a man pointed at it and said something that sounded like "machine". What he said was Fiumicino, the major airport in the city. He wondered if we bought the ticket to go there.

22.19 We just cooked the last home-cooked dinner for this trip. We had macaroni and salciccias, meaty sausages. Now we will read more about tomorrow's destination. It is the city that you see and then die.

23.35 Another day has passed, another day with walking from our side. I wonder how many steps we’ve taken over the last few days. How many kilometres have we not strolled? Tomorrow there will be no long distances in Rome. But how far will we walk in the city we will visit? We'll see!