We had afternoon tickets to visit the Colosseum which left us with time on our hands in the morning. We used it to visit the Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars. I found the history of the Capuchins extremely interesting, especially as it included two of my favourite saints; Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio. The crypt is rather macabre, displaying the bones of 3,700 mainly Capuchin friars in a series of 6 rooms.

When we left the museum, it was time to walk the short distance and catch the bus to the Colosseum where we had plenty of time to share a pizza before it was time for our entry slot.

As we approached the Colosseum our email entry ticket was checked. We were informed that it wasn’t a ticket and we needed to go to the ticket agency to get it converted to a ticket. We were given directions which turned out to be a bit vague. We checked at the Tourist Information office who couldn’t see a problem with the ticket but told us where the issuing ticket agency was located nearby. By this time, I was flagging in the 96-degree heat. I waited in the shade whilst Mr C walked the short distance to the ticket agency where he was informed that the email was indeed an entry ticket!

By now, after charging around pointlessly in the mid-day heat, I felt like crying.

Eventually back at the colosseum, albeit now late for our timeslot, our tickets and passport identity were checked and we were in. The wonder of the architecture and the sheer size of the structure soon made us forget the palaver we had had with our tickets. We took our time, viewing the structure from all angles to understand what it would have been like in its day. We were treated to a light sprinkling of rain which cooled the temperature down to an acceptable level.

At its peak, the Colosseum had capacity for 80,000 spectators, which is roughly similar to modern Wembley Stadium. The arena had trapdoors to allow gladiators and animals as bi as elephants to be released into the arena from cages and cells below. The arena could even be flooded to allow naval battles between galleys to be recreated and fought out.

Later, as we walked back to our hotel, there was a torrential downpour which showed no signs of stopping. We purchased an umbrella for Mr C at one of the street stalls. I already had one. This did the trick; it immediately stopped raining.

That evening we chose to dine in the same restaurant as we had done on our first evening in Rome. The outside dining area was full so we dined inside. The waiters and the owner remembered us from our previous visit and welcomed us. One of the waiters even remembered the wine we had ordered and when our waiter of the evening advised us that they had none left our waiter from our first visit produced a bottle from the back of the cooling unit.

When we had finished our main course the waiter from our first visit quipped that we would be sharing a Tiramisu as we had done last time. We surprised him by saying we were having one each this time. Much laughter was had by all.

When we had finished our dessert, he immediately provided us with two glasses of Limoncello, much to the indignation of our waiter of the evening. He immediately said I will bring you another one in a minute. Sure, enough as we finished our glass he filled it up again.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed one last after dinner drink on the roof terrace. All too soon our holiday was coming to an end.