We got up early so we could enjoy one last hotel breakfast before the taxi arrived for our transfer back to Rome airport. After collecting our bags and checking out at reception, we waited in the lounge area for the taxi to arrive.

There was a bit of confusion when the taxi arrived. The driver read out a couple of names, neither of which was ours. The driver was expecting to pick up four people and when he checked he realised that he had read out the wrong name.

We shared the taxi with a couple who had been celebrating their wedding anniversary and a couple of ladies who were already on board. The transfer ran smoothly whilst the six of us engaged in interesting conversations. The others we were travelling with had all flown from Birmingham and their outbound flight had suffered with air turbulence which we had not experienced on our flight from Manchester.

Checking in at the airport also went smoothly giving us time to relax before boarding the plane. Once again, the flight was delayed due to air traffic control issues. The captain was eventually, one hour late; given the all clear for flight. When he announced this, he added that we would now be joining the ‘Conga’ queue to the runway. There were around ten planes ahead of us on the curvy taxi way to the runway.

The flight was also smooth, albeit with a slight bit of turbulence. Once back at Manchester and past customs and passport control, we made our way to the baggage reclaim area. This proved to be slow again. My bag arrived quite quickly but Mr C’s took a long time to arrive as did many other passengers’ luggage. A few cases would arrive and then there would be a delay before more cases arrived.

With our car reclaimed from the ‘meet and greet’ parking we headed home, stopping to pick up a ready meal for dinner. We stuck to the Italian theme and chose lasagne.

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.

We woke up on time and left the Premier Inn. It was raining lightly (as it often does in Manchester) when we stepped out of the building.

After travelling to the airport, we checked our car into the meet and greet service which also gave us fast track through border control.

After checking in our luggage, receiving our boarding cards and proceeding through border control it was time to relax a little and enjoy breakfast. My breakfast, an almond croissant, was delicious but Mr C’s cooked breakfast was underwhelming.

We boarded the plane on-time but shortly afterwards the Captain announced that there would be a slight delay due to Air Traffic Control congestion. We took off 25 minutes late but the Captain was able to regain some of this time during our flight.

We cleared border control without any problems but the baggage reclaim was stressful. Some bags arrived on the conveyor belt and circled round and round without anyone claiming them but many bags did not appear. Just after Mr C’s case appeared (and was retrieved) some airport baggage handlers started randomly removing cases from the conveyor belt. Mine was one of them so we rushed to reclaim it.

Luggage retrieved; it was time for us to pick up our transport to our hotel. We were greeted by two Jet 2 reps who guided us to a place to wait for our driver. Eventually we were joined by a family who had been held up due to the baggage reclaim confusion.  Now that the travel party was complete, we embarked on a long trek up and down stairs and escalators before we arrived at the car park where our minibus was located. This wasn’t the end of our walking journey It was also a long trek across the car park before we arrived at our taxi.

Our journey to the hotel ran smoothly and our room was ready. We dumped our cases in the room and ascended to the hotel’s roof top garden for lunch. We chose to share a plate of charcuterie and cheese accompanied by focaccia. Whilst dining we were constantly misted with water jets fitted into the pergola.

Comfortably replete we walked into town passing a couple of lovely fountains, arriving at the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs. The church is beautiful and refreshingly cool inside giving us respite from the 90-degree heat outside.

Back at the hotel we showered to remove the afternoon’s heat before dining in La Locanda Di Bacco where I chose seabass accompanied by roasted rosemary potatoes. This was followed by a shared tiramisu which was delicious.

We returned to our hotel for a nightcap in the roof top garden.