On Saturday, we'd had enough of our rock and rolling boat. The appalling weather meant no work could be done outside, which precluded more repairs to Bridgit. We upped sticks for Rome again.
This is the bus-stop for the number 15 bus, which runs down the back of the marina to the run-down shanty town on the banks of the river, called Idroscalo. Sarah is holding up her two most trusty guidebooks to Rome. The Rough Guide is invaluable for snippets, and for helping to prioritise in this most overwhelming of cities. The other, recommended by our friend Mike, is H V Morton's 'A Traveller in Rome'. Written in 1957, it is a mine of erudite information, though some of it has been overtaken by later research. For example, he imagines the gory deaths of Christians in the Colosseum, but current wisdom says that none were killed there.
Morton assumes a good classical education, so at times we are floundering in his wake. But exploring Rome while holding his hand is to gain new insights at every corner. Many of the best stories in the blog come from him, and we'd recommend his book to any visitor here.