When in Rome.
Receiving an offer to visit Rome was met with the response “hell yes” and the more sarcastic and apt response, “is the Pope Catholic”? Probably not two responses that belong in the same sentence, however, I am not a conformist. My son’s response, however, was less than impressed and the words “she is spending more of our inheritance” still ring in my ears. The saying all roads lead to Rome may well be true but not for me it’s a flight path all the way. The first stop on our Roman holiday was our Italian hotel, Hotel Villa San Lorenzo Maria, poshing it up, champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget, so snapped up the offer of a complimentary beverage. Finally, I decided to embrace the culture and in the home of the latte, when in Rome do as the Roman’s do. Latte it is. The Latte I was handed was grinning at me, grinning a demonic grin. What message the demonic latte was sending soon became obvious.
No trip to Rome would be complete without a trip to the Coliseum. What I wasn’t prepared for was walking to the entrance, being suddenly surrounded by 4 centurions, offering to take a photo on my mobile phone of me and my friend being dressed in traditional togas. It soon became obvious the only complimentary thing in the city was my demonic latte, as I observed more centurions chasing other tourists down the plaza with their plastic swords being quickly stowed in their scabbards shouting “Bella Bella, 20 euros”. Suffice to say we paid the 20 Euros. The remainder of our Roman adventure was spent in ruins (there is a lot of crumbling historic masonry in Rome) No more demonic latte for me back to the hunt for my beloved tea.