Arriving in Rome, I met up with my friends Matt and Darrel in our hotel on via Nazionale, just round the corner from the train station on saturday afternoon. I mention this only because they had been "charged" 40000L (=£15) for the 300m cab ride! They had then paid 13000L each for a coke and ice cream in the cafe opposite!!! An ominous sign of things to come.

Certainly Rome has enough sites to keep you occupied for several days if not weeks. We had four days and so went about this in the only way we knew how and headed for the nearest pub, stopping off on the way to eat one of those gigantic ice creams you can find on Via Tor Millina just off Piazza Navona. We then went in search of a club and were on the point of giving up when we came across a door with a bouncer outside and "Esquire" written over it. After a long discussion on the merits of going into this establishment we paid the 8000L life membership (you had to become a member before being allowed to enter!) and entered what was basically somebodies basement converted into a three room nightclub, with a portable stereo type thing as the sound system. Different! But they served beer and we were happy.

The next few days we did the tourist thing, checking out the Colloseum, Foro Romana, Palatina, the spectacular Fontana di Trevi and the Pantheon (amongst others). Of course we also saw "Il Vatican" and the St Pietro dome, before rushing round the Vatican Museum in order to set our eyes on the magnificent Cistine Chapel with Michelangelo's wonderful "Creation" frescos and "Last Judgement".

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