Part 3 Rome - you can see why it wasn't built in a day

Going into Rome was extremely interesting - if you were in the back seat. They do things differently there - like drive and park in the weirdest ways! You will have to see the pictures which I will add when we get back to a friendly system which allows us to upload photos. I am writing this in port at Mykonos. The boat computer does not like moving around or rough weather - and we have had some of both.
Anyway Rome - what they say about the drivers is true and it nearly gave poor Jared heart failure - but he only had to get us to the railway terminal and Gus got us absolutely to the door of the Hertz rental place.
Marlu B&B was our home for the nexy few days. Built in the 1850's this place had one of those funny lifts with the wrought iron doors and lots of marble and terrazzo floors. We each had a good sized room and a bathroom as well as access to a living room and breakfast laid on. Good price too! What did we see? We went first to the Colosseum on the first night as the sun was setting; then to the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel; the Trevi fountain and the Plaza Nuova and the Pantheon; and on Monday when Jared and Jo were working again in London we went to the Basilica and 8.30am and had a wonderful time there before we went on to our rail trip to Civitavecchia.
The old city of Rome is as many of you know, littered with bits of very old buildings, which I had expected. What I had not expected was the crush of people, the noise of traffic (especially after the peace of the hill towns and Venice) and the graffiti. Don't get me started on litter also - I can't believe the amount - forget the recession, litter will bring down Europe if they're not careful.Some parts ofrome are being restored and I would say it's about time - if they don't they will lose those sandstone buildings and they better hope there are no more earthquakes coming through.The crush of people in Rome was brought home in a big way as we queued to go into the Vatican. It only took 1 1/2 hours to get there. The queues I reckoned were the modern day equivalent of pilgrims' progresses. I could not work out why there were so many priests, nuns, monks cardinals - you name it they were there. There were also these large pictures hanging in fromn of the balcony where the Pope comes out to bless the people. Finally, seeing a poster in a shop window on Monday morning I worked it out - the canonisation of five people had taken place on Sunday - no wonder there were so many holy people around.