Rome

We had a quick flight to Rome and were picked up by a driver for the transfer to the hotel. The hotel can only be accessed by buzzing in at a set of giant wooden gates. Once inside there is a long stone tunnel that takes you to a courtyard with three flights of marble stairs up to reception. The building is very old and is a mix of beautiful bones and dodgy additions. We kind of like it although the air-conditioning does not cope with the size of the room. We are across the piazza from the Pantheon in the middle of a maze of small winding streets. We had a wander to get gelato and then again to get dinner at a small cage but we were pretty tired and needed some down time so not much exploring yet. Dinner was fun and we managed to sort everything out pretty well in Italian. Flynn had a very good veal and our other meals were decent. We walked over to Piazza Navona and looked at all the artwork. We may buy a photo if we think we can get it home safely. So far the tally is two damaged suitcases and we will need to get rid of one of them and buy a replacement. Flynn was chosen by a street performer to be part of his act. In Barcelona the boys bought hats with little bull horns on them. Flynn wears his religiously and gets constant comments about it which he quite likes. Lots of people come up and touch the horns and laugh. Anyway, the street performer had a Lille red towel and he made Flynn charge though it a few times and then charged him into a pole. Flynn was also called up to be in one of the shows on the boat, and is now on a bit of a mission to be chosen. It is 7am and the rest of team Starrett is still asleep.