Rome

Haven't posted for a few days as was busy being robbed and pretending I was still a Catholic in Rome. This has reminded me that I really must look into photo hosting as I have taken a few photos which are not only identifiable, but actually good!

Rome is one of the few cities I would actually live in, despite the fact that the average life expectancy of the Roman citizen must be significantly reduced by the apparent lack of any kind of traffic regulations. Romans seem to ignore zebra crossings, which I think are there to give the roads a bit of variety rather than help unwitting pedestrians reach the other side. Even where green men crossings exist, which they do, intermittently, they seem to be there as a warning to drivers that they may have to swerve on their way through to avoid killing someone, rather than as an order to them to stop.

If Russian Roulette is not your game of choice it is, however, a great city in many other respects. For example, you can turn a corner and there right in front of you is the Colosseum, or the plinth on which Antony was meant to have given his "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech (despite the fact it was written over a thousand years later by Shakespeare) or a group of nuns crossing the road (OK, so not quite in the same vein as ancient wonders of the world, but it amuses me neverthelses, and they have the benefit of not being followed by street vendors trying to sell you luminous pink plaster models of San Pietro for 2 euros.) I also managed to use one of my six lines of Italian ("Il conto, per favore", which means "The bill, please") on a total of 12 occasions, which gives you an idea of what we spent most of our time in Rome doing. It was, in my defence, 24 degrees on the Sunday, and I even have a suntan to prove it.

The only downside was, as I said, getting robbed, and (ooh, this really rankles) being robbed by a kid who can't have been more than 8 years old, and on our first night there.

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Got a letter back from the Blood Service thanking me for my letter(!) and saying that my comments have been noted (whatever that means.) If I want any more information I can apparently contact Ameena on their local-rate number. Lucky me.

Right, am off to buy the new Moz album and revel in my still-unpublished state.