First stop was a hotel for Tania to pick up an obligatory map, and ask for recommendations for a hairdresser - 7 weeks had passed and it was time for us both to get haircuts. With map in hand we headed toward the Australian Embassy. Fortunately, our booked accommodation (for when we get back to Rome in 4 weeks time) AND the hairdresser were on the way. To guarantee a spot, appointments were made for 14:00 for haircuts.
It was a further 20 minute walk to the Embassy where the initial very long queue had reduced and around 20 Aussies were now waiting in line before us to vote. Tania was approached twice by the AEC in August regarding her availability to work, but as a date had not been announced before we left Australia, she had to decline the manager role.
Security to enter the Embassy was very thorough. Proof of identity was first handed over with details of our passports documented, ALL of our belongings (including phones) were placed into a locker before we entered individually into a clear cylindrical tube. The opening slid closed behind us before the door in front slid open, allowing access to a leafy courtyard with outside seating.
The Embassy staff very closely managing the flow of voter numbers in and out of the booth. The voting process ran smoothly with enough spare time for a coffee before our haircut appointments.
There was a barber directly across the street where Graeme got his haircut for 13 euro, while Tania's cut cost 30 euro - both excellent value and both now looking quite Italian. Graeme was treated to a before and after shampoo, eyebrow and ear trim with a razor cut around the back and sides.
We then had some lunch at a restaurant just around the corner from our future accommodation, fried zucchini flowers and a rigatoni. Tania also enjoyed a tiramisu ! All delicious!
With still some time left and nothing available at the train station, we headed to the only tourist information office in Rome, a 15 minute walk away near the Colosseum. Very disappointing - very little information available on what to do and see in Rome ! We will have to do our research prior to coming back.
A quick walk to the train station and we caught our slower train back to Caserta, arriving back at our apartment at 21:15 - a long day again !
I look very much forward to reading about your off-beat tourist experiences in Rome. That is, resist doing the usual. Go for the bizarre or less well known stuff. If you do any of the usual stuff, find something extraordinary about it that is not so well known or taken in.
I am sure there would be tour guides offering this sort of adventure.
This is the very spot where Brutus stabbed Julius Caesar.
This is where Cleopatra stayed while in Rome.
Atilla the Hun lived here.
Claus and Helen once stayed in this pension.
The Trevi Fountain is huge (NO, IT IS NOT).