EIV and a new tour begins.

We woke to a grey sky and drizzle. Time to leave our hotel which has been home for the last 6 nights.

We moved out of central Rome this morning and are now in a suburb only 10km away to start our next bus tour. This 10 day tour takes us through Southern Italy and Sicily. Highlights, so not in depth. We are happy with that. Russell went out with the group on an Intro to Rome walking tour. I'm glad he went and will see the sights being covered, as he chose not to accompany me on my walk yesterday but to read his book at a laundromat! (His choice, we could have done that later in the day. He would have hated the long wait in the sun at the Pantheon and I am confident we would have given up and I'd have missed going inside!) The group is basically going everywhere I went yesterday (plus the Trevi Fountain which we've seen) - except they are clever enough to do it in reverse so will start at the top of the Spanish Steps and go down! They'll finish up at the Piazza Navona where I started. I elected to skip this walk and give my EIV (exercise induced vasculitis) legs a chance to rest.

I'd never heard of EIV but found out that's what has affected my lower legs. https://dermnetnz.org/topics/exercise-induced-v…. I first noticed it on Friday as we were walking through the Vatican Museums. Just above my ankle became very itchy and sore. Saturday (yesterday) I went out walking again for a long time and that included going up and down many steps. I found out later that day what the marks meant. I would have preferred it was a normal heat rash but it wasn't! Our new tour guide days she sees people get it on just about every tour she does!

This weekend is a weekend of celebrations here in Rome. I wondered why there were so many planes doing flybys yesterday as I was in line at the Pantheon. Today is the major date. June 2nd is an important National Day. Festa della Repubblica celebrates the 1946 voter referendum that brought democracy to Italy and marked the fall of fascism after World War II. The flagship celebration takes place in Rome, and Italians across the globe hold festivals and parades marking the milestone in early June. We have noticed lots of seating stands being erected over the last few days. There was a 2 hour parade this morning and lots of other events all weekend. Whilst I didn't understand a word that was spoken I decided to watch most of the parade on the tv in our hotel room. It was very impressive and ended with the planes and the green, white and red colours of Italy. (Italy 🇮🇹. The same colours as Hungary 🇭🇺)

This evening we went to dinner at a restaurant near the Pantheon and met more of our group. 25 tourists: a couple of Brits, a few Americans, a Swede. Most are Australians. Our guide, Roma, is Lithuanian. She lived in Italy for many years before moving back home. A few random happy snaps are shown; taken on the way to and from dinner. We have an early start in the morning as we begin our journey southward.Read more