sporting greats now and then

One major observation I've made here is that EVERYONE speaks English to some degree. You can approach anyone and ask if they speak English and they'll usually say "only a little" but then when you ask a question they can reply with near fluency. It really makes me feel like an ignorant tourist, expecting the locals to speak my language, so when I'm back in Italy for those two months I'm going to make a real effort to learn more than just the basic greetings.

For our second full day in Rome we had three activities planned - the Colosseum, Roman Forum and then for Michael and me an evening of tennis.

The Colosseum is absolutely a must-do in Rome. We'd bought a Roma Pass the previous day which gave us free entry to two attractions in Rome as well as free public transport. Upon entry we hired audio/video guides which was well worth it - it explained everything from the architecture to the activities the ancient Romans flocked to the stadium to witness - from public executions to gladiator games and simulated Naval warring and it really gave a feel for just what went on and how much blood was shed.

Unfortunately Jake started to play up after being very patient at the Vatican the previous day so we decided to flag the Roman Forum and head back to the apartment in the afternoon for some down time before the tennis.

Michael and I had decided to book tickets to two night sessions, which would give us a men's quarter final and then a men's semi final, as well as a couple of women's games. Upon checking the draw we discovered we'd be watching Federer play both nights (provided he won his quarter final) which was cool but I was really hoping to be able to watch Nadal. 

When we arrived at the stadium we asked at the ticket office whether there were any tickets available the following day for Nadal's semi final and were told yes - but they started at 200 Euros! We had bought ours online about six months earlier and only paid about 35 Euros so that was a huge increase! At the gate, we were offered 220 Euros for our Federer tickets the following evening, but turned the offer down as the tennis was the whole reason we were in Rome to begin with.

The match was fantastic and if we had any complaint, it would be that it was not long enough! Federer was the crowd favourite and beat his Polish opponent Jerzy Jankovic in straight sets. We had superb seats with a great view of the game so all in all it was a great experience.

Upon arriving back at the apartment I decided to give one more go to getting to the Nadal game and checked for tickets online - I found there were a couple of single tickets going for 70 Euros so I decided to go ahead and book one - how often would I get this chance again?