Roma: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

For some reason on Monday there was a concert outside the Colosseum featuring Bryan Adams and Billy Joel. And it was free (one of my favourite prices).

So as I sat down with the group at a restaurant around the corner and tucked in to some authentic Italian pizza, my dinner was accompannied by some live music. We could hear the gig very clearly, and as the wine and conversation flowed it was surreal to think that "Summer of 69", "Run to You" and the other classics were actually being sung, right there, right then, by the man himself.

Following the meal we went off to our favourite Gelateria for some ice-cream (if you've never had proper Italian ice-cream you haven't lived). Miss Mugford and I then made our way towards the Colosseum as Billy Joel began his set. A walk around the Palatine (which masked the sound, alas) took us to the slopes of the Capitoline where we joined a crowd of people staring out across the forum. There in front of us was the Rostra from which Cicero delivered his speeches, the Temple of Saturn, the house of the Vestal Virgins, the Basilica Julia, and - lit up in the distance - the Colosseum. As we stared out across 2000 years of history and surveyed the beautiful scene, Billy Joel's soundtrack did not disappoint.

The final port of call was the Via Imperiali, where we joined many thousands looking towards the Colosseum and (importantly) stood beneath some big screens displaying the action from the stage. We were there for Billy Joel's encore, which was followed by a series of duets with Adams and another encore. I can't think of anywhere else in the world I would rather have been.

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