Loitering atop Rome’s Spanish steps – as we were trying to do – is a French cathedral, and, like every other monument in Rome, it is covered in scaffolding in a somewhat belated attempt at restoration.

It was inside this church that my travel buddy Kylie may or may not have been abused by a nun for dressing immorally when she gestured angrily at Kylz’s partially exposed midriff after we asked if photographs were permitted - there was some question as to whether she replied ‘No flash’ or ‘No flesh’.

What’s most kerfuffling in Rome is the fact that Italians are so concerned that tourists still get to see the ‘real deal’ that they string huge banners in front of the scaffolding with painted murals of what the buildings should actually look like. Yet – and this is what kills me – directly below these murals on the Spanish steps was plonked a monstrous billboard advertising a pacific cruise. It kind of stood out, given the 50 foot image of a cruiseliner blocked out the rest of the building.

You can find stuff like this all over Rome: there’s a McDonalds directly adjacent both the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, and in the Piazza Navona, the most famous and snazzy of all Rome’s piazzas, street performers pranced about dressed as Tutankhamen and the Statue of Liberty. Wrong continent, anyone?

At the Trevi Fountain we managed to force our way through the throngs of tourists - bloody tourists - and tossed a coin over our shoulders, which, according to our trusty Lonely Planet, should ensure our return to Rome someday.

Saturday, actually, since we’ll be popping through again then.