On the train from Florence to Pisa, we had first class tickets, but no seat reservations--advance reservations were not available on this leg of the trip. We could not find two seats together in first class, so we settled into seats in a second class section. The trip was only about an hour long so we didn't think it would make much difference. This train was older and not in too great of shape, but it got us to Pisa just fine. We walked the entire length of the ...

We left the apartment early in the morning to make our way to Florence. We took the Metro to the Termini train station, then took the train to Florence. It was a short one and a half hour ride in a first class coach. On the trains, we could make reservations, but we could not select the exact seat. We were seated across from each other with two businessmen sharing the table with us. When we arrived in Florence, we caught a taxi to the hotel, and, even though it w...

In the evening we took the after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums. With a group of fourteen people, we were allowed to walk through the museum, including the Sistine Chapel, when no other groups were in it. This tour was arranged in advance online through the tour company Italy With Us. A couple of days before the tour, Helen, of Italy With Us, offered to make dinner reservations for us before the tour. We did that and enjoyed a very nice and quick dinner with a...

Our first full day in Rome, and we planned more than we could actually do. Of course. Since we got a late start, breakfast was the bread and cheese leftovers from the night before--still very yummy. We took the Metro for the first time out to the Colosseum, first, and then to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. We also made it to San Pietro in Vincoli, since it is just a few blocks north of the Colosseum. We bought the weekly Metro pass so we will not have to b...

After connections in Houston and Paris, Philip and I arrived in Rome almost exactly on time. At this point, we have been awake over 29 hours; neither one of us could sleep on the plane. We made it safely to our apartment just outside the Vatican walls, in spite of the hair-raising taxi ride that was seriously overpriced. We booked the apartment through Roman Reference since that company was recommended in a Frommers' article. It is exactly as represented with a...