OK, so I thought driving in Florence was difficult. All we had to do was drive into Rome to the main rail station and drop the car off. We got lost, couldn't find any land marks and we stopped and asked three locals how to get to the main station and they all sent us to the different places. It's no wonder tourists can't find their way around Rome….the locals can't either. The maps aren't accurate and the streets aren't labelled properly. After tears, (mine not Mikes,) we used our Kiwi ingenuity and followed the train tracks and area names.We got our car back to the 7th floor of another 'skinny' carpark building and made a quick exit for a taxi…only to realize Mike had left his wallet in the car and I had left my back pack on the ground beside the car. (They were still there when Mike went back!)

We got a nice taxi man who squeezed us into his car with all of our luggage and we got to our apartment only 20 minutes late. Needless to say, we collapsed in a heap, opened another bottle of wine and had Pasta for tea.

Day One

Today we went to the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. We relaxed at the apartment until 11.00, having an early lunch and re-sorting our luggage. By the time we left we all felt a little more alive and ready to do some sightseeing. The Colesseum is amazing and we decided to take a guided tour which was a great idea as the information passed on by the guide was completely new to us.We also got a guided tour of Palatine Hill and once again, the information was interesting and new.The boys thoroughly enjoyed today, Jack and Ben totally soaked up the historic information while George loved seeing where they used to fight and where they held the animals.We stopped on the way home for Panini and Pizza and are now resting our very sore, tired feet.

Day Two

We split into two groups today.Mike took George to the Vatican and took him into St Peters, while Jack, Ben and I went on a tour through the Vatican museums and St Peters.The long awaited visit to the Sistine Chapel was over, our tour guide was great but three hours walking was hard work plus it was also a bit of an anti climax.

We ended the tour in the Basilica which was my favourite part.

We meet Maureen McBride for tea and had Pizza at a local restaurant.It was an enjoyable evening, good food and good company.We all had a good night and it was great to catch up with Maureen again.

Day Three

Our last day in Italy.We walked up to the Trevi Fountain which was overflowing with tourists!The boys threw in a coin and we left. It's hard to really appreciate a place like that when there are so many people you're tripping over each other. We moved onto the Spanish Steps and then back past the Pantheon.We're all really tired now and seem to flag a lot earlier in the day. I think it will help that our next two stops are for 5 and 6 days.