In the morning we went for a walk to a patisserie in Antibes that we spotted the day before to get a freshly baked breakfast. The walk was longer than we thought but at least we didn't feel guilty ordering two croissants and a chocolate pastry. We had initially planned for three days on beach in southern France, but our bums were still sore from sitting on the pebbles the day before, so after a final tour of town it was "au revoir" to Antibes and "bonjour" t...

After saying ciao to Pisa, we headed for France, aiming to get at least as far as Nice. We stopped along the way for a break, and I took advantage of our last opportunity for Italian coffee and I splashed out the necessary €1 for an espresso. It's good to know they're gross here too - I much prefer a bit of milk with my caffeine. Rebecca tried an iced mocha and she even enjoyed it. Perhaps she'll be drinking both coffee and beer by the time we return :) We d...

Sadly, it was time to leave our 4 star hotel and get back to reality. As always, the first step of our journey was to consult Gertie (our GPS) on where we were going and how long it would take. Rome to Pisa using the free roads - 9 hours, Rome to Pisa using the toll roads - 3.5 hours! Hmmm, we definitely weren't too Dutch that day and hit the Italian highways. The only unfortunate thing was that there were still insane Italian drivers on the roads ... oh well, ...

Our second day of touring Rome was set aside for visiting the Vatican. We would have been grateful for yesterday's scary bus driver but instead we spent nearly half an hour, counting cars, waiting for someone to show up on our 15-minutely route. Never mind, the metro trip was better as being a Saturday, it was less packed and Rebecca was a little less nervous than the day before. We had decided to take our own route today, but the hundred or so tour guides tri...

We came, we saw and we conquered. We nearly didn't come, see or conquer after the frighteningly scary bus driving we experienced but we miraculously made it into Rome. We arrived at the Colosseum and joined a tour based on advice from the Lonely Planet. The tour guide was a tad average but the Colosseum was not. What was done within those walls is rather disgusting but the building itself is an interestingly designed, monstrously sized arena. While eating our...