Up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30am. Light breakfast (for us) just enough to keep us going until mid morning snack in Rome. Catch the shuttle into Civitavecchia at 7:30am where we will board our coach for the drive into Rome at 8am. By 8:20 no sign of the coach and a courier is desperately trying to find out what is amiss. Not helped by 8 impatient tourists pestering her. Turns out we should have been told that the time had changed to 9 and we were joining a party from the Queen Elizabeth. At about 8:30am an 8 seater Merc arrived to take us into Rome. This was a blessing since it could negotiate Rome streets more easily than a bus.

First stop at the Garibaldi statute on a hill overlooking Rome. The guide pointed out many places of interest. Next a photo stop the Wedding Cake. Then we were off to the Colissuem, but wait, we were supposed to be doing "Rome on your own". Let's be quiet about this, we thought, it looks like we are on a winner. A guided tour of Rome for the price of doing it under our own steam. Then we thought we had been rumbled when the driver asked us to confirm who we were and our tour choice. However he said we could stay with the party or go off on our own. No guesses what we chose especially as there would be no extra charge. BONUS,

Next the Fontana di Trevi, it's not yet cleared of scaffolding after cleaning and restoration, but we still threw a coin in to help pay for it. Onwards to Spanish Steps down these to the Piazza
di Spagna and a walk along ...... (George: I had a devil of a job keeping Danuta out of Bvlgari, Louis Vitton and Jimmy Choo to name but a few). A square with a fountain at either end and a column with statues around it in the middle of the square (might remember its name later), see photo. a fruit/veg/flower market with a restaurant in which the driver tried to persuade us all to have a meal. No takers because everyone wanted to get to Citta del Vaticano and Piazza San Pietro. It was heaving, what crowds for this time of the year we both thought. We only had an hour and a bit so no time to go into the Basilica. Time for a gelati and a stroll watching the hustle and bustle around here.

Weather was superb all day with not a cloud in the sky. Didn't find any wifi so this will have to wait to be published in Florence tomorrow.