Thursday 14/8: picked up by our personal tour guides ( Claire, Helen & uncle Jim) and headed off to Pitlochry / kilicrankie / queensview. First stop kilicrankie and we walked down to soldiers leap .... historic spot ( Jacobite uprising) in a deep forest, some lovely views though as we make the trek down. Brian resisted the offer from uncle Jim to buy him a bungee ticket. We sat down to Helen's picnic which was the envy of other picnickers as we dined on a pa...

Today we had an early 4am pick up our driver was waiting for us to take us to the airport. We boarded our first flight to Heathrow a packed plane with mostly Romans going on holidays. Then boarded another flight to Edinburgh. Weather turned unfortunately and our first glimpse of Edinburgh was dark a sky. We were picked up by Brian's cousin Helen and her daughter Kate in a two door hatchback. It was rainy, windy and cold and we now had to task of trying to ge...

Slow morning here in Rome. We are booked on a tour of the Vatican City, St Peters Bascilla and the Sistine Chapel this afternoon. You can't do these places without being on a tour the queues are so long and it is hot. Our tour guide is an older man Antonio very knowledgable however spoke to much!! He went on and on but we just listened and followed his flag. There are so many people you can't stray or you will be left behind. Brian has done these places bef...

First full day in Rome. After a late and leisurely breakfast and yet again more croissants, ham and cheese we take to the streets of Rome. We opt for the hop on hop off open bus and see the sights of this city. We arrive at the colosseum and get off the bus to take in this ancient place. We join an English speaking tour our guide is 'Paulo'. He is informative and we get the history of this famous place. Back on the bus to finish off the sights of Rome. We...

After 2000kms and five days we have successfully driven from Paris to Rome. We were so happy to hand over our loyal car to the Avis depot at Rome airport. It was a great trip and we wouldn't have been able to get to some of the places we visited without a car. San Gimignano one of my favorite places so far. We are now in Rome our transfer from the airport comfortable and our driver spoke some English and provided us with local knowledge on the tourist sights ...