Anne at the keyboard today: Today Mick had another intensive Italian speaking opportunity in the morning and then we were off to Christmas Eve Mass in St Peters with Pope Francis. Sounds like a short program, but it was a rich experience. The mother of another of Mick's Italian teachers in Australia (Francesca- teacher, Luciana - her mum) knew from Francesca that we were in Rome and asked to meet us. She drove the 50 km from her place in the hills outside Rome ...

Mick here - reporting on a quiet day in Rome. Took the opportunity to get a shot of Anne on our balcony. It graces today's blog. We had a few domestic matters to attend to. First was to be sure we had all the necessary shopping done to see us over Sunday, Christmas and St Stephen's Day - Boxing Day to you pagans. The Mercato Trionfale across the road was heaving. It would seem everyone had the same idea as us. With a "Scuzi" here and a "Permesso" there, and a "...

Today we covered nearly 14 km and it was worth every step with the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, and more time with Nives on the agenda. I'm so grateful to Mick for his foresight and patience. Among other items he had pre - booked our entry to the above and so we took great delight in walking past all the groups lining up, and all the usual tours, and walked straight into the Vatican Museum. Rick Steves kept us well informed again as we walked around this vas...

Mick again: This visit has a very Vatican theme. Today's main objectives were to embrace - literally - the heights and the depths. As is always good practice, we began at the bottom with a tour of the 'scavi' the excavations under the Vatican, including the putative remains of Peter. To get a grasp of the complex and fascinating history of the Vatican Hill, originally outside the city, near a racecourse which became a site for Christian martyrs, which then bec...

Mick again: Today was very domestic really. We had invited our friend Nives over for lunch. She first came into our lives as my Italian teacher- found on Gumtree in Sydney, with regular lessons in a cafe in Burwood. She had not long arrived in Sydney after 6 years in Japan. Then, when Anne and I spent some time in Rome in 2011, we did a fortnight of lessons with her as she had established her own little language school here. We were looking forward to catching ...