Arrividerci Roma and after the last 24 hours - thank goodness. After a good nights sleep in the cat box I decided to have a shower. Now showers in Italy could never be accused of being roomy and the shower at Hotel Piemonte required a shoe horn and butter to get in and out of let alone manage to wash yourself. Well the free breakfast made Mamma Angela's offerings shine. So I settled for a couple of rolls and a cup of brown milk advertised as coffee. On checki...

We left Firenze today which always seems to come with a fair dose of sadness as it is such a beautiful and stylish city which just gets into every pore of your being and no matter how homesick or frustrated you get, it's so hard to say goodbye to this magnificent place. As usual due to the luggage, 5 people and the Italian taxis never exceeding a 4 cylinder small hatch we got 2 cabs to the station. We had a chat to our driver and when I mentioned our family came ...

Ciao from earthquake free Firenze as Rome begins to disintegrate according to some dead self taught seismologist who Mussolini gave his stamp of approval - he also gave this stamp to Adolf Hitler so hence my frivolity at the "predicted quake" today. The prediction was made decades ago, but many Italians are apparently taking it seriously and staying home from work - any excuse for a day off. I doubt this would cut it back home - "I can't come in today as my dead ...

Hi to all our friends in Monbulk where it was 3 degrees at lunchtime - it's a bright azure sky here and an expected top of 28 degrees after yesterday's 30. Sorry but it's another perfect day under the Tuscan sun.  We left home just after 9 as we have no food in the apartment we had to track down something for brekky. Tarn and the girls got fruit muffins at Maccas at the station but I am sworn to never eat at an establishment with that name again in Italy (and ...

Well we made it to Firenze unscathed even with the best attempts of a petrol tanker trying an overtake maneuver like he was in VW Golf. After enduring a cramped and odorous cab ride in a Seat (the other choice was a Fiat Multipla) we got to our wonderful apartment around the corner from the Uffizi and a stones throw or two from the Duomo. Inner city living at it's best. Grace is thrilled to bits as she has a gelateria right across the street as she has had gelati...