Day 220, 9 February 2013. Roma to Firenze, Italy. Packing Day. Almost feel like we can't call it travel day because it took 6 hours or more to get to and from Naples & Pompei and the speedy Frecciargento train is going to whip us to Florence in just 90 minutes later today (at 250 km per hour!) Another cracking day of Rome winter weather. Very similar to Sydney's winter climate actually! Thankfully our next few trips are on trains and they don't mind if every single bag you own weighs 100kg - as you're the only one carrying it. We managed to get the luggage pared down to two massive bags and checked out around lunchtime in order to visit our local neighbourhood prior to heading to the station for our 4.40 pm train to Firenze. We stumbled across the best Japanese restaurant in the world just near Manzoni metro - Ginza Giapponese to be precise. No Limits lunch for €15 a head. Turns out this is the best deal in the world, ever, for Japanese food - not a buffet, an actual a la carte menu, from which you may order for 3 hours. And we did. Sashimi, Gyoza, Sushi - maki and ngiri, Tempura, Yakitori, Teriyaki, and miso. There were a few items on the menu we didn't make it to. Not many though. It was the first time either of us had been able to enjoy Japanese food without being conscious of the price of every single morsel. Heaven. Who would have thought we'd find it in Rome... Happily strolled back to the inn, collected the luggages and made it to Termini Stazione with plenty of time to spare. We were very fortunate to have secured First Class seats to Firenze. Just a shame the trip was so quick. The trains here have outstanding pricing if you book a few weeks in advance. There is First Class and Second Class. For each class there are Regular Fares, Economy Fares and Super Economy Fares (60% off Regular Fares). We'd missed the Super Economy fares in Second Class for our trip so ended up getting Super Economy fares in First Class for the same price as Regular Economy in Second Class. It was lovely - drinks and nibbles as we rocketed towards Firenze. We arrived all too soon and trundled the bags a mere 500 metres down the road to Hotel La Gioconda - infamous in art circles as being the place the Mona Lisa (La Joconde in French) was hidden after it was stolen from the Louvre - we enquired today and found out it was stowed away in Room 20. Alas we are in Room 3. Given the dearth of elevators in some of these picturesque towns, Room 3 on the first floor is actually just fine (28 steps up a curving staircase!) We walked to Piazza della Repubblica and delighted at the most beautiful carousel we've seen and then headed to the Duomo. We had read descriptions of the facade but were still very taken with the tumult of white, green and orange. Definitely unusual and very beautiful. An early night was in order and we settled down to the caterwauling squawk of the same Italian ambulance that has seemingly followed us everywhere, everyday since we arrived in Italy. Ciao Ciao!