Day 218, 7 February 2013, Pompeii, Italia. We were up bright and early. Well it was early at least. Headed to Termini station and roamed about checking the various locations of the 29 platforms. Any misconceptions we had about Italy being like Spain (late start, long lunch, sensible finish) have been dashed. People everywhere! Workers, tourists, absolutely everywhere. Our first Italian train is just a semi-speedy Intercity (a step up from the slow Regional ...

Day 217, 6 February 2013, Roma, Italia. Dino, our host at the Aladino Inn, strongly recommended we visit one of Rome's catacombs during our stay. Today was the day for being adventurous and we headed down the A Line to San Giovanni in Laterano and completely fluked finding the 218 bus that would take us through the walls of Rome and along the Via Appia Antica to the Catacombs (once called the Queen of Roads it was started in 312 BC). Can be quite nerve-wrackin...

Day 216, 5 February 2013, Roma, Italia. We decided to hit the other big ticket Roma Pass item (€13) this morning and had our host phone a reservation through to the Borghese Gallery - even though it's low season, Rome's big attractions are still busy. Thankfully though, because it's low season, we were able to go today (usually you have to reserve the day before). We nipped off to our local metro stop (Manzoni) and hopped the A Line to Barberini. (Loving the...

Day 215, 4 February 2013, Roma, Italia - The Eternal City and all that jazz. Now you all know we are huge fans of city passes, and usually get twice as much value as they cost by simply doing everything they offer. We investigated the "Roma Pass" and whilst different - it was still stunningly good value. Three days unlimited use of public transport, first two visits for free and any other visits at the reduced rate. Today we launched (or should I say lurched)...

Day 214, 3 February 2013, Rome, Italy. Planes, Trains & Automobiles - Travel Day! Given we didn't get to sleep till well after pumpkin hour, it seemed a cruel joke when the alarm went off at 6 am. Fortunately we got a cab easily just outside Tune on Gray's Inn Road. London cabbies being near-god like in my opinion, this one took us from one side of town to the other in short order... very few people around at that hour on a Sunday morning. And those that ...