Grocery shop & swim Tim and I got up early and wandered into town to bring back groceries. We walked the 285 steps down to street level and then aprox 500 up to another street that had a grocery store, bakery and vegetable stand. We started in the bakery because they also served coffee. We sat down at the tile topped tables watching the morning routine unfold. Next we visited the grocery store, a very small space filled with groceries and wine top to bot...

After a quick look around the Rome harbor we headed for Positano. The drive was only 2 1/2 hours. The first part was uneventful, but the second half was an eyeopener. The ocean came into view and we climbed switchbacks with a short stone wall between us and the cliff drop offs. Narrow roads are an understatement in this part of Italy and motorbikes use any part of the road they want, including the oncoming traffic's lane, finding just enough space to not be i...

We were all really excited to leave for our tour of the Coliseum. We left extra early incase the bus was late. The kids said that the Colliseum was one of the places they were most looking forward to seeing. We booked ahead a few months ago to take a guided tour. We arrived around 9:00 a.m and our tour was scheduled for 9:40. We sat in the shade of the pillars, bewildered again by the efforts it took to build something this immense. It only took 10 years ...

Belia woke up not feeling well. I decided to stay back and let her sleep. Tim and the kids went to catch a bus and see the Vatican. The bus was 45 minutes late so unfortunately they missed their reserved time, the lineups were hours long, and with the heat they didn't want to push it. They thought the Vatican area was impressive, although they were disgusted with the commercialism of the pope, every gadget under the sun for sale with his picture on them. ...

None of us wanted to leave the campground, it was just the right size with a lot to do on site. The kids rented 2 pedal go-carts. We all took turns riding around on the paving stone paths. Brennin and Darius especially liked the downhill dirt road with tons of ruts to navigate without flipping over. There were two pools, one regular pool and the other was covered in a spongy tarp with a spongy "ice burg" structure in the middle. Kids climbed all over the ice...