We set the alarm for 9am this morning but were both woken up at 8am by deafening thunder. I couldn't believe it. There was torrential rain, lightening, it was all kicking off.
I didn't really know how we were gonna get to the station in it but come 9am the thunder and lightening had passed and the rain has stopped by 9.30. Originally as we set out on the walk at 9.45 I had slipped a jumper on but it was 24 degrees outside and by the end of the block the jumper had been removed. By the time we got to the station we could have done with sunglasses! What crazy weather.
Once at the station we grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast. I had a risotto ball with a chocolate muffin and red bull whilst Adam had a savoury croissant and coke. We made it onto the train with minutes to spare.
The train journey from Florence to Rome took an hour and a half. Not long but I couldn't wait to get to the hotel. My shoes were sodden from the puddles and I had dirty puddle splashed onto my skirt. Plus I had decided what with the rain I wouldn't do my hair or make up this morning. I felt so trampy.
We arrived in Rome to ominous skies and it looked like the rain had followed us over from Florence. However it was still dry and warm and our hotel was just on the road right off the station so we'd be fine, right?
We'd been out the station 2 seconds when the thunder and lightening started and there was a sudden downpour. Adam and I rushed under the canopy of a newsagent kiosk hoping the shower would quickly subside. I thought I'd go ask the newsagent if he knew where our hotel was and suddenly lightening hit the tree in front of us and a huge branch crashed down where I was just standing! Adam had to move the branch to get our suitcases from underneath, he was laughing but I was s***ting it!
Thankfully the shower did subside enough for us to dash across to our hotel. The hotel room is quite large as is the bathroom but it's very basic. It's got air conditioning though and it's clean and of course the good location so it's ok.
Because of the rain the both of us were splattered with dirt from the waist down so we had a shower and refreshed ourselves.
What may have started as a dramatic day continued to be one of our best days here. The storm had got rid of the heat and humidity, leaving it 26 degrees which was the perfect temperature to walk around in.
We went and saw the Spanish steps and the trevi fountain. There is currently scaffolding on the fountain but I just wanted to show Adam its potential and so he can at least say he's seen it!
We then had a lovely lunch, we both had a 3 course set menu which featured lasagne, chicken in a red pepper sauce and some delicious chocolate tart which we washed down with wine and iced tea.
We then went back to the sightseeing and saw the pantheon, which Adam really liked, it's where our photo was taken. We also went to the piazza navona which was lovely.
We stopped at an Italian book shop that did the most beautiful pop up books we've ever seen. We spent about half an hour in the kids section going through them all. They were so intricate and layered, just beautiful. We did also explore the adult section of the bookshop and pick up a thank you gift for Dudley.
From there we went onto palazzo Venezia and watched the sun set over the White marble, it was stunning. Adam wanted to continue down the road onto the Roman forum and then onto the colosseum but I told him we needed to save some stuff for the daytime!
We took a lovely walk back to our hotel, Rome is so nice to walk about, everything is so close. I totally love Rome, I did love Tuscany but Florence didn't really strum the heart strings. It's too medieval and things are brown and claustrophobic. Rome is open and white and marble. It's just been the most perfect day :) we've grabbed some stuff from the grocery shop across the road and returned to the hotel for a chilled evening.