Here we are in Rome

This is the last leg of the family holiday and Rome has been great.

A bit hot but as Ves and I remember it. The food is great the people have been nice and the sights are spectacular with another church or statue around every corner. I forgot to mention the crazy drivers. Crossing the road can be a real challenge at first.

We arrive on the fast train from Venice at about 3.30 and were picked up at the station and taken to our hotel, the Hotel Regno in the centre of town near the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. A great location about a 15minute ride from the station. Ves and Jess went off to find Zara and how lucky, there are two with 200mm of the hotel. Dylan and I went off for a walk and had a beer and slice of pizza at a nearby bar.

Ves and I met back at the Hotel at 5pm as we had planned to walk to the Spanish Steps, its actually the Spanish Square as the steps have nothing to do with Spain its just a nickname. It was about 10 minute walk to see if we could join the free tour of Rome, that was was supposed to go for about 2 hours. After that we would meet Jess and Dylan somewhere for dinner.

I met Ves at 5pm and she was a bit flustered as she had run out of time with Zara and raced back to meet me. Anyway we met the tour and the guide was great and there were about 20 people, including us following him around for a couple of hours ending up back at the Trevi Fountain. We went past the parliament, various churches, including the Pantheon, monuments and fountains and Bernini's house.

Its a fun tour full of information but by the end of it Ves was about to faint as there is no food at Zaras. So we called Jess and Dylan and they met us at the Trevi Fountain and we had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. After a slow start with the service and Ves threatening to walk out, the food turned out to be really good and we were all happy. Gelato on the way back to the hotel and an early night for a big day in Rome tomorrow.

We did the Colosseum and Roman Forum on Wednesday, our Scarvi Necropolis tour on Thursday was great and today we did the Sistine Chapel, The Vatican Museum and St Peter Basilica and the catacombs.

It has all been great so far.

Have to sign off as Jess and Dylan are heading to the airport and talking the lap top with them.

More photos and interesting stuff when we return in a week or so.