Thursday 19th January

Pete did his last minute shopping this morning, and we did lots of walking around the city, then we had a tour of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistene Chapel this afternoon.
Our last full day in Rome, and tomorrow we start our journey home.
As our time in Italy comes to a close, a quick summary of the highlights -
Best hotel - most definitely the Hotel Enterprise in Milano.
Best city - Firenze (Florence).
Best experience - for me, seeing the statue of David again, and my birthday dinner; for Peter, taking in the engineering of more than 2000 years. In terms of more modern times, both of us enjoyed the Ferrari museum.
The drivers in Milan are definitely the best; traffic was worse in Rome, but the cars have more dents and scratches!
Both of us are very much looking forward to going home - 5 weeks away is enough.
So for now its arrivederci Roma. We leave Rome in the morning and head home, via Bangkok. And on Saturday night it will be g'day Australia, and Sunday morning we will finally get home.

Wednesday 18th January

A free morning, so of course Peter had to do a bit more shopping, which meant a trip to the Ducati store to admire the bikes and buy a jumper.
This afternoon we had a tour to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and the Church of St Peter in Chains, where Michelangelo's statue of Moses is located. The Colosseum was amazing - and our guide was a (now retired) former director of archaeology for the city, so he provided a wonderful insight into the history of the site.
Our last full day in Rome tomorrow, which will include a return visit to Vatican City to go through the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel.
Photos today of the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

Tuesday 17th January

An early start today as we were off on a tour - a combination of walking and bus rides, which took us to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and then on to Vatican City to St Peters Basilica.
The Pantheon was amazing, to think that such a structure was constructed some 1800 years ago, quite unbelievable.
Unfortunately it wasn't such a good morning for walking around, as by 11.30am the temperature was still only -1 and I think even colder in the shade.
There was a bit of excitement at St Peters as today there was to be a special blessing of animals, so lots of people around with their pets, plus a parade of soldiers, police, etc on horseback. There was a mass being celebrated in the Basilica so we weren't able to get past the altar used by the Pope, but still were able to see most parts of the church. We will be back to the Vatican on Thursday for a tour of the museums and Sistine Chapel.
This afternoon we went in different directions - Peter to do even more shopping, me to the hairdressers. The hairdresser knew even less English than I know Italian, so there was quite a bit of sign language going on.
In other news, we've received advice from FedEx that the most expensive duck in Italy (bought when we visited the glass business on Murano) is now flying south for summer, so should arrive in its new home soon.
Photos today of the Pantheon - the dome and floor (there is no glass in the top of the dome, the rain comes in through the roof and flows away through the holes in the floor (the roped off area in the photo) and into the drainage system, exactly as it has done for the last 1800 years), inside St Peters Basilica, and Peter in St Peters Square.

Monday 16th January

Before news of today, can I report to the girls that I actually got to touch a few pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes yesterday - there was a Jimmy Choo store just down from the Spanish Steps; at €500+ a pair, it was a case of looking and touching but not buying. Pete took a photo of me in the store doorway!
Our last 'official' shopping day today as we have tours planned for the next three days. We went to a shopping centre just outside of the Rome city centre. I've purchased a new suitcase, somewhat lighter than the version I left home with, so hopefully that will help me stay within the luggage limits; Pete did the same, purchasing a new small suitcase that he can have as carry-on luggage, again to help spread the load of all his shopping.
Tomorrow we have organised to go on a tour to the Pantheon and St Peters Basilica.

Sunday 15th January

A day of walking around Rome today. After breakfast (which was an improvement on the offerings in Venice and Sorrento, but still no match for the Hotel Enterprise in Milan), we spent an hour sitting at a laundromat to do a load of washing - seemed many other tourists had the same idea as there were quite a few of us there.
We then walked down to the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, and then went to the Time Elevator - a movie-style presentation on the history of Rome.
After that, more walking - to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, and eventually back to the Piazza Della Repubblica and our hotel.
Photos today of the Trevi Fountain, and me in front of the fountain, and Peter at the top of the Spanish Steps.

Saturday 14th January

Ah Roma! This morning we left Sorrento and went by train to Napoli, and then by (very very fast) train to Roma. I thought the fast trains we had been on before scooted along, but today there were no stops between Napoli and Roma, so the train driver certainly "put the pedal to the metal". Pete was keeping an eye on the screen showing our speed - first he said we were doing 220kph, then he said we were at 310kph, then we were at 350 kph; I think that's as fast as it got, but I didn't ask!
We were able to find the street for our hotel on the map in the Lonely Planet book, so decided to walk from the train station to the hotel, and it was just a few blocks. The hotel is quite nice, but of course the big test from Pete's perspective is how good the breakfast will be in the morning.
The concierge was very helpful, and has given us some advice on tours, etc. so we will plan out our few days here to try and fit in the highlights. This afternoon we did our usual walk for a few hours, to get our bearings and check out the local area.
We saw the news story breaking this morning regarding the cruise ship that has hit a reef near an island out from Rome - very sad to hear of the loss of life. As you can imagine, it's been on all the news services here.
It's hard to believe that we are now in the last week of our holiday - not too many more sleeps and we will be heading home.

Friday 13th January

Today we went to the Isle of Capri - absolutely beautiful and stunning. We went by catamaran from Sorrento to the island, taking a bus first to the top part of the island - Anacapri - and then down to the larger part, Capri. It was easy to see how this island has become the playground of the rich and famous. Unfortunately no access to the Blue Grotto during winter. One day, when I win Tattslotto, it would be nice to come back and spend a few days on Capri. It was a lovely way to spend our last day in Sorrento. Tomorrow we head to Rome.
Photos today of the Sorrento marina, views of the Capri marina from Anacapri, and us with the famous Capri rocks in the background.