It was hard leaving Rome, we really enjoyed the city.

Last day in Rome
We didn’t have to get the train back to Florence until 12:36 so we took our time packing up and tidied the apartment. We headed out to buy some bus tickets to the train station that cost only 1euro each a saving of 21euros in a taxi. But my idea with the taxis is that when you arrive in a new city and your accommodation is within the city spend a little extra cash and have the taxi drop you off at your door, then while you are there you can work out the transport situation.
At 11:00 we left the apartment and caught the bus just around the corner, the ticket validating machine on the bus did not work so when we arrived at the Termini station I handed the tickets to another tourist and said “enjoy”. They were very grateful for the generous offer.
We were at Termini early so we had lunch at McDonalds and watched to old ticker machine to see what platform (binari) our train was going to leave from. The platform was not announced until about 5 minutes before departure and it was the closest platform to us. It did not take very long to find our carriage (carrozza) and seats (sedi) and we were off.
If you ever has the chance schedule Orvieto as a city you must see in Italy, it is a hilltop town that is the most amazing I have seen from the trains so far. It is between Florence and Rome.
We arrived back in Florence at about 16:00 and walked 30 minutes from the train station to our home in Florence.

When in Rome…cross the road as fast as you can!

Day 1
We love Rome.
When we first arrived in Termini station we were a little wary of what we had been told and read about gypsies, but after a few hours of not seeing any at all we relaxed a little.
We hopped in a taxi from termini to Campo de Fiori, it took about 10 minutes. From the taxi we saw so many monuments and fountains that we wanted to go back and see straightaway. We were so excited about Rome (Iain and I, boys are a bit over it now).
We went out and found a Spar to buy groceries. We forgot that we didn’t have an oven and bought frozen pizzas… oh well they worked out fine on the cook top.
Crossing the roads here in Rome is scarier than in Florence even on zebra crossings, you walk a couple of steps and then wait for the car to go in front of you, then another couple of steps and the scooter zooms past you, after 3 or 4 vehicles try to run you over thank God you made it to the other side.
Iain and I wandered down the street to the piazza and found an American Pub “the Drunken Ship” it was happy hour so we decided to have a beer and a glass of house wine. Surprisingly the wine was not to bad and I quite enjoyed it (the wine here is a lot stronger in alcohol than at home). We walked about 15 mins from the apartment (we didn’t want to be too far from the boys) to the ruins where the sterilised, fed cats live :-). Then past there to the Monument for Vittorio Emmanuelle and the Palatino ruins beyond that. They all look fantastic at twilight. You can see some of these photo’s under the Rome tab.