Aug 30, 2012 - We are in Rome

The ride over on British Air First Class was a great experience...gave us pjs, our seats made into fully reclining beds with down comforters and tv with great movies and games...we are spoiled for life now that is for sure...we have checked into a Hilton at the airport for the night and begin our adventure tomorrow when we head to our villa near Umbria...Ciao for now

Aug 27, 2012 - Goodbye (Arrivaderci) Rome

We are off to Florence today after a fantastic couple of days in Rome. Visited the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica which was just amazing. Then on to the Colossium and ancient ruins. We had to pinch ourselves to be actually at these historical sites in person. The weather has been quite hot so no need for jumpers at this stage. People on the tour are all Australians and funnily enough 8 people are from Geelong. They are all very nice so should get along very well. Of course we have one couple that keep us entertained with their...

Aug 26, 2012 - Days 1 & 2 Hectic 24 hours ...US to Rome

Ciao from Italy! After a very long ride from Dallas to Amsterdam, we were ever so ready to get off that KLM Airbus! Of course, no sleep could be had by Steve and I so we were rather exhausted! Italy is 7 time zones ahead from our Central time zone in the states. Let me introduce you to our traveling partners, affectionately known as the Wild Hogs (pictures to follow). We all are using nicknames while in Italy, mainly because there are 2 Steve and Connie couples! So, Steve and Connie Brown are known as Savio and Coco. Steve and Connie Brice...

Aug 22, 2012 - Vatican

Heads up; not much of the Vatican is air-conditioned. Twenty years since I’d been there and I didn’t remember as much as I thought. I did remember the Sistine Chapel (you are not allowed to take photos), and even tho the ceiling has been cleaned since I was last there, it was spectacular last time and spectacular this time. I am not the biggest fan of museums that have such huge collections of artefacts that they struggle to even display them properly. I always remember the British Museum with the entire frieze from around the Pantheon...

Aug 21, 2012 - Infamy, infamy... they’ve all got it in for me

If you don’t know the reference to the title for this entry, you need to explore your Carry On films more; nuff said. We ended up doing a tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum. It was worth it as you do get a lot of information and when it’s this hot; whatever is easy will always win. We had two guides and unfortunately for the second guide I heard a major point he got wrong and then he confirmed it when Tom queried him. Didn’t make me confident about the accuracy of the rest of his info but overall it was great. Lucky for him, he...

Aug 21, 2012 - Foodie faves

Food recs from Italy from the group. No order: • Melon & prosciutto – you get it just about everywhere, and for such a simple dish, the fact that the melon is perfect is what makes the difference. This is definitely not the country of early picked, chilled for shipping fruit and veg. Everything feels and tastes in season and sun ripened. • Tomato and buffalo mozzarella – in all its various forms here. For the same reasons as the dish above • Florence steak – this is incredible. They advertise it as for 2 people but I really think its at...

Aug 19, 2012 - When in Rome

Holy hell its hot..... sums it up really. We spent quite a few hours walking today for our first day in Rome - focussed on the general tourist sites and some of the shopping areas. Tomorrow its ancient Rome and the day after is the Vatican. I haven't much to say about things since the last blog as the food poisoning from England came back to bite me big time and I had to see a GP in Florence and am now on antibiotics, pain killers and some other medication I'm not even sure what it is. The good news is, that if you do get sick, Florence is...

Aug 8, 2012 - Roma

Rome day 2 cont. Finished off seeing most of the highlights of Rome..vatican city, colisseum, Sistine chapel, St Peter;s cathedral, catacombs..church of st. paul, trevi fountain. Loads of fun at supper in an italian restaurant..great food..2 types of pasta, salad, fish, chicken or beef entree,and desser, lots of entertainment. crazy italians really can sing though and we all sang aloung to songs such as Volare, Dat's Amore, Americano, my sunshine..great singers accompanied by guitar and accordian. ladies all got roses, we all got free wine...

Aug 7, 2012 - Rome

bonjourno! Still on the Hellenic spirit ferry! It is 1100 am now..the ferry has a pool, hot tub, gift shop, 3 or 4 bars which are important..and a few restaurants ..oh and also slots. we are trying to stay out of our stinky room!! breakfast was okay..two buns, a croissant, bacon, eggs, and some tomato sauce brought to us by a very loud albanian woman who announced everything she brought like it was for the queen! gotta love it! we will land at ancona italy and then take our bus for a 5 hour ride to rome.

Aug 4, 2012 - Rome in a Day

We were up early again, ready for another tiring day - this time in Rome. We ate breakfast in the room and we all gathered and were off the ship where we were met by the drivers of the company we had hired to show us around Rome. We needed two vans and the Hilkewiches went in one and David and Dawn and ourselves in the other. We had a van similar to the Mercedes we had rented in Scotland, but with left hand steering rather than right hand. Both drivers were very pleasant, informative and knowledgeable. We drove in to Rome quite quickly as...

Jul 29, 2012 - qui incomincia l'avventura....

.... della famiglia Pietroboni. Dopo scambi di email e di telefonate durato quasi 6 mesi, tra me e Paola del T.O. african wanderer per creare e confermare l'itinerario oggi e' il giorno della partenza per la namibia. Il volo per oggi e' Roma-Francoforte per poi proseguire dopo una ora per Johannesbrg con la compagnia di bandiera tedesca. Per fortuna il volo lungo ce lo facciamo tutto di notte percui sarà tranquillo

Jul 29, 2012 - Hoofing around Rome

Saturday, July 21st This being our last full day in Rome and in Europe we are planning to take in some sights we haven't seen yet. The breakfast buffet at our hotel the Capo d'Africa is outstanding. Quality and service are superb and the rooftop terrace with a view of the Colosseum in the bright morning sun is a divine place to dine. Imagine eating breakfast while gazing at this ancient marvel. What a treat! Leaving our hotel in mid morning we walked a short distance to the Palatine Hill and joined the line-up at the entrance gate. This...