Well, it's nearly 11am, and we're on the train to Rome. Not without it's hiccups though!!

We got up well rested, thankfully! But of course, we couldn't get the kids out of bed. Well, YOU try prying 2 teenagers from their pillows!!! Once they were up, we breakfasted, showered and got out of there.

In Italy, we've had to take our own rubbish out of the apartment. You take it down to the 'rubbish points' on the street, and put it into a bin, where it hides away in an underground container, until someone comes and does something with it. I'd be interested to know what happens with it next. I must Google that.

Anyways, the logistics of this transfer were always going to be a little more difficult. We'd previously walked the 2kms to the hotel, but no-one was keen to do that with our, by now, very heavy packs (which were packed with the expectation that we'd be heading into a European autumn. Wet & cold. Which it hasn't been, not one bit. But we all feel slightly resentful of the extra pairs of shoes, jumpers, long sleeved tops, jeans & puffer jackets. It'll be interesting to take that stuff out when I get home, and see how much we would have actually needed).

Anyways, back to the story...

Syd & I walked the 2kms to the station, leaving our bags with K4 & the big kids to throw into an Uber, and meet us at the train. We got there in good time, enjoying the stretching of the legs. I'd forgotten to make a meeting place at the station, and it's quite manic there, soooo many people! Plus, they don't have wifi there, so no contact with the rest of the fam. Mild eek. Well, we'd got there early, knowing that we'd have extra time if something went wrong.

We waited for ages, and I was starting to mildly panic, as I watched the minutes tick by, without sight of the others. Eventually, they arrived, much to my relief. But their trip hadn't been easy! There were very few Ubers available, and not one of them were available for us! They'd tried flagging taxi's, and even accidentally a police man! All to no avail.

As a last resort, they'd had to lug all of our bags between them, onto the "peak hour" bus, push their way on, and wait as the bus passed the train station to the next stop. THEN, they had to carry our bags to the station, where I was nervously hopping around, hoping not to miss the train.

Johnny was most displeased with that outcome, and resolutely said he will not be laughing with us at a later date, as they recount their ordeal. Lol.

Nevertheless, we are now on the train, hurtling towards Rome at 250kms/hr. Where we will need to navigate the 2km journey to our hotel. Once again, working out a new train/bus system, finding tickets, and watching stops like a hawk, as the drivers launch their vehicles around like super car drivers. More than twice I have got off a transport in the last few weeks, wanting to vomit.

Oh, and the countryside is MUCH more Tuscan. So beautiful!!!

The sway of the train is lulling me to sleep, but I'm fighting it because we need to get off shortly, and not accidentally end up in Naples.

Here's hoping the rest of the day goes easily.

********

Off the train in Rome, and time to really find out where we're staying. The system that Flight Centre have in place for some of our accommodation is a bit shit, if I'm honest. They've booked through Expedia, who have booked through someone else, who books with the accommodation. There are too many booking numbers involved, and no-one passes our name along, or the booking number that we have. Nor any ACTUAL contact numbers. There's also no front desk at these places, as they're random apartments, put up by various owners to a booking company. It's a bit of a shit show. But with a bit of perseverance on my part (and the end accommodation person), and some slightly panicked phone calls, we get there in the end.

Anyways, we got to the apartment too late to meet the booking in lady, but she very kindly left the keys with the concierge, and we could book in early. Phew!

Off to the supermarket, then put our feet up for a bit.

Once we were bored of that, we decided to check out the Colosseum! It was a short walk, only 1.9kms, but we're pro's at this now!! Of course we softened the blow with a drop of gelato on the way.

As we rounded the corner, we could see a slice of the Colosseum in the distance. We're all soooooooo excited for this one!! It's a bit like the Eiffel Tower, you really know we're here, on the other side of the world!

It was magnificent!!! HUGE, and majestical! Colossal, really! Lol.

It really is a sight to behold. It's amazing to realise that it was constructed in 8 years, by 60-100,000 slaves! And that sometimes they blocked it all off, filled it with water, and used it for naval games.

We were all very disappointed that we couldn't get tickets for this one. It's harder than getting tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. We'd have loved to see inside, and imagine the goings on all those years ago.

While we were wandering around, we could hear the sound checks going on in the Roman Forum, and the Palatine, for the "Rock in Roma" concert. Would have loved to go to that! The acoustics sounded great!!!

Anyways, another very long walk home, the tiki tour way. For those of you non-kiwis, a tiki tour is one that meanders around, and is not the most direct route home.

My feet were killing me, and some of the uphill trudges were indeed trudges. Sadly for me, Syd's Special Services did not offer foot rubs this particular evening. Lol.

But we all slept well, and long.

18,000+ steps.