After a bit of a rolling around sleep, the kids weren't that thrilled with their beds this time, but mine was excellent! (Sadly, I was kicked out the later tonight, by a kid who wasn't sleeping very well in theirs. To be fair, I didn't sleep well theirs either, but I'm all good <insert thumbs up here>).

Up we got, ready to face the day! It was a late face the day (with an 11am exit the apartment time. I didn't say face the morning, did I!?), but face it we did!

Our intention was to have a slow day. Didn't work out that way, but the intention was all good! We were to go to Piazza del Popolo, and do a bit of shopping on Via del Corso. Then at 7pm, we were going to the Sistine Chapel.

What really happened was that we got side-tracked, and got off at the Trevi Fountain instead. Oh, all the shiny things!!

It was again, MARVELOUS! And beautiful, and a wonderful teal blue and marble white. I tried vey hard to imprint it in my memory. Such beauty!!!

It was also extremely crowded. And hard to get to. But everyone seems patient, and so were we (for the most part), as we made our way to the edge, to throw a coin over our shoulder, and wish to come back again.

Given we're in the shoulder part of the season, I'm surprised that everywhere we've been has been so crowded. But the weather has been magnificent! So, not tooooo surprised there. I would HATE to see it in peak period.

We're very spoilt in Aus (& NZ), we just don't have to contend with the crowds like in these big cities. There are so many people out walking that they walk in the roads as often as they walk on the footpaths. Not only that, but there are bikes and scooters everywhere.

No-one seems to get frustrated with each other, the cars just move slowly, there is no impatient tooting, or shouting, or grumbling. Just me, panicking that one of my kids is going to get knocked over and squashed. But we've been all good, and trusted the system. If it were the same in Aus, we'd be tooting and shouting and growling to our friends about the stupid idiot we saw today. It's nice for the kids to see this.

Anyways, the Trevi Fountain was fabulous. So much so, that it deserved a gelato. Lol. Off we went, and found one, on the way to the Spanish Steps. Oh well, we WERE in the area.

They too were beautiful, and with a LOT of steps. K4 & Syd raced up, I trudged, and the other 2 admired it from the bottom. The view was spectacular.

Then back to our original plan, the shopping & Popolo. The shopping was average, and the Popolo was alright. BUT, by that stage we were starving, and thirsty, and needed to rest. I think it was about 3pm. So we found a restaurant, where the owner was unimpressed that we ordered the bare minimum - 3 pizzas and a salad - which was more than ample! He also seemed unimpressed with our tip. It seems "Be good to your mother" is not enough of a tip. Lol. Ok, just kidding. We tipped cash, but it mustn't have been enough. We weren't too miserly! Not that I'd thought anyhow.

On we did wander, towards Piazza Navona, and the Vatican City. With a little sit next to the Tiber thrown in for good measure.

The Navona was interesting. A busy rectangle, with a fabulous fountain in the middle, and artists through the centre, gorgeous buildings all around, and plenty of restaurants. I'd like to spend more time there, and sadly we missed the Campo di Fiori. Also, we didn't get to St Peter's Basilica, but maybe next time. I also would have like to buy a painting, but I haven't found one that talks to me yet.

Then on to the Vaticani Musei, and the Sistine Chapel. I didn't really know what to expect, and we were treated to a LOT of statues, carpets, paintings, as we made our way through to the Chapel. They REALLY have a great amount of stuff. It must be worth zillions!!!

The museum is sort of a track that you follow, behind all of the herds before you. It wasn't too crowded (given it was 7pm by this stage), and you could easily stop and look at things that caught your eye.

Syd & Johnny decided to count penises again, but were sad to see that some Pope had decided that they were all to be either knocked off, or covered with a fig leaf. So they counted the knocked off ones, that weren't covered by a fig leaf. They stopped at an admirable 101, before they got bored and stopped. And that was in about the 4th room. Lol. There were a lot of penises. Not so many boobs.

Eventually we found our way to the Sistine Chapel and it's magnificent ceiling. This had been Johnny's pick of what he wanted to see on our tour. Turns out he wanted to see the painting where God touches the hand of Adam. Michelangelo's work is immense! The colour is great, and the content is also huge. So many images, so interesting, and also beautiful. Jess loved the stories K4 was telling her about each of the images. Catholic school must have paid off!

We spent a good half hour in there, with a few hundred of our closest friends. Athough, not too crowded to really enjoy our time in there. I actually really enjoyed it!

It was time to get out of there, and head homeward. A good 1.5kms to the metro, and 9 stops on that (with an abusive, mentally unstable beggar), and we fell into a restaurant just up the street from our apartment. It was one of those local ones, with tiled floors and walls, and not at all fancy.

It was 9.40pm, and the lady was welcoming, and happy to still feed us. The food was excellent, and she was beautifully kind, and we worked our way around not knowing each other's languages, and she was great when Jess ordered our dinner in her school learned Italian. And we had a really lovely time!!! The beautiful woman didn't even give us a chance to tip, just bringing the credit card machine already typed up and ready to go. She will be in my memories of Rome, and as one of our best restaurant experiences. 2 pizzas, an authentic carbonara, pork scallopine, a creme caramel & tiramisu. Alllllll WONDERFUL!!!

In reflecting on why this meal was so perfect, I think it was because the lady was welcoming, and kind. She genuinely made us feel comfortable, and didn't mind that we didn't speak to her in Italian. Well, we did, but just not in good Italian. Not that anyone has made us feel bad, and we have always, always tried our best with the words that we know, but she seemed to be genuinely friendly. She was a very nice woman.

Home VERY late, but still managing to introduce the kids to a couple of episodes of Black Adder. In bed just after midnight. ZZZzzzzzzzzz.

There were a few hissy fits thrown by the kids today. Not bad, but they're tired and a bit frazzled. We've been pushing them along, in order to see as much as we can, and they've kept up with minimal complaining. We've walked A LOT, and covered a lot of kms. I'm thrilled with them, but they need a rest day. So, while we could get out tomorrow and do the Navona again, & St Peter's Basilica, & Campo di Fiori, we'll go gently, and maybe just puddle around our area. We have another very early start the next day, to catch our flight to Barcelona, and I think the Barcelona days will be crazy.

18,002 steps.