nido delle mimose Rome

... where Leonardo played practical jokes, where Mussolini entertained Hitler.

Rome has always been serious about its image. The City was built to have substance. Romans invented concrete and they have continued to build with the most enduring materials available. You won’t find any particle board in Santa Maria Maggiore. Street curbs and gutters are marble, fences are cast iron, many streets are granite, garbage bins ...

... 13 from the guy). Another way is take regular train to Tiburina (or something like that) and take a train to airport from there - total cost of 6.5euro. This one runs 45min, GS one from Termini takes 30 min. Up to you to decide...

Before anything else, I have to warn you. Beware of midday heat. There is a reason italians take a nap or hide for the noon - it is hardly possible to handle if outside. I have discovered a little trick though, that has served me well throughout ...

... and a half (the others copped out, so I had to carry the team home). I could go on all day and night about these pizzas, so I'm going to stop myself there. In a broader sense, Napoli didn't really hit home for me. It's too chaotic, and not in a charming or enjoyable sense the way a lot of European cities are. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I think if I was headed back down that way for any length of time, I'd try to set myself ...

... but most of it was sculptures, not so much artwork. and alot of the art that was painted, was directly on the walls and roof. But the museum also gave us entry to the Sistine chapel, which was cool (but full of people) and didnt feel as holy as the Basilica. We were finished at about 4pm with our whirlwind tour of Rome, so we headed back for a nice refreshing swim in the pool (we were again - discustingly sweaty and dirty) - and bought a 8 pack of icypoles for 2&euro ...

... weather is breezy and pleasant, and you take a stroll to the Trevi Fountain down cobbled alleyways and glittery streets. Once there, you ceremoniously through a coin over your shoulder to ensure a return to Rome, and then buy a genuine Italian gelato to have while sitting at the magnificent fountain as you watch the night take shape and the world go by. THAT was our first night in Rome. The first time I ever came to Rome, the weather was ghastly ...

... of Vinci -- the Tuscany region of Italy. Time to do some research on Leonardo Da Vinci and some ideas we have for a book about his life. Have to do some work on this trip -- it can't all be fun! :-)) From Cheryl: First off - YES it CAN all be fun! Even the work part! Rome has so much to see and do.. As Lisa mentions, we booked another day just to TRY to see more. You could stay here for a week and still wish you saw that one place you just missed. One ...

... just takes your breathe away. It's a mixture of natural beauty and man made beauty that if you're religious at all.. just makes you appreciate God's creations even more so. Through the Basilica are the past pope's altars and paintings and statues. There's a little area where adoration is going on, as well as another little area for daily mass. Next Wednesday the school is taking us all to go to a Papal Audience. Which is pretty ...

... streetlights and gains some rats. Eventually, we hit the metro entrance. As we head over, a guy starts yelling at us, "Hey! What time is it?" Since it's dark and we're in the ghetto, we ignore him completely. This enrages him and he screams obscenities at us as we walk away. Sarah turns to me. "Okaaay. Hey. Wasn't he standing right underneath a clock?" I turn and look. Eight foot high clock. "Yup." "Huh." Safely back at Termini, we stopped at a Chinese food restaurant. I tried a ...

... Olive oil spilt in Alberts pack and onto his favourite new Wallabies shirt!) We needed to find the hospital emergency room and followed the directions we were given, however, we somehow ended up at the emergency dental surgery and waited there for about two hours before we realised our mistake. We got new directions and after trekking around a massive hospital complex for a bit, a man in an Emergency car said to jump in and he'd ...

... his response was, "I'm a sculptor. Not a painter." It came down to a threat from the Pope before Michelangelo finally agreed on the condition that he himself do all the designing and painting with no help. The man spent four years lying on his back atop scaffolding brushing every single stroke by himself. Twenty three years later, he painted "The Last Judgment" on the front wall which gives a radically different, darker, more depressing and vengeful feeling than the beautiful ...