We really enjoyed the Eternal City. As you've seen, we had a great apartment in the area of Trastevere, just on the West Bank of the Tiber River. The area itself was ideal in that you could walk over any one of a number of bridges to the Ancient ruins of Rome or easily escape the enormous numbers of tourists with a cold beer or caffe steps from our door. Rome was the end of our three AirB&B apartments on this trip and the experience has been great. Very good hosts provided us with everything we needed to help us enjoy the "neighbourhood" experience.

There was something special about Rome. Like the other cities on our trip there were countless landmarks and historical points of interests. However, places like the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon seem to live in their own space. These ruins are estimated at 2000 years old (compared to 150 year old Canada, for example). We could write about these places all day.

It seems every street in Rome intersects with one of the over 900 churches in the city. Many of the larger churches are emphasized with a Piazza (or town square). Meeting points for the neighbourhood to come together and enjoy the restaurants and shops that all lie beneath the church. We were enjoying a cold beverage one afternoon at the patio next to our apartment and 50' from us a wedding took place at the 400 year old, Santa Maria della Scala.

Commissioned in the early 1600's by the Pope, the iconic Trevi Fountain is a must see in Rome. The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome.

On Monday morning, we had arranged an early access tour to the Vatican, including the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Bascilica. We were so glad we did. As you can imagine, the Vatican City is one of the most popular places in the world, and the volume of people would reflect this. Again we could write about this experience all day, but please enjoy the links for more.

Tuesday morning was farewell to Rome. We had a morning train to catch for Milan.