First: apologies to all our friends who have done Rome. We have been here a day, so we are the experts, right? I should point out that in these ramblings, I am really just recounting our experience, and in no way trying to account for the history, architecture etc of the places we are visiting.

The via de Propoganda, 40 metres below us, quietened by around 2.00am, not that it made much difference to Jenny who was in a deep slumber induced by too many episodes of Downton Abbey. I manage the slumber within the first ten minutes! Well, it was not so much that the noise subsided, but the sound of revellers gave way to the street cleaning operation which set up HQ underneath our window, grinding, crunching and compressing Rome’s waste. Don’t you miss the sounds of the city: no!

he sounds of the city were overtaken by the weather with angry storms and heavy rain unleashing on the streets and finishing what the street sweepers missed. For a while we were resigned to a day indoors, but the clouds fell away and we fell outside in search of breakfast. We setted for a traditional Roman breakfast at Maccadonarios, just around the corner. We found a nice little supermarket not far away where we provisioned up so that we could self-cater for at least some of the time.

Our neighbourhood seems to be a trendy sort of area with dozens – hundred – of clothing stores stocking the latest designer fashion. The locals, young and old, do dress rather nicely, and are easily distinguished from the many tourists, who are identified by their craned necks, the maps and guides attached to their hands, the cameras swaying around their necks, and their heightened sense of personal security as they clutch their bags tightly to their sides. I suppose we looked just like the rest of the tourists. We set off in a large circuit which took us to the Pantheon, down to the Tiber then up to the Piazza del Popolo at the old northern gates of the city, a look at an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s engineering genius; up along the edge of the beautiful Villa Borghese enabling some great panoramic views cross the city, then back down to the Spanish Steps which by then had attracted tourists by the thousands. From there it was just 100 metres to our apartment via the cafe downstairs.

We have been on our feet for close to seven hours, so now resting up, washing clothes, thinking about preparing dinner. We have been waited on for every little thing for the past month, so we need to reacquaint ourselves with the culinary art. (Jen has always said I was her culinary thrombosis [clot in the kitchen] so I guess that means I will be learning the washing up!)

And we do it all again tomorrow: first item, a Vatican tour.

I’ll let you know how it went.

Cheers