Today it is Anzac Day and this year marks 100 years since the lives of so many Aussie Diggers were forfeited on the beach at Gallipoli. We purchased our badges before we left Australia so that we could wear them today and remember our soldiers who fought and died. By coincidence today is also Liberation Day in Italy celebrating the fall of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic and the end of the Nazi occupation of Italy in 1945. Being away from home we have really appreciated Facebook posts of the poppies in Federation Square and the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance. After breakfast this morning we re-packed our bags ready to catch the fast train to Florence this afternoon. We took the bags downstairs and locked them up in the luggage storage area of the ... read more

This morning the forecast suggested that there might be some rain later in the day so we set out with our umbrellas ... just in case. We left the hotel just after 8.00am heading for St Peter's Basilica. Our route this morning took us for an early morning stroll through the Piazza Navona. What a difference it makes to walk the streets and piazzas of Rome in the early morning; there's hardly anyone else around to get in the way!! Without all of the crowds that descend on the square later in the day were were able to photograph the Fountain of the Four Rivers that surrounds an Egyptian obelisk in the middle of Piazza Navona and the 17th-century Baroque church Sant'Agnese in Agone. Aiming to arrive at St Peter's Basilica before the hordes we continued ... read more

We set the alarm for 6.30am this morning so that we would have plenty of time to have breakfast downstairs at the hotel and then walk to the Vatican. After about six of hours of sleep we were awake at 6.15am anyway so decided to get showered and dressed and aim to be in the breakfast room close to 7.00am when it opens. There was plenty of food to choose from for breakfast with the buffet including: fruit, fruit juice, cereal, bread, rolls, meat, cheese, croissants and pastries. And, if that wasn't enough to choose from we could order a cooked breakfast! After a modest breakfast, considering what was on offer, we cleaned our teeth and then set off for the Vatican. Rather than taking the most direct route, and risk getting lost in the small ... read more

Our last day in Australia before flying to Rome in the wee, small hours of Monday morning! After helping Michael celebrate his 50th birthday down in Drouin we spent Saturday night at Bernie's Mum and Dad's place. After breakfast we loaded Gidget and Finbar into my little car as the CX-5 is having a holiday too ... in Drouin in Mum and Dad's garage. The weather was pretty cold and wet as we drove back to Hallam. With the weather turning so wintry in Melbourne it made us very happy to think that we would soon be enjoying springtime in Rome! Back in Hallam we finished our house cleaning and crammed all of worldly possessions for the next eight weeks into our bags. We both felt like we were packing a fairly minimal amount of clothing, ... read more

Thank goodness we didn't have to sail back to Melbourne on Wednesday or Thursday night when the weather was so wild. Bernie's brother, Michael, posted a synoptic chart/weather forecast for all of the southern Australian coastline and Tasmania that showed a 10 metre swell EVERYWHERE and asked if we were on the boat. Fortunately not!! The crossing was not as smooth as when we sailed to Tasmania - we had a slight roll all night and could hear the waves slapping against the hull - but we didn't get sea sick or tossed out of our bunks so it was all good. In fact, it was a fast crossing that had us docked at Station Pier ahead of time at 5.30am this morning. Not wanting to crash in on our house sitters too early this morning ... read more