Baci from Italy

Baci Perugina: the Italian chocolate with the love note.

These chocolates are more popular than Ferrero Rocher or Lindt balls in Italy and are available in most Bars, Cafe's or Supermarkets.

To market, to market.

After the past few days in Rome visiting palaces, galleries and museums, we needed a little break and as always try to see normal Roman life at least once.

A great way to do this is catching bus #83 to the Testaccio region just south of Circus Maximus.

Have you got the tickets?

Halfway to the bus stop from our hotel a little voice from behind asks me "have you got the tickets?" I stopped and turned to Katie and said, "no, you normally carry them".

Thankfully the bus stop is close and we didn't need to track back far however it does make me think of the unofficial roles each of us has assigned ourselves on this trip.

What do you mean, I can't take photos

Last night we tried a couple of restaurants after performing some Internet research but found them closed, this information was not listed on their websites.

It's raining culture and immigration is not all bad

This morning started being a little wet underfoot and continued thanks to occasional showers.  Thankfully we didn't throw our umbrellas out as we were going to back in Florence. We left after a filling breakfast and passed by the Fountain of the Bees (Fontana delle Api) on Piazza Barberini.

We got on the wrong train.

Departing a city is like departing a friend, staying in places more than a day or two does allow one to learn more, see more and break through the tourist whirlwind.

In the end, we stayed just five nights in Florence and unlike the past, weren't rushed to see 'the sights'.  For me the Pitti Palace was my favourite, it is a gallery, a residence and also a museum. Pitti Palace isn't crowded as it does not have famous works of art like the Uffizi.

Katie's favourite place in Florence, after long deliberation was Uffizi. She said she was able to absorb more of the gallery this time as there were fewer visitors compared to our previous visit in Summer.

We packed our bags last night and had the final additions after showering and dressing this morning.  I keep saying they are getting full, but this time I almost needed to unzip the expander!