Spanish Steps

Up at silly o'clock so we could be at the airport for a flight at 6.30am, we're heading to Rome for a few days to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary which was last month. Having looked forward to this trip since we booked it months ago I have become a little apprehensive in the last few weeks - the in-laws seem to think that our Ryanair flight would be lucky to get us there and if we did get to Rome we would be robed by pick pockets. Even the Italians were trying to put me off - a colleague told a small Italian boy what a beautiful country he came from and he replied that it was, all except Rome which was dirty and covered in rubbish! Well they were all wrong - flight arrived 10 minutes early and while not luxury travel was a lot better than some package holiday flights I've been on, Rome does a have rather shabby, tired look to it and a lot of graffiti but more than made up for by the fantastic architecture and really it's no dirtier than any other city.
We had the joy of a taxi ride to the city centre, I think I may have closed my eyes - I've no idea how traffic manoeuvres around the tiny streets, I swear there are no rules.
Getting up early was well worth it when we found ourselves having a long, lazy lunch a stone's throw from the Spanish Steps. We had a wander about to get our bearings and soon discovered that most of the things we wanted to see were easily accessed on foot.  Pantheon and Trevi Fountain ticked off our list - both very impressive even if the fountain didn't have any water in it. The streets around our apartment seem to be home to every luxury brand I've ever heard of, don't think I'll be spending much money but I have spotted a few pairs of shoes that I may be willing to sell a non-vital body part to own!

Ice cream, promenade to round off a great day.