Today was a helluva long day! After a late night last night having aperitivos with our travel concierges (Elizabeth and Blaine) at a small inn they were checking out (we determined it was not an appropriate choice for seniors - an elevator only to the 3rd floor and two floors of walk up to the roof garden) and then dinner at a local family-style restaurant that we closed down at midnight, we forced ourselves out of bed for breakfast then a 9:45 meet up with our ...

OK, call me a crass American (and Lillie, too) but we wanted to shop. (And while the ladies shopped, the gentlemen trudged all over the colosseum with a wonderful tour guide). We started in the Monti area, right behind our hotel, but this area is a more laissez faire type of attitude ... They close for a coffee run, for a bathroom break, for a nap ... Whatever we wanted to see was closed. So we took a taxi to the Spanish Steps area of Rome (the steps are undergoi...

So. I finally am sitting down with Joey to hear about their adventures while Lillie and I were shopping... "We started out with a quarter mile walk to the Colosseum, led by Giovanni, our tour guide. He was a history teacher ... with his help, we passed the hour-long line and waited in a 10 minute long line to enter. Once we stepped in, the information continued pouring forth - the extent of his knowledge is mind-boggling. The ability to see the Colosseum thru h...

No, no horses, but we are finally back in Rome. Even though we decided to travel business class LAX to ORD to Fiumicino, it took 24 hours, and I don't know about you, but sleep is not possible! Dozing periodically, gritty eyes, etc. make me long for the transatlantic cruise to cross the pond... But Joey, Art, Lillie and I checked into our hotel and started exploring the neighborhood around the hotel until we couldn't walk anymore, and stopped at a cute little to...