This was not the best start to the road trip portion of our trip. Got a cab to the M60 bus pick up point to get to the LaGuardia airport to catch the shuttle to our car rental company. There was so much traffic that some of the people on the bus would have missed their flights. The shuttle driver could not understand why there was so much traffic. We got on the road in our Mazda 3 only to hit a wall of traffic with the GPS taking us back through areas that we...

We headed uptown this morning, around Central Park and through Hallem. The skies decided to open up with a very noisy thunder storm and the HOHO ponchos just couldn't cope with the deluge. Very difficult to see the sites through rain covered glasses that have fogged up. Lol! It was not cold and was still a bit of fun - as it is, you have to duck for low tree branches from time to time so when they are full of water ... Once the weather had settled we walked thro...

Huge day today. Walked down to pick up our Hop On Hop Off tickets and got the day rolling with the Downtown Manhattan tour. Stopped off to rub a bulls balls and see the Statue of Liberty from the shoreline. This area had been under a metre and a half of water last October after hurricane Sandy hit. We took in Manhattan, Jersey and Brooklyn from the water on a 90 minute cruise that also took us very close to the Statue of Liberty. Took a ride to the top of the ...

Up early, packed and off to the Termini Roma before 7:00am to catch the Leonardo Express (a major exaggeration) to the airport. When we did get to the airport it was only two shuttle buses and six passport and security checks later when finally got to our plane. Arrived in Newark about 10 hours and several movies later. Air shuttle to metro; metro to Penn St Station. We finally arrived at our hotel, hot, tired and jet lagged but we are in the BIG apple.

We met our guide Alfonso at the exit to the Colosseo Metro at 10:40am today and headed for the Amphitheatre Flavius. Our tour took us on to a section of the reconstructed arena and into the 'dungeons' or lower level of the Colosseum where we could see how the arena floor was constructed. Then up to the third tier for a great view in and out. Alfonso then walked us to the Roman Forums and explained the layers of Rome and left us to explore Palatine Hill. It sto...