We flew back into Rome from St Petersburg, arriving at about 1:30pm. Our transfer was waiting for us and we drove into the heart of Rome to our apartment. Madi and Jye had arrived at 10:30 that morning and were waiting for us outside the apartment when we arrived. It was so exciting to see them after 4.5 months travelling.

We checked into our apartment, which had a view over the Column of Marcus Aurelius. This column was built in 193 AD and is a 30 metre column carved with a spiral design all the way up to the statue on top. It is very impressive.

We wasted no time finding a nearby supermarket and stocked up on supplies for the next few days. Madi and Jye were exhausted after their 24 hour journey, so they went for a snooze while Lidia and I went out for a walk and visited the Trevi fountain once more.

That evening we went to the restaurant that invented Alfredo pasta sauce and we all had the fettucine Alfredo. It was delicious, but Lidia isn't a huge fan of cheese and it was very cheesy so she couldn't finish hers.

The next day we spent the morning showing Madi and Jye around Rome, visiting the usual spots. We started off by enjoying a breakfast of coffee and pastries at a small al fresco café right next to the Trevi fountain. The pastries were great and it is always fun to watch the girls at the fountain pretending to be super models in their various photo poses. After that we wandered around Rome, seeing the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

After lunch we went on a small group tour that went to the ancient catacombs under Rome and the Capuchin Crypt. The crypt is fascinating and consists of a series of chambers that were decorated centuries ago with skeletons. It was very strange and morbid, but incredible at the same time. Bones were used to create all sorts of art works, including sculptures, wall art and even light fixtures. It is estimated there are 3,000 skeletons used in decorating the crypts there.

That evening we took Madi and Jye to one our favourite restaurants in Rome, Flavio al Velavevodetto in Testaccio. This is the restaurant which is dug into Mt Testaccio and has windows inside the restaurant looking into the stacked terracotta shards. The meal was delicious as usual.

After dinner we walked to our favourite little gelati shop, Giolitti. Marco was again thrilled to see us and we gave him some presents that Dennis had sent over for him. They were stubby holders and he thought they were pen holders so we had to explain what they were used for. We told him it would be the last time we could see him until we return to Rome and he gave all of us our gelatis on the house. Such a great guy and we will miss him.

The next morning we walked Madi and Jye to the metro station at the Spanish Steps. They had booked in for a day tour of the Vatican and Colosseum. We sent them on their way and then took a walk over to Campo Fiori and Castle St Angelo, dropping some laundry on the way. We grabbed some pizza bianca for lunch and it was delicious.

Madi and Jye returned from their adventures in the late afternoon. After a pizza dinner in our apartment we enjoyed a few drinks. Lidia was concerned that we still had a bottle of vodka that we had bought in Russia and we only had two more nights to finish it. Jye and I, being the gentlemen we are and always wanting to help out whenever we can, finished the entire bottle over a few games of cards. This eased Lidia's mind and she was very grateful.

The next morning, we took a walk to Testaccio to show Madi and Jye around our favourite suburb in Rome. On the way we passed by Piazza Venezia with its magnificent monument to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emmanuele II. We then passed an old colosseum-like theatre built by Julius Caesar and stopped at the Mouth of Truth. It was then a short stroll along the Tiber River to Testaccio, Madi whingeing the whole way about having to walk.

Our first stop in Testaccio was the cemetery and cat sanctuary. We took Alex and Tona there and only saw one or two cats. With Madi and Jye there seemed to be cats everywhere. We checked out John Keats grave and the pyramid that some crazy Italian dude built there in 18 BC as a tomb.

We then walked past Mt Testaccio to the fresh food market. We had suppli, then pizza from the best pizza place in the world, then fresh cannoli filled with ricotta. Then we took an Uber back to our apartment to get out of the heat for a while.

That afternoon we went to the big Giolitti store in Rome for a gelati and then out for our last dinner in Italy. We had a brilliant meal at Il Giardino di Albino.

It was interesting spending 4 days in an apartment with Madi and Jye. Since leaving home, it is apparent that Madi still hasn't learned how to finish a full glass of anything and her movements throughout the apartment can be traced by half-empty glasses. Sharing a bathroom with Jye is like sharing a bathroom with a moulting, pubescent bear. The sink is always littered with beard hair. But we did love having some bonding time with our kids.

After spending 3 months in total in Italy over the past 4.5 months, this was our last day in Italy. We were sad to say goodbye. We have loved every day and seen some incredible sights in this diverse country. We have done 3 road trips covering 4,709 kilometres and walked 929 kilometres or 1,133,117 steps. Ciao, Italia, a prossimo!