Day: 5, Tree: 3

This post covers UK Part 1 and the trip to Roma, and is also Gerri's first post as she wrestles Dino for control of the laptop.

Our 2 1/2 days in England were spent at the manor of Malcolm and Maureen in Ascot, adjusting to the new time zone and relaxing after the long trip from Melbourne. We did a little bit of shopping (very exciting to see that the Aussie dollar is doing very well against the English pound), a bit of sightseeing at Windsor and the Victoria Falls. Lovely! Just what we needed to recharge and prepare for our tour of Italy. We missed the Royal Ascot Races by just a week or so - lucky because I don't think my black velour trackies would have been appropriate - Lizzy would not have been amused.

The view from the lounge at M&M's to the garden, note the amazing hedge...

The lads at Windsor Castle...

Lunch at the Rose and Crown, a typical English pub - hearty ale & steak pies with chips all round please.

At the Victoria Falls

Wednesday we had to bid farewell to the Irving household, and Maureen drove us all the way to Gatwick airport, bless her, and then the baby bjorn (baby carrier for the unitiated) to Croydon and back to the airport as we left it in the back of her car :-(. A thousand thankyous to M&M for looking after us so well.

Tree 3: So, I hear you ask, how did the flight to Roma go now that Tara is such a "seasoned traveller"? You'd think a quick 2 1/2 hour flight would be a piece of cake. Alas, 3 changes of clothes later for Tara, and me rather damp and on the nose we land at Roma Ciampino airport. Poor Tara didn't fly so well this time, but as considerate as she always is she contained her output to me and avoided the lovely business man and his suit and laptop next to us.

At the airport we were again given the star treatment - "Senora, this way with the bambina" - straight to the front of the passport control line. Travelling with a baby does have its benefits :-). This did give us plenty of extra time to work out where the Italian baggage handlers had put our stroller.

We changed our plans and decided to take a cab to our hotel rather than the train, which was a great idea. We would have had to dragged our 8 bags + a baby on a bus and then the train and then through the streets to the hotel, a little daunting after that flight and at 9pm at night. So we found an honest cab driver who abided by the fixed 30 euro rate and took us directly to the hotel. Grand. So happy to be in Roma, it was a good day after all.


ps... we arrived in Rome just after President Bush, and saw Airforce One on the tarmac